» Fisheries



Smaller boats are losing their right to fish, say small boat fishermen

Indiefarmer.com reports, 19th August 2015: The future of Britain’s inshore fishing fleet hangs in the balance because of EU quota systems that prioritise larger fishing boats. In the darkness of 3.30am on the Stade beach in Hastings, Sussex, Paul Joy and his crew prepare to set out to sea cuttle-fishing. Engines grumble, wood creaks and […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Greenpeace insists it will challenge UK in court over illegal allocation of fishing quotas

Rukayah Sarumi, Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner, writes in the Huffington Post, 14th August 2015: across the political spectrum gripped a fish for the cameras and pledged to fight for local fishing-communities — it seemed that a swell of support for sustainable, small-scale, fishing was finally washing into parliament after years of neglect by successive governments. “Grab […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

UK Government announces new protection measures for Sea Bass – are they enough?

The UK Government (Defra) and its Fisheries Minister, George Eustice MP, has announced 5th August 2015: “ New restrictions on the fishing of sea bass, including the introduction of a minimum catch size, will come into effect from as early as 1st September. This is following action by UK government to protect this iconic and threatened […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

New data on what EU fishing vessels catch outside the EU

Oceana reports, 29th July 2015: Today, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Oceana and WWF heralded a new era of fisheries transparency with the launch of an online database detailing 15,264 EU vessels authorised to fish outside EU waters between 2010 and 2014. The figures have been made public by the NGOs for the first time […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Pew Trust explains the Global Ocean Legacy Project

Matt Rand, Director, Pew Foundation, reports 16th June 2015: The ocean plays an essential role in sustaining life on our planet. It covers nearly three-fourths of the globe and is home to nearly half of the world’s known species—and many more yet to be discovered. The ocean provides sustenance for billions of people and myriad […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Could the World agree to no fishing in the Arctic Ocean?

The Globe and Mail.com (Canada) reports, 19th July 2015: After 100,000 years of frozen peace, the central Arctic Ocean around the North Pole is becoming a hotbed of activity. Scientists see the ice melting quickly — at least 40 per cent of the central Arctic Ocean is now open water in the summer — and […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

The impact of “market forces” on fish stocks

The New Statesman reports, July 2015: “We are, quite seriously, on the brink.” Jerry Percy, Executive Director of Low Impact Fishers of Europe, a group representing fishers around the continent, is worried about the future for the UK’s small-scale fleet. “If things don’t change, in some areas we’ll lose the last remnants of what was […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

New call for stricter fishing limits on Sea Bass

The Guardian reports, 10th July 2015: Urgent action is needed to prevent rapidly declining sea bass stocks from collapsing, conservationists have warned. A temporary ban on all fishing of wild sea bass may be needed if agreement to manage stocks cannot be reached, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) said after new scientific advice warned the situation […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Is anyone doing anything about the alarming state of the EU’s fish stocks?

Blogactive.eu reports 13th July 2015: This is a guest blog post by Lasse Gustavsson, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe. Oceana is the world’s largest international advocacy organization focused solely on ocean conservation. . . . . Which animal protein requires no fresh water, produces little carbon dioxide, doesn’t require arable land and provides healthy protein […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

GM research produces plant containing omega-3 fish oils

The Guardian reports, 8th July 2015: Fish oil grown on the farm has come a step closer following promising results from a genetically modified crop trial. British scientists have developed a GM oilseed plant, Camelina sativa or “false flax”, whose seeds contain omega-3 fatty acids normally only present in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Dredging ban for South Arran MPA

C.O.A.S.T. (Community of Arran Seabed Trust) reports June 2015: In a broadly welcome statement Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, announced yesterday that a Marine Conservation Order (MCO) will be put before parliament this week setting out conservation measures including banning the highly destructive practice of scallop dredging within the South […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Blue Ventures advocate the “temporary fisheries closure” approach

The Ecologist reports, 12th May 2015, on the Blue Ventures proposal: “Marine conservation is usually expressed in austere and negative terms, writes Alasdair Harris [CEO Blue Ventures], with strict quotas and exclusion zones. But the truth is the exact opposite: it’s about working with natural ecosystems to unlock their productive potential, creating sustainable wealth and […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Over-fishing could push European fish species to extinction

Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), reports 3rd June 2015: More than 90 species of marine fishes in Europe’s waters are threatened with extinction, according to a report (large 4MB pdf file) published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Sharks, rays, and other cartilaginous […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Canadian government scientists question claims made for GM salmon

Friends of the Earth United States report, 28th May 2015: A never-before-seen draft environmental review of AquaBounty Technologies’ (ABTX) genetically engineered — or GE — salmon reveals that Canadian government scientists disagree with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on key questions related to the safety and performance of what may be the first GE […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Fish discard ban: MEPs delay sanctions

EU Parliament press release, 28th April 2015, states: “Fishermen will have until 2017 to adapt to the new discard ban rules, which will make fishing more sustainable. Fishermen will have two years to “adapt” before sanctions for failing to comply with the new fish “discard” ban take effect, under a law passed by Parliament on […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

EU Parliament undermines CFP reform

Reuters reports, 28th April 2015: “European lawmakers have backed reforms meant to end decades of over-fishing, but critics said unscrupulous fishermen would be able to carry on throwing away perfectly good fish because of a glaring loophole. “The European Union in 2013 agreed to reform the bloc’s common fisheries policy in an attempt to rebuild […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

The Black Fish shifts focus onto crime with new UN report

The Black Fish press release 28th April 2015, states: “Earlier this week The Black Fish presented a groundbreaking new report on fishing crime at the UN Crime Congress in Doha, Qatar. Bringing together case studies from around the world, the publication makes the case that illegal fishing constitutes a form of organized crime and should […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

China wants to increase its Antarctic krill catch by 7 fold

MercoPress reports, 30th April 2015: “Conservation groups and scientists worry that China’s push to boost its harvest of krill — a shrimp-like creature used for aquaculture feed and human supplements — may leave Antarctica’s whales, seals and penguins struggling to survive. China’s leaders say they want a seven-fold increase in krill production, according to a […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Greenpeace secures judicial review of how UK fishing quotas are distributed

Greenpeace press report, 24th April 2015, states: “A full judicial review into the government’s decision to continue to give nearly the entire UK fishing quota to domestic industrial and foreign corporations, at the expense of local, low impact fishermen, has been given the green light by the High Court today. “Mrs Justice Andrews granted permission […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Hundreds of Scottish seals being killed each year

The Dodo.com and The Seal Protection Group report, 11th April 2015: “Hundreds of seals are being killed every year in U.K. waters in secret seal cullings — and hardly anyone knows about it. “If people knew the price that was being paid by seals for salmon they wouldn’t be prepared to buy them,” Andy Ottaway […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS