News
February 24, 2009
EU Commission mistakes West for North
Following complaints from Scottish fishermen, the European Ombudsman has asked the Commission to correct “an administrative error”, mistaking waters west of Scotland for the North Sea, and allocate more fishing days there for some vessels. During his investigation, the Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros confirmed that the Commission had erroneously interchanged the data in two columns … Continued
February 24, 2009
Sweden considers quotas for poisonous, but good, fish
In the wake of dwindling cod stocks in the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, the quest for the poisonous but tasty Greater weever has intensified so much that the Swedish Board of Fisheries considers restrictions. Denmark already implements a national quota of 400 tons annually for the Greater weever (Trachinus draco), and an even lower limit … Continued
February 19, 2009
Fishermen, not processors, leave deepest carbon footprint, study says
The fishing itself is still the dominant part of the chain when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, with processing and packaging typically leaving less than 10 per cent of the carbon footprint, a new British study shows. As for imported fish, some “simple strategies”, such as moving from air-freighting fresh fish to transporting high-quality … Continued
February 19, 2009
Rising importance of aquaculture, WWF scientist predicts
A WWF scientist recently hailed the controversial aquaculture industry as “the future”, predicting doubled production over the next two decades. “It will be a major industry in the (developing) South and will be a major source of employment and income, replacing wild catch in terms of importance,” said Jason Clay, a scientist with the U.S. … Continued
February 18, 2009
Climate change will move fish, too
Climate change may soon shift the world sea fish stocks dramatically, a new scientific study shows. Some northern countries may benefit, but shifts of more than 200 kilometres polewards by 2050 will hurt tropical, mostly developing nations badly, according to the study, lead by Dr William Cheung, and presented at the recent American Association for … Continued
February 13, 2009
Ground-breaking US Arctic fisheries ban
A unanimous decision by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has banned all future industrial fisheries in US waters north of the Bering Strait. The move is preventive: there are currently no large-scale commercial fisheries operating in the area, covering nearly 200,000 square miles (518,000 square kilometres), but the diminishing Arctic icecap caused by … Continued
February 13, 2009
Some say “Good”, some say “Not good enough” about EU Shark Plan
The new European Union Action Plan for the Conservation and Management of Sharks, released by the Commission last week, has met mixed reactions from conservationist NGO’s. The Oceana organisation expressed “disappointment” that it was not as ambitious as expected, while The Shark Alliance said it represented “a great step forward for the conservation of sharks … Continued
February 12, 2009
Sweden to implement transferable quotas
As a part of a plan with the goal of reducing the nation’s trawler feet by a third, the Swedish Government today introduced a proposal for transferable fishing rights in pelagic fishing. According to the proposal, it will be possible for some vessels to take over allotted quotas from other fishers, thereby improving the profitability … Continued
February 12, 2009
Multi-dimensional approach in new study of Canadian fisheries
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for fisheries in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia is almost back to the level before the groundfish collapse of the early 1990’s, but a new study suggests that it may mask great underlying problems, as it did two decades ago. The report, published by the Nova Scotia-based GPIAtlantic organisation, … Continued
February 10, 2009
American lobster threat to Sweden
American lobsters on the lam may constitute an ecological threat to its European cousins, experts say After more than a dozen findings along the Norwegian coast and an American lobster (Homarus americanus) was caught off Lysekil on the Swedish Skagerrak Coast last fall, the Swedish Board of Fisheries offered an award for anyone handing in … Continued