News
November 17, 2009
Management does save fish, study shows
Stock management really does work in rebuilding depleted fisheries, a new study shows. The study, published in the Science magazine, was done on ten of the world’s largest marine communities. It examined the range of fishing rates that could provide high yields while maintaining most species from both a commercial and conservation perspective. It also … Continued
November 12, 2009
SARFISH briefing on Ministers’ desks
The second briefing from FISH/Seas At Risk to EU Fisheries Ministers and other stakeholders has been sent out for the November 19-20 Council meeting. In the SARFISH project, a letter with a summary of our standpoints on issues up for decision, and a lengthier “annex” on each of those agenda points with background material, is sent … Continued
November 11, 2009
Selecting the right catch
The Scottish Government is funding a test of five Scottish trawlers’ use of selective fishing gear to the tune of €280,000. The aim of the gear is to reduce cod discards while enabling fishers to land valuable seabed-dwelling species such as monkfish and flatfish. Thereby, helping fishers to avoid taking catches they have no quota … Continued
November 10, 2009
Fish are going north for the cool, study shows
Many fish stocks are fleeing warming waters, moving northward and off-shore, some of them now all but extinct in US waters, a new American study shows. The survey, performed by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) science centre in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, studied 36 stocks in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of … Continued
November 10, 2009
“MSC label not always so certain”
Concern is rising among some environmentalist groups over the MSC eco-label turning lax. The ten-year old London-based Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) scheme today comprehends almost 60 fisheries that have been certified to be sustainable, with a further more than 100 in the process of being assessed. For instance, the cooperation between the World Wide Fund … Continued
November 10, 2009
FISH to stage Warsaw workshop
For NGOs in the Baltic area in general, and those in Poland in particular, FISH will host a best practice workshop on the upcoming CFP reform in Warsaw on December 16. The main objectives of the meeting are threefold: To provide successful ideas and methods for how to create change in fisheries policy by working … Continued
November 5, 2009
Polish Anglers protest hydropower plant investments
Three angler groups have joined in a day of action in eleven Polish cities in support of a moratorium on the construction of small hydropower plants on the nation’s rivers. Large investor interest in construction of hydropower plants in recent years has generated more challenges for the already low wild salmon populations and put river … Continued
November 4, 2009
Dragging Doha talks save subsidies for fisheries
Attempts to reduce global fisheries subsidies are suffering from the slow, or non-existent, progress in world trade talks, environmentalists fear. A study by the University of British Colombia three years ago found that global fisheries subsidies amount to $30-34 billion a year, some $20 billion of which increases the capacity of fleets to fish longer, … Continued
November 4, 2009
Nordic Parliamentarians dissing discards
The European Union should do more to prevent discards in fisheries, a statement from a Nordic Council committee says. The Nordic Council is an inter-parliamentary body for Sweden. Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland, and its Environment and Natural Resources Committee will later submit its view on the upcoming reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), … Continued
November 4, 2009
Big regional differences in environmental impact from salmon farms, study shows
A study of some aspects of farmed salmon’s impact on the environment shows Norway as best in class, while the UK industry received the worst grades. The study, “Not all salmon created equal”, a cooperation between scientists in Sweden and North and Latin America, was published online in the Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) journal. A … Continued