International & Trade

MARINE conservation organisation Oceana is calling for the EU to follow scientific advice in determining the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of anchovy in the Bay of Biscay.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has proposed a TAC of 6,000 tonnes according to the precautionary approach, which would ensure that another anchovy collapse like that of 2005 does not happen again.

Ricardo Aguilar, Research Director of Oceana in Europe, said: “Anchovy in the Gulf of Biscay is an incredibly vulnerable stock. In spite of being a short-lived species, it has taken the stock almost five years to recover from the collapse which occurred in 2005. This slow recovery was due to low recruitment episodes, whose causes are still unknown. This situation not only threatens the continuance of this species, but also the livelihoods of fishermen. The current situation necessitates a TAC of 6.000 tonnes in accordance with the precautionary approach.”

Read the complete story from Fish News EU.

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 15, 2010 – Her Majesty seems to know exactly what she fancies as she inspects local produce in a Scots fishing village yesterday – some fresh QUEEN scallops.

Thousands turned out to welcome the Queen and Prince Philip to Kirkcudbright as they toured Dumfries and Galloway.

Chef Carlo Bignami, 52, and wife Heather served the shellfish cooked in Cointreau to the Royal couple.

Heather, also 52 – who runs Carlo's restaurant in nearby Castle Douglas – said: "The Queen called Philip over to try some. He was very interested in what liquor was used in the recipe – he seemed to like it."

Read the complete story from The Sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 14, 2010 – Ted Danson, award-winning actor, longtime ocean advocate and Oceana board member, testified  today before the Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness of the Senate Committee on Finance. In the hearing entitled Marine Wealth: Promoting Conservation and Advancing American Exports, Danson described how government subsidies negatively impact the oceans and global seafood market as well as explained why sustainable fishing is necessary to preserve ocean health and jobs.

“There’s an inextricable link between ocean conservation and global competitiveness,” said Danson. “It’s quite simple – No fish. No fishermen. No future.”

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is currently engaged in a dedicated negotiation on fisheries subsidies as part of the Doha trade round. Yet despite international consensus on the dire state of the oceans, many governments continue to provide major subsidies to their fishing sectors. These subsidies promote overfishing by pushing fleets to fish longer, harder and farther away than would otherwise be economically feasible.

Read the complete story from Oceana.

 

 

 

 

 

It might not be the "Cheers" bar, but everyone is still sure to know his name when actor Ted Danson appears before the Senate Finance Committee this week.

Danson, famous for his role as Sam Malone on the long-running television series "Cheers," is scheduled to testify Wednesday at a hearing on fishing and international trade. A longtime advocate for marine conservation, Danson will be representing Oceana and is expected to call for the United States to use international trade negotiations to press other nations to repeal fishing subsidies.

The International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness Subcommittee will look at "marine wealth" and options to support and advance U.S. seafood exports. The hearing is intended to explore how U.S. fish and seafood producers can compete in global markets and promote ocean conservation, according to the committee.

Read the complete story from the New York Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The European Union's executive wants to allow Spanish and French fisherman to catch some 30 percent of the anchovies in the Bay of Biscay over the next year, only months after it lifted a total fishing ban imposed because they were in danger of disappearing.

The EU allowed anchovy fishing in the region last December under pressure from the Spanish and French governments after banning it for four years.

It says scientists confirm that the number of anchovies is now "in a good state" and able to replenish itself from limited catches.

Read the complete story at The Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

Eight years after it was banned, in Italy, other types of illegal driftnets are still being used. They end the lives of thousands of cetaceans and turtles each year.

Oceana considers this morning’s surrender of 250 km of illegal driftnets positive. The nets were used to catch swordfish by fishermen from Bagnara Calabra. Even so, the international marine conservation organization underlines that this act does not mean the end of driftnets in Italy. Oceana has reported the activity of hundreds of kilometers of illegal driftnets of vessels in this port for years. This has been done both along the coast and on the high seas by vessels that had collected substantial subsidies to reconvert them.

Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe, has celebrated that at last, after almost a one-year blockade of this port by the coast guard, the fishermen in this bastion of driftnet use have surrendered their nets to be destroyed. However, he added: ”The nets should have been confiscated by the authorities years ago and the subsidies returned. This is not a voluntary return. This port has a longstanding tradition of illegal practices, and we are asking the Administration not to make this into a measure for the media alone and continue the historic permissiveness toward this destructive fishing gear. Driftnets must be completely and permanently done away with.”

Read the complete story from Oceana.

 

 

 

 

 

Gabriel Guitard, a fisherman from the small community of Pointe-Verte roughly 30 kilometres northwest of Bathurst, said the drop in scallops is due to over-fishing. "In the last 10 years there was more fishermen than ever," said Guitard. "There's too many boats for the little area we have." The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has decided to suspend the scallop-fishing season for one season. Ernest Ferguson, department spokesman, said the department will monitor scallop levels in the region over the next year. "A decision was made to stop for a year. And then have a discussion with the union, with the fishermen in 2011 to see what should be done for next year," Ferguson said. Yvon Arseneau, another northern fisherman in Pointe-Verte, said he's pleased the federal fisheries department complied with the local request even if it didn't quite as far as originally proposed. "For once, I think [the Department of] Fisheries and Oceans listened to the fishermen and we're very happy with the decision," Arseneau said. "It seems like people there now are looking for the future of the fishery, and it's good."   Read the CBC News story in full      

The European Commission is closing the bluefin tuna fishing season early because of depleted stocks, imposing a ban that will take effect on Thursday.

The ban covers fishing grounds in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic.

It affects industrial purse seine fishing, which accounts for more than 70% of the annual EU tuna catch, the Commission says.

The fleets are concentrated in France, Spain and Italy. The season was originally due to end on 15 June.

Purse seine nets have a rope that is drawn through rings to trap the fish, like a drawstring.

Read the complete story at The BBC.

 

 

 

 

 

While the world has been recently transfixed with the awe, beauty and power of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull, we at EDFish have been thinking about the other wonders of Iceland, namely what occurs under the vast ocean surrounding the island nation.  Located on some of the most historically productive fishing banks in the world, Iceland has long been a nation based on fishing, and this is reflected in their aim “to ensure the sustainability of the fisheries while emphasizing the economic benefits of the fisheries sector.”

In fact, Iceland’s annual marine catch has average 1.1 million metric tons; almost 2% of the global marine harvest.  This catch is directly responsible for 8% of Iceland’s gross domestic product. Up to 1/5 of the nation’s GDP is directly and indirectly attributable to the fishing industry!  At the same time the industry has been very profitable in recent years. Clearly the entire nation benefits from the fishing sector. But, this hasn’t always been the case.

Profitability of the Icelandic fishing industry was poor and declining until the implementation of Individual Transferable Quota systems, a form of catch shares.  Iceland first implemented ITQs in the herring fishing in 1976.  The program was expanded to demersal fisheries in 1984, to nearly all fisheries in 1991, and in 2004 to incorporate all commercial vessels into the system.  The catch share system is “the cornerstone of the fisheries management system.”   The value of the ITQs has increased greatly since 1984 (from about US $25 million to around US$4 billion) due to introduction of more species and sectors into the system and higher unit value of ITQs.

Read the complete story at EDF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Environmental group Oceana is calling for an increase in marine protected areas worldwide to avoid the collapse of fishery resources that some scientific studies are foreseeing for the middle of this century.

Oceana says ecological and economic riches are being squandered, which in turn stalls the protection of seabeds, endangering many species and compromising the subsistence of millions of people.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has only evaluated the conservation status of 2,100 species, and for one third of these species, it acknowledges that its data are insufficient. “The loss of marine biodiversity is hurtling at an unprecedented pace, and many species are disappearing before they can even be studied due to factors such as climate change, pollution, overfishing or destruction of their habitats,” said Xavier Pastor, executive director of Oceana Europe.

Read the complete story at Fish News EU.