News
February 2, 2010
New beginning for blind turtle
A turtle that was intentionally blinded by Greek fishermen has been flown to start a new life in England. His name is Homer. The much-travelled loggerhead turtle of 56 kilos was admitted to an Athens rescue centre with one eye missing and one eye poked out in 2007. According to the rescue centre, Greek fishermen … Continued
February 2, 2010
Poland on CFP: Ecological objectives must be prioritised, ITQs considered
The next EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) should focus on ecological objectives over social and economic, the Polish government says in its official response to the Commission’s Green Paper on the future CFP. In order to address the deep rooted problem of capacity, the Polish response acclaims the positives of the ITQ system. Providing healthy … Continued
February 2, 2010
Icelandic trawler protest
Protesting a Government plan to revoke an old ”tax rebate”, most trawlers in the Westman Islands region of Iceland have been returning to port prematurely lately. The Westman Islands is one of the largest fishing regions in that fisheries-dependent nation. The tax rebate, currently around €5.5 a day spent at sea, is the only similar … Continued
February 2, 2010
Carp threat still on, White House to listen
The U.S. Supreme court decision to reject a proposal to cut off the Illinois river from Lake Michigan, a move to prevent a fugitive carp species from invading and shifting the eco-balance in the world’s largest freshwater lake system, has triggered initiatives to both introduce the issue in the US Congress and gather a White … Continued
February 2, 2010
Two large countries fight over one small shrimp
A dispute between Canada and Denmark over just a symbolic shrimp catch may be a sign of what to expect as warming waters and receding icecaps loom in the future for the northern Atlantic and Arctic. The area just outside the Canadian economic zone off Newfoundland, in international waters, is managed under a Northwest Atlantic … Continued
January 28, 2010
Rebooted EU-Norway talks result in deal
The EU and Norway have finally struck a deal on 2010 TACs after lengthy negotiations, with Scotland, seeing itself as hardest-pressed EU member, expressing mixed reactions. The major dividing point when those annual negotiations collapsed last December was the interpretation of a 1994 mackerel agreement, where the EU had stopped Norwegian vessels from catching that … Continued
January 28, 2010
OCEAN2012 on PECH report: “Not enough”
The European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee has adopted a report on CFP reform that admits that “ecological sustainability is the basic premise also for the economic and social future”, the report however immediately quashed by a key NGO as a “missed opportunity”. The report, based on compromise amendments agreed by rapporteur and political groups shortly before … Continued
January 27, 2010
That’s how much more fish could have been caught…
Had fisheries management been sustainable, EU catches could have been 80 percent higher, scientists behind a new study say. Meanwhile, the study points out that maintaining or restoring fish stocks at levels that are capable of producing maximum sustainable yield is a legal obligation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea … Continued
January 26, 2010
New challenge to MSC certification
A step towards certifying the Canadian sockeye salmon fishery has been another target for criticism of the MSC eco-labelling process. Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of that fishery in British Columbia as ecologically sustainable is “corporate eco-fraud”, said Vicky Husband, a senior adviser to the Watershed Watch Salmon Society. “Its credibility will be lost to … Continued
January 26, 2010
Glum future for miserable fish
The sad-looking blobfish has good reason for it: it swims about on great Australian depths on the verge of extinction. The fish, with an unfortunate name and an appearance appreciated by few but his mother, is living on depths below 800 metres, a habitat it has the bad fortune of sharing with crabs and lobsters, … Continued