Category Archives: Fisheries
EU takes bold new action on illegal fishing
Spanish officials today seized over £4 million worth of illegally caught fish landed in the Canary Islands. It is thought the move is the start of a new EU scheme to prevent to deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated … Continue reading
The Big Fish Fight is on
Half of all fish caught in the North Sea are thrown back dead. This is due to strict fishing quotas set out by the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) that limit the number of fish landed each day. Although these … Continue reading
Destruction of coral reefs and pristine marine habitats by deep sea trawling
A survey of the world’s reefs and sea mounts has revealed that deep-sea trawling is causing widespread destruction of marine habitats. Deep-sea trawlers drag giant nets over the seafloor, destroying habitat over huge areas. Cold water coral reefs in temperate … Continue reading
Rebuilding Fish Stocks to Restore Fisheries
New research published in the journal Science shows that efforts made to rebuild depleted fish stocks are worthwhile and can be successful. An international team of researchers evaluated the condition of marine fisheries and the effects of fishing in ten … Continue reading
European Commission Launches New Effort to Reform the Common Fisheries Policy
The European Commission today launched its next attempt to reform the much-maligned Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The last round of reform was only completed in 2002, but as the EU itself acknowledges in today’s Green Paper, many of Europe’s fish … Continue reading
‘Save the Albatross’ Campaign a Remarkable Success
The outlook for endangered albatross species has dramatically improved, thanks to the success of an international conservation programme implemented by the RSPB and Birdlife International. The Albatross Task Force (ATF) was established in 2006 in order to reduce the number … Continue reading
Questions Over Future of Fast Food Fish
As popular white fish species such as cod, face fisheries collapse, pollock has increasingly been an essential alternative. For instance the kid’s favourite, Fish Fingers, now increasingly consist of pollock rather than cod, as do McDonald’s ‘Filet-o-Fish.’ Perhaps the pollock’s … Continue reading
Larger Fish Produce Hardier Offspring
Research published in the Royal Society’s Biology Letters journal suggests that fisheries management must consider population demography. Modeling the life history demographics of 25 different marine fish species, Canadian scientists have found that larger, older female fish produce tougher offspring … Continue reading
Bluefin Tuna Under Threat from Short-Sighted EU Policy
It seems as though the Government-Industrial complex has overcome sensibilities in a move by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), calling to maintain fishing levels of bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus 50% above scientists’ recommendations. ICCAT members … Continue reading
Avoiding Imminent North Sea Cod Extinction
Cod is historically one of the most popular commercial fish species in the UK, not to mention popular across the European continent. Because of this, major commercial fisheries have been forced to close, and existing fisheries may also soon face … Continue reading