Nature.com publishes an article by L. Lebreton et al, 22nd March 2018, titled Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. The authors state: Ocean plastic can persist in sea surface waters, eventually accumulating in remote areas of the world’s oceans. Here we characterise and quantify a major ocean plastic accumulation zone […]

In July 2007 the NGO Oceana wrote and published a report State of the World’s Fisheries, subtitled What Will Be the Future of the Oceans?  We bring readers attention back to this Ocean report because we are now 10 years on since its first publication.  The question we ask is, have things changed? The Oceana […]

We reproduce here the summary of the report Net Gain — Opportunities for Britain’s Fishing Industry post-Brexit written  Shanker A. Singham  of the Institute of Economic Affairs.  This report concentrates on an economic perspective and explores how a British Fishing Policy can maximise the economic advantage for UK commercial fishing interests post-Brexit In contrast, Marinet […]

Marinet has made a submission to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee and its Inquiry titled “Sustainable Seas”. Marinet has informed the Select Committee that: We believe that there is a profound dishonesty in the way in which Government and Parliament conducts its affairs with regards to the sea and ocean. It makes […]

We provide a link to the article written by the independent group known as Senior European Experts who have written an in-depth Briefing on the issues likely to govern the nature of UK Fisheries following Brexit. The Briefing is titled Fisheries: The Transition Agreement and Future Arrangements and can be viewed here.  

The Commonwealth Secretariat News Release, 20th April 2018, reports: Commonwealth leaders today agreed on a bold, co-ordinated push to protect the ocean from the effects of climate change, pollution and over-fishing. Their landmark decision to adopt a Commonwealth Blue Charter will affect one third of the world’s national coastal waters, helping to sustain livelihoods and […]

Openseas.org.uk reports 17th April 2018: The recent incident of illegal dredging in a Scottish MPA has exposed a serious problem for producers and consumers of Scottish seafood, highlighting that we don’t know, with any geographical accuracy, where much our seafood comes from. Our follow-up investigations suggest that legally and illegally caught fish and shellfish is […]

Note: This article was commissioned by The Marine Quarterly which has agreed to the publishing of an abridged version in its Summer edition. The decline in both the health and diversity of life of British seas is a subject much reported upon. Yet in addressing the meaning of Brexit in this context it is first […]

BBC News reports, 16th January 2018: Members of the European Parliament have voted to ban commercial fishing using an electric current in EU waters, so-called pulse fishing. Opponents say the method is equivalent to putting a Taser in the water. The European Commission and the Dutch government say it is better for the environment than […]

The Community of Arran Seabed Trust (C.O.A.S.T.) reports, 2nd February 2018: The Scottish Government is inviting views from the public before 8th February 2018 on the issues covered in a new report about the environmental interaction of salmon farming within the wider marine environment. The report is titled Review of the Environmental Impacts of Salmon […]

Seas-At-Risk press release, 21st November 2017: The European Parliament Fisheries Committee [has taken a decision which] seriously weakens marine environmental legislation. The European Parliament Fisheries Committee today [21st November] voted on a proposal that will revise legislation on the protection of fisheries resources and marine ecosystems. The proposal merges more than 30 existing regulations and […]

Lifeplatform.eu reports 5th September 2017: A meeting in Nieuwpoort, Belgium on 1st September, organized by Belgian inshore fisherman Jan De Jonghe and attended by a variety of commercial fishermen from the UK, Belgium and Holland as well as staff from the Low Impact Fishers of Europe Platform [LIFE] and researchers from the Marine Institute, highlighted […]

Thejournal.ie reports 26th November 2017: A branch of the European Union has voted to allow an untested type of fishing that sends electric shocks through the seabed. The European Parliament fisheries committee decided to allow “electric pulse” fishing to be considered conventional, a move which would allow EU states to licence it like any other […]

Britishseafishing.co.uk reported in 2012, updated 2017: Pulse trawling (also known as electro trawling and electric pulse trawling) is a technologically advanced — and highly controversial — method of commercial fishing which has only been used on an experimental basis up until now, but appears to making a major breakthrough into mainstream commercial fishing across Europe’s […]

BBC News reports, 14th February 2017: As the latest figures reveal a significant drop in the weight of Scottish salmon being farmed in the last three months of 2016, BBC Scotland’s Business and Economy editor Douglas Fraser considers the impact of sea lice on the industry. Marinet Note: The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation reported in […]

The Daily Telegraph reports, 12th August 2017: Salmon farming has done ‘enormous harm’ to fish stocks and the environment, Jeremy Paxman has warned, as he called for an overhaul of the industry to protect wildlife. The presenter, and keen angler, said many fisheries traded on the image that salmon arrived at the table ‘fresh from […]

Salmon and Trout Conservation Scotland reports, 30th October 2017: Following the formal decision (see link below) by the Scottish Information Commissioner that Scottish Ministers unlawfully tried to withhold information naming fish farms that had breached Scottish Government trigger levels for the numbers of adult female sea lice on farmed salmon, S&TC Scotland has now received […]

The Wildlife Trusts, October 2017: A unique chance for the UK to become a world leader in marine management. Seize the moment! In 2019 the UK plans to leave the European Union. While it is important that we retain existing EU law through the Withdrawal Bill and anticipated Fisheries and Agriculture Bills, this departure is […]

WWF News Release, 26th October 2017: WWF has launched a new report which reveals that the UK and devolved governments are not comprehensively monitoring UK fishing activities at sea. A pioneering and far more cost effective alternative — Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) with cameras and sensors — is available however, that could make the UK […]

DeSmogCanada reports, 23rd August 2017: Disturbing New Footage Shows Diseased, Deformed Salmon in B.C. Fish Farms. Marinet Note: Before reading this story, we recommend you view first this 3 minute video made in connection with the story — click the Facebook link here. New footage released to DeSmog Canada shows deformed and disfigured salmon at […]