Saving Seafood

International & Trade

Electrofishing: Saviour of the sea or fracking of the oceans?

August 17, 2017 — The Netherlands is testing a new technique to fish – using electric currents. Electrofishing is controversial and is banned by the EU, but can be used on an experimental basis. Critics argue it is cruel because it breaks the backs of some larger cod. But advocates say it is less damaging for the environment than traditional beam trawling. James Clayton reports for BBC Newsnight.

Watch the video from BBC Newsnight on YouTube

Too Big To Ignore explores challenges to sustainable development of local fisheries

August 10, 2017 — Two years after FAO member states agreed to adopt a human rights-based approach to governing the small-scale fisheries in their countries, researchers invested in the development of small-scale fisheries have released a book outlining progress made in implementing those reforms and the challenges in doing so.

The book, “Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines: Global Implementation,”  reviews countries’ efforts thus far to implement the human rights-based principles, otherwise known as  Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries, at the local level. Comprising essays and case studies by more than 90 authors from academia, the FAO, and civil society, it also considers the need to contextualize the guidelines to fit local circumstances.

Edited by researchers associated with Too Big To Ignore, a research network and global partnership dedicated to the promotion and support of small-scale fisheries, the book considers case studies in 34 countries, including the Pacific, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Who Governs the High Seas?

Creating, coordinating, and implementing international ocean policy is a complex and time-consuming endeavor.

August 10, 2017 — The earth’s surface is more than 70% ocean, more water than land, a mass of blue connecting disconnected green. Nation states claim up to 200 miles from their coasts as areas of “national jurisdiction” over which they have the power to exploit, consume, and regulate. But the vast majority of the ocean lies outside those boundaries—the high seas—an enormous reservoir of biodiversity that presents a very difficult challenge for governance and enforcement, for protection and sustainability.

In 1967 international diplomats, representing some 160 countries, began discussions and negotiations for what became in 1973 the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that, in 1994, was ratified as a means “to define the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s ocean, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.”

Since the ratification of the Law of the Sea, international experts have been considering and debating how to create a binding instrument to address the changing accessibility of marine areas outside national jurisdiction and the new technologies, increased scientific knowledge, and expanding resource demands that impact them.

Read the full story at HuffPost

Brexit Britain: The Island Nation’s Fishermen and the Battle With the EU

August 7, 2017 — NEWQUAY, England — Fisherman Phil Trebilcock is tired of being told there are not enough fish in the sea.

“On the east coast of Cornwall there are fish swimming up the beaches but they’re not allowed to catch them,” he said, hauling pots of spider crabs out of a choppy Celtic Sea recently. “They should take more advice from the fishermen, and less from the scientists.”

Trebilcock is bridling against European Union quotas that dictate how much fish British vessels can land — in some cases prompting fishermen to dump dead fish back into the water if they have caught more than they are allocated.

And that’s not all. The fisherman ticked off his grievances with the EU regulations: quotas, too much paperwork and too many foreign boats chasing fish in British waters.

So it is no surprise that last year Trebilcock joined 52 percent of the voting public to chose to leave the EU, or “Brexit.”

The country fishing industry accounts for less than 0.5 percent of Britain’s GDP but has nevertheless become a symbol of resistance to what many believe are onerous and damaging EU regulations. So as negotiations between the U.K. and EU ramp up in the coming months, one of the many sticking points will be around shared waters.

In spite of the iconic place that fishermen have within the Brexit camp, the industry is actually divided. While many of those who do the catching are cheering the move, a good number of those who process the catch are fretting over the upcoming divorce.

“We have more to lose from Brexit than to gain from it, definitely,” said Julian Harvey, a partner at W. Harvey and Sons, a shellfish wholesaler and processor in Cornwall on the southwest coast of England.

Read the full story at NBC News

Nations Will Start Talks to Protect Fish of the High Seas

August 2, 2017 — UNITED NATIONS — More than half of the world’s oceans belong to no one, which often makes their riches ripe for plunder.

Now, countries around the world have taken the first step to protect the precious resources of the high seas. In late July, after two years of talks, diplomats at the United Nations recommended starting treaty negotiations to create marine protected areas in waters beyond national jurisdiction — and in turn, begin the high-stakes diplomatic jostling over how much to protect and how to enforce rules.

“The high seas are the biggest reserve of biodiversity on the planet,” Peter Thomson, the ambassador of Fiji and current president of the United Nations General Assembly, said in an interview after the negotiations. “We can’t continue in an ungoverned way if we are concerned about protecting biodiversity and protecting marine life.”

Without a new international system to regulate all human activity on the high seas, those international waters remain “a pirate zone,” Mr. Thomson said.

Lofty ambitions, though, are likely to collide with hard-knuckled diplomatic bargaining. Some countries resist the creation of a new governing body to regulate the high seas, arguing that existing regional organizations and rules are sufficient. The commercial interests are powerful. Russian and Norwegian vessels go to the high seas for krill fishing; Japanese and Chinese vessels go there for tuna. India and China are exploring the seabed in international waters for valuable minerals. Many countries are loath to adopt new rules that would constrain them.

Read the full story at the New York Times

Australia Seeks to Extend Commercial Fishing in Protected Waters

July 21, 2017 — Australia plans to allow fishing across 80 percent of its protected maritime sanctuaries, the government said on Friday in a proposal that would vastly extend commercial activity in the world’s largest marine-reserves network.

If the plan, backed by the government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, is approved by Parliament, it would be the first time a nation has scaled back its regulations in protected maritime areas. The move could potentially set a precedent for other countries, including the United States, which are considering similar reversals.

More than one-third of Australia’s waters — home to endangered species of sharks, turtles and whales — are protected by law.

Under the government’s proposal, “the boundaries of Australian Marine Parks will not change,” Josh Frydenberg, the environment minister, said in a statement. Instead, he said, the country would increase “the total area of the reserves open to fishing from 64 percent to 80 percent.”

Much of the increased fishing would take place in the Coral Sea Reserve, one of the country’s most stringently protected areas, where large-scale operations would be allowed for first time in at least five years. Most fishing is now prohibited in the park, off the continent’s northeast coast, by a so-called no-take zone.

Read the full story at the New York Times

International Seafood Sustainability Foundation Releases Behind-the-Scenes Video of Bycatch Mitigation Tests on Silky Sharks in Honor of Shark Awareness Day

Tuna fisheries conservation group shares dynamic footage of scientists testing  a method to save sharks incidentally caught in a tuna purse seine net

July 14, 2017 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation: 

In honor of Shark Awareness Day 2017, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has released a new video that shows ISSF scientists testing a method to save sharks incidentally caught in a tuna purse seine net.  ISSF has a history of testing best practices for bycatch mitigation and sharing these findings through scientific reports, info-graphics and now video. The findings of this particular video were encouraging, with electronic tag data showing that 100 percent of tagged sharks survived past 21 days post-release. ISSF believes this could be a relatively simple way for fishers to prevent sharks from becoming entangled when they’re caught in nets, and to free them quickly without harm.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I02yHtnSrDE

Tuna a hot topic at meeting of Pacific fisheries officials in Australia

July 7, 2017 — Fisheries ministers from countries belonging to the Forum Fisheries Agency are meeting in Australia this week to discuss the future of tuna fisheries under increasing pressure from overfishing.

The 17-member FFA helps to manage fisheries in the Pacific Ocean, with specific emphasis on the marine economic zones of Pacific Island countries. It provides strategic fisheries management advice on the management of fish stocks, monitoring, and surveillance of fishing activities and trade and market access for its members.

Australia’s assistant minister for agriculture and water resources, Anne Ruston, opened the 14th Forum Fisheries Committee Ministerial Meeting in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia by pledging in-depth conversations on the sustainable management of fisheries in the Pacific, particularly tuna fisheries.

“In 2015, the global tuna catch was valued at around USD 4.8 billion (EUR 4.2 billion) and almost half of this was caught in the waters of Forum Fisheries Agency member nations, including Australia,” Ruston said. “These tuna fisheries are an important economic resource for Pacific Island nations and it is vital for the future of these nations that they are managed sustainably.

Ruston said hoped the meeting could help create an outline for the FFA’s agenda for the next year, including priorities for the 14th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, according to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Mexico bans drift gillnets in Gulf of California in last-ditch effort to save vaquita

July 7, 2017 –Mexico’s government and American aid groups are taking drastic actions to preserve the vaquita, a critically endangered species of porpoise endemic to the northern Gulf of California.

Scientists estimate there are only 30 individual vaquita remaining, all residing in the upper area of what is also known as the Sea of Cortez. The primary threat facing the vaquita are driftnets used by fishermen fishing illegally for totoaba, another endangered species highly valued in China for its supposed medicinal properties.

On 30 June, in response to the vaquita’s dwindling numbers, the Mexican government instituted a permanent ban on drift gillnets in the Gulf of California (previous versions of the ban had been temporary measures). In addition, the government established more stringent monitoring measures and made it mandatory for fishermen to report all fishing gear they lose in the area, according to the Associated Press.

Mexico had been facing mounting pressure to take more comprehensive action to save the vaquita, including from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, as well as from international non-governmental organizations. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto posted several times on Twitter in June signaling he would enact more stringent measures to protect the vaquita, and shared a statement on the social media network after signing a memorandum of understanding committing to the gillnet ban.

“We have implemented a historic effort to avoid the extinction of a unique species, the vaquita marina, and to protect our ecosystem,” he wrote.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

EU Discard Ban Stimulates Innovation and Improved Cross-Sectoral Communication

July 7, 2017 — The following is a report written by Dr. Bill Karp, Affiliate Professor at University of Washington:

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) governs fisheries management in the European Union and is, very roughly equivalent to the Magnuson-Stevens Act in the US. The CFP is updated (reformed) every ten years. Article 15 of the 2013 reform is entitled “Landing Obligation” and includes the following text:

  1. All catches of species which are subject to catch limits and, in the Mediterranean, also catches of species which are subject to minimum sizes as defined in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006, caught during fishing activities in Union waters or by Union fishing vessels outside Union waters in waters not subject to third countries’ sovereignty or jurisdiction, in the fisheries and geographical areas listed below shall be brought and retained on board the fishing vessels, recorded, landed and counted against the quotas where applicable, except when used as live bait, in accordance with the following time-frames:

For further details (including exceptions) see http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013R1380&rid=1

This “Landing Obligation” or discard ban was enacted in response to public concerns regarding perceived wasteful practices. It is being implemented over several years, initially in the more industrialized, large scale fisheries of northern Europe. Many concerns about practicability, cost, and other aspects have been raised and hotly debated in Europe, but implementation is proceeding.

As expected, this change in public policy has directly impacted many aspects of fishing, handling, processing, and marketing. The EU has funded several projects designed to encourage cross-sectoral engagement to improve gear selectivity, share information on avoiding unwanted catch (spatial, areal, etc.), encourage advances in handling, stimulate marketing opportunities, etc. Among these initiatives is a project called “DiscardLess” which is a four-year, multi-million Euro project. Through this project, researchers and stakeholders from throughout Europe and elsewhere are working together to reduce discards in European fisheries. The DiscardLess Consortium includes 31 partners from 20 countries.

Participants include fishermen, gear technologists, economists, handling, processing and marketing experts, and marine scientists. Work packages within the project focus on selectivity, avoidance, optimal use, ecosystem considerations, and policy aspects. Work began more than two years ago, and some important results are already apparent. For example, the Atlas, and Selectivity Manual provide broad-based and comprehensive information, much of which will be useful to US fishermen. See http://www.discardless.eu/ to download these products and learn more about the DiscardLess project. For an excellent short video about DiscardLess, see https://player.vimeo.com/video/206395350