News
April 8, 2010
MSC to open Stockholm office
Proclaiming new Swedish partnerships, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) announced that it will open a local office in Stockholm. In an unrelated development, a producers organisation declared that they are seeking MSC certification for their North Atlantic mackerel fishery. MSC, the BalticSea 2020 Foundation and the Swedish Postcode Lottery have agreed to work together to … Continued
April 6, 2010
Damanaki expecting/hopeful on Western Sahara
The EU Commission still awaits more detailed information from Morocco on where proceeds go from fisheries off occupied Western Sahara, but Commissioner Maria Damanaki underlines that, according to the Commission, some activities do benefit the people there. Ms. Damanaki’s statement was made in response to a question from Isabella Lövin, a Swedish Green member of … Continued
April 6, 2010
UK creating the world’s largest MPA
Banning industrial fishing in an area twice the size of the UK, Great Britain is creating the world’s largest marine reserve in the Indian Ocean. The 545,000-sq-km reserve, or Marine Protected Area (MPA), around the Chagos Islands, regarded as one of the world’s richest marine ecosystems, hosts the world’s biggest living coral structure, the Great … Continued
April 6, 2010
Fish for Thought: ‘The End of the Line’ screened in Warsaw
FISH, along with OCEAN2012 and WWF, recently organised and hosted a screening of the fisheries documentary, “The End of the Line”, followed by a panel discussion between representatives from different sectors of the fishing debate. The film screening intended to raise awareness and disseminate information regarding the dire plight of fisheries and the continuous destruction … Continued
April 6, 2010
£450 windfall for UK fisherwomen
British women in fisheries management can now benefit from a €500-plus training program aimed at supporting women in male-dominated industries. The training grant is available through Lantra’s Women and Work programme, Lantra being the Sector Skills Council for environmental and land-based industries, working with 17 industries across the whole of the United Kingdom. The £450 … Continued
April 6, 2010
We won’t go seismic, Norwegian fishers say
Some fishermen in Norway’s dominating fishing district of Lofoten are threatening to block an upcoming seismic survey they claim is threatening their fisheries. Others have accepted an offer of financial compensation in return for remaining in harbour while the tests by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate are carried out in their region. By law, the fishermen have first … Continued
March 31, 2010
EU subsidises overfishing, new study shows
A new report shows a clear link between overfishing and EU subsidies. The study, released by Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management, a consulting firm, and the Pew Environment Group, shows how between 2000-2006 ten member states were handed 93 percent of €4.9billion in fisheries subsidies. “Of the funding analysed, 29 percent went to measures that would … Continued
March 31, 2010
No slow track for Italy
EU’s fisheries ministers turned down Italy’s request to their March Council meeting for more time to implement technical measures prescribed by a regulation from 2006. The Italian move had been supported by Cyprus and Spain, but Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki reminded the ministers that the member states have had three years to implement the rules … Continued
March 30, 2010
If you thought THAT tuna bid was bad…
After the rejection of a proposal to ban international trade in the Atlantic bluefin tuna, some experts now say that its southern cousin is even closer to extinction. The Atlantic bluefin stock, for which all protective measures were voted down at the CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar, in March, has decreased by about three quarters … Continued
March 30, 2010
First link found between fish stocks/climate change
American scientists have developed a model that may be used to forecast the impact of climate change on different fish stocks: good for some, bad for others. The study, performed by scientists from NOAA, the federal body that administers fisheries, and published by the Ecological Society of America, was made on the Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias … Continued