Tag Archives: sustainable fishing
Are science journals the best way to fight a conservation campaign?
A group of researchers have just published a paper in the Biological Conservation journal a paper that launches a scathing attack on the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainable fisheries certification. While a few of the researchers are from academic institutions the majority are from campaigning groups. There has to be a question over whether the best place to [...]
EU action plan on seabirds begins
An action plan to reduce an estimated 200,000 sea-bird deaths a year due to the European fisheries industry has been adopted today. The new action plan will apply to EU registered fishing vessels where-ever they operate in the world and to non-EU vessels operating in EU waters. It is hoped that the new action plan [...]
Can we learn from a 500 year old fisheries management tradition?
Fish are a vital food resource and as fish stock deplete around the world there are growing calls for strong fisheries management and marine conservation programmes. Conflict over fish though is not a modern-day problem. A study due to be released shortly looked at a 17th century fishing tradition in Indonesia and found reefs covered by traditional methods [...]
American shrimp fishermen reject turtle protection proposals
Shrimp fishermen in Louisiana have rejected proposals to require them to fit turtle excluder devices (TED) to the prawn nets to help turtle conservation. TED have been required for all shrimp nets operating in US federal waters but state waters are excluded from the requirements. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) are now planning to extend the [...]
Discards virtually eliminated under catch quota trials
Probably one of the most wasteful procedures that humans undertake in our relationship with the natural world – or ecological system processes to give it a more modern term – is fish discard. When we go out to harvest the seas for food there can be an incredible amount of the fish thrown back overboard. [...]
Shark finning set to be banned in Europe
Fisheries ministers from the EU countries have just finished a meeting over the future direction of EU fisheries policy. While a lot of attention has been put at the wasteful practise of discards the practise of shark finning was also discussed and is set to be banned by the EU. Shark finning is the practise of removing the fins of [...]
When sustainable fish is not all that it seems.
Increasingly people are become much more aware of fish and the impacts of commercial fishing on the environment and other species. Many people look for the Marine Stewardship council (MSC) seal of approval to ensure that the fish they buy is sustainable. Sadly all is not what it seems. Genetic testing raises concerns over Sea [...]
Tackling the over-fishing crisis – no take zones
New research has again shown that no take zones in the seas and oceans can be a major way in which to make fishing sustainable in the oceans and seas. The new research covered an area of ocean off Baja California. This marine park and no take zone has seen fish numbers increase by over [...]
Hugh’s Big Fish Fight Channel 4
It was purely by chance that I caught this programme on Channel 4 last night and it was a real eye-opener about the amount of fish that is discarded by our fishermen because of quotas.