News
January 11, 2011
Sweden-Norway brawl over Skagerrak rules
Differing views on which treaty to follow for fishing in the Norwegian zone of the Skagerrak may lead to Swedish fishermen being taken to court in Norway. Norway says it will require Swedish fishermen in those waters to follow Norwegian rules, including a discard ban and 120 millimetre minimum mesh size, while Sweden says that … Continued
January 11, 2011
Scared fish react as you or me
Fish response to threats is of two kinds and not much unlike the ways humans handle a scary situation, a Swedish professor says: they fight or hide or flee, or they just lie down and hope the unpleasantness will go away. Professor Svante Winberg, a professor of fish physiology at Uppsala University, explained in a … Continued
January 5, 2011
New Study: MPAs help fish stocks far away
A recent study has proven that creating Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can have a positive effect on spawning, though drifting larvae, for stocks more than 150 kilometres away. “We already know that marine reserves will grow larger fish and some of them will leave that specific area, what we call spillover – now we’ve clearly … Continued
January 5, 2011
Swedish fishermen may get, not bigger, but longer TACs
Sweden’s 50 trawlers with license to catch cod in the Baltic will have their quotas allotted for a whole year, the Board of Fisheries has proposed. After gradually stepping up the given period from what used to be a week to a quarter-year in 2010, the Board now hopes that rations for a full year … Continued
December 30, 2010
Global fishing running out of waters
Reaching a turning point in a historic era of expansion, the world’s fishing industry ten years ago basically ran out of new places to fish, a new study shows. So far, fishing vessels have been able to solve the problem by continually moving to less depleted waters, the researchers say, but warn that we are … Continued
December 28, 2010
We just want our share, Iceland says
Responding to the first EU moves to lock Icelandic fishermen out from Union ports over the mackerel conflict, Iceland angrily accused the EU and Norway of “overfishing” the disputed stock. Pressing for an understanding of his country’s view, Iceland’s chief mackerel negotiator Tomas H. Heidar pointed out that out of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) … Continued
December 28, 2010
Sweden talks tough on eel
The Swedish Board of Fisheries has decided on new tough measures to protect the waning eel, including a total fishing ban along the west coast in 2012, and increased minimum length in the Baltic Sea and freshwater areas. A study published recently by the agency found that eel removal from Swedish waters had gone down … Continued
December 28, 2010
Happy meal for Scottish salmon farmers
Worth almost 600 million euros, and with 70 percent of businesses involved saying that they want to grow “sustainably” over the next five years, Scotland’s salmon farming industry is seeing no recession about. Announcing that the sector had created 234 new jobs in 2010, the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO) said that was good news … Continued
December 27, 2010
EU flexing muscles in mackerel conflict
Just a week after crucial talks on mackerel quotas broke down, EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki has taken the first step in blocking Icelandic fishing vessels from landing catches in Union ports. According to the British Daily Mail newspaper, Maria Damanaki has made a formal request to the European Economic Area (EEA) to meet before … Continued
December 27, 2010
Extended ban on eel exports
Moves by powerful forces to circumvent the European Union’s ban on eel exports to third nations, particularly the Asian market which offers exorbitant prices, have been finally averted – for at least a year. Just days before the glass eel fishing season was to begin on 1 November, the EU Commission issued a “clarification” establishing … Continued