News
More TAC to the good guys, new report suggests
09/03/2010Fishermen with more selective gear and a history of compliance with EU rules are among those highlighted in a new report on who should be given priority access to limited fishing resources in the future.
USA endorses tuna trade ban
04/03/2010The US Government has announced that it will support a trade ban on bluefin tuna at the CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar.
No eel at all
03/03/2010For the third straight year, a Swedish research vessel trawling the Skagerrak and the Kattegat has found no glass eel at all.
Top UK Science Councellor carries many hats
02/03/2010According to The Times, the British Government’s top science advisor and his wife owns a consulting firm which manages fisheries that zoologists say is catching tens of thousands threatened fish in the Indian Ocean.
US takes on alien fish
02/03/2010Following a White House summit meeting, the US Government has decided to hit the threat of an alien carp species “with all of the tools in the toolbox”.
No peak for pike
02/03/2010Swedish anglers in the Baltic are facing sharp restrictions in their favourite catch from April 1, the Board of Fisheries has decided.
EP comes up short on CFP, environmentalists say
25/02/2010Regionalisation instead of ”top-down approach”, subsidarity and widened stakeholder involvement were key notions as the European Parliament has its saying on the upcoming CFP reform.
EU-Iceland talks may start in dire straits
25/02/2010Fisheries may be one of the biggest stumbling blocks, as the EU Commission has now given green light for membership talks with Iceland.
PECH ponders pros and cons of farming fish
24/02/2010Aquaculture can be green, a Spanish industry representative claimed to somewhat sceptical MEPs at a hearing in the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee (PECH).
Japan says ”clear no” to tuna ban
24/02/2010The Japanese Fisheries minister, representing three quarters of the global bluefin tuna consumption, has come out strongly against a trade ban on the threatened species, common in sushi.
Sardines Made in USA no more
24/02/2010Reduced herring quotas are forcing the last US remaining sardine cannery to close down, its parent company has announced.
COM comes out for tuna ban
23/02/2010The EU Commission has followed suite after the European Parliament decision to support a trade ban on bluefin tuna, saying that it will now search out Member States to reach a common EU position for the CITES meeting in March.
Norway having hard time at Winter Olympics
19/02/2010Adding insult to injury – Canada won 8-0 – North American environmentalists staged a protest demonstration outside the Olympic Canada-Norway hockey game – against Norwegian aquaculture.
New Swedish Agency to combine fish and environment
18/02/2010A Swedish Public investigation on how best to manage fish resources and the marine environment proposes a new, integrated Government agency and it looks set to end up in Gothenburg. It remains unclear, however, whether the Agriculture or Environment Minister will be representing Sweden in the Fisheries Council.
WWF-US Retailer to work together on seafood sustainability
18/02/2010The WWF has announced a new collaboration with one of America’s largest food retailers towards sustainably sourcing the retailer’s wild-caught seafood.
Borg and Namibian Minister share Swedish Seafood Award
12/02/2010In Gothenburg, it was a week of fish and fisheries. For three days everything from capture fisheries and control to cooking for kids was covered. It concluded with the Swedish Seafood Award presented, at the Gothenburg Opera, to ex-commissioner Joe Borg and the Namibian Fisheries Minister.
EP backs trade ban on bluefin tuna
11/02/2010The European Parliament has voted in favour of adopting a resolution in support of a ban on the trading blue fin tuna. Support from the European institutions of a ban will likely further pressure the inclusion CITES, the largest global wildlife conservation agreement.
Close the TAC Circus, says Swedish MEP
09/02/2010Ministers should not be the ones to set quotas, says a Swedish bestseller-writer-turned-member of the EP Fisheries Committee.
Now on film: The 17-metre King of Herrings
09/02/2010The fish that may have inspired the Old-Mariner myth of the Sea Serpent has been caught on film for probably the first time, swimming, literally, back and forth.
New beginning for blind turtle
02/02/2010A turtle that was intentionally blinded by Greek fishermen has been flown to start a new life in England. His name is Homer.
Poland on CFP: Ecological objectives must be prioritised, ITQs considered
02/02/2010The next EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) should focus on ecological objectives over social and economic, the Polish government says in its official response to the Commission's Green Paper on the future CFP.
Icelandic trawler protest
02/02/2010Protesting a Government plan to revoke an old ”tax rebate”, most trawlers in the Westman Islands region of Iceland have been returning to port prematurely lately.
Carp threat still on, White House to listen
02/02/2010The U.S. Supreme court decision to reject a proposal to cut off the Illinois river from Lake Michigan, a move to prevent a fugitive carp species from invading and shifting the eco-balance in the world’s largest freshwater lake system, has triggered initiatives to both introduce the issue in the US Congress and gather a White House Great Lakes Summit.
Two large countries fight over one small shrimp
02/02/2010A dispute between Canada and Denmark over just a symbolic shrimp catch may be a sign of what to expect as warming waters and receding icecaps loom in the future for the northern Atlantic and Arctic.
Rebooted EU-Norway talks result in deal
28/01/2010The EU and Norway have finally struck a deal on 2010 TACs after lengthy negotiations, with Scotland, seeing itself as hardest-pressed EU member, expressing mixed reactions.
OCEAN2012 on PECH report: “Not enough”
28/01/2010The European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee has adopted a report on CFP reform that admits that “ecological sustainability is the basic premise also for the economic and social future”, the report however immediately quashed by a key NGO as a “missed opportunity”.
That’s how much more fish could have been caught …
27/01/2010Had fisheries management been sustainable, EU catches could have been 80 percent higher, scientists behind a new study say.
New challenge to MSC certification
26/01/2010A step towards certifying the Canadian sockeye salmon fishery has been another target for criticism of the MSC eco-labelling process.
Glum future for miserable fish
26/01/2010The sad-looking blobfish has good reason for it: it swims about on great Australian depths on the verge of extinction.
Revamping Baltic Sea decision-making system
23/01/2010A new platform, working-name ”Baltfish”, is emerging in the EU decision-making process.
Plain talk from Damanaki in EP Hearing
20/01/2010With a commitment to ”stick to” the Baltic cod management plan, and praising the Baltic Sea RAC cooperation as “excellent”, Fisheries Commissioner designate Maria Damanaki made an overall headstrong and competent impression in her European Parliament hearing.
Coming up, Fish Week
20/01/2010Pencil the date in your diaries: The week of June 8th will see the first European Fish Week, with events being held all across the continent.
MSC best in test
20/01/2010Despite a recent storm of criticism from environmentalists and scientists, the WWF has found the MSC label better than any other certification system.
First six Swedish trawlers to go down
20/01/2010A total €1.78 millions have been granted to six Swedish West Coast trawlers to be scrapped, the first in a campaign aimed at a 50-percent reduction of the nation’s cod fleet in western waters by 2015.
Damanaki hearing: Live on video link
19/01/2010The hearing of the Fisheries Commissioner-nominee Maria Damanaki in the European Parliament will take place on January 19, which is the last day of hearings.
Pressure is rising to end fish poaching in Poland
12/01/2010In Poland fish poaching is occurring at staggering rates, experts warn.
Irish scientists to listen to fishermen
07/01/2010A scientific study to take advantage of knowledge amassed by fishermen, not always on par with scientists’ outlook, is underway in Ireland.
Used Christmas tree meaningful donation to fish
05/01/2010Obsolete Christmas trees may make excellent habitats for fish, according to a government fisheries biologist in Florida.
Scotland on CFP: Let it sink
29/12/2009The Scottish Government, administering the lion’s share of UK fisheries, says the Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union should be scrapped, not reformed.
UK on CFP: ... not just yet …
29/12/2009In its official response to the Commission’s Green Paper, The British Government stresses regionalisation and “greater flexibility” on its wish list for the 2012 CFP.
Fish eat soybeans at farms
29/12/2009An experiment in Ohio may point to a solution of aquaculture’s biggest sustainability problem, the fact that farmed fish need a much bigger quantity of fish for food.
Catch shares help – to a degree, US study finds
22/12/2009The most comprehensive US study so far on the pros and cons of catch shares finds that the system leads to more consistent fisheries, but does not necessarily imply healthier or more abundant fish stocks.
Bad fishing threatens centruries-old liberties
17/12/2009Overfishing and destructive fishing methods may be forcing an end to the 400-year-old freedom of the high seas.
US stakes on ITQs
17/12/2009The US government agency responsible for fisheries is speeding up efforts to halt overfishing to fill demands set up by Congress, goals generally much more ambitious than EU policy.
Best practices spun in Warsaw workshop
17/12/2009Strategies for improving the next Common Fisheries policy were drawn up at Warsaw workshop in December arranged by FISH.
EU Council reopens anchovy, rejects cod closures
16/12/2009Strong opposition from Spain in the EU Council forced a decision to reopen the Bay of Biscay anchovy fisheries “temporarily”.
December Council forgets about Norway
10/12/2009The breakdown in negotiations EU-Norway will mean that 2010 TACs set at the upcoming December Council meeting will be for EU vessels only, while the total outtake will be subject to a likely agreement next year.
Collapsed talks EU-Norway
09/12/2009A conflict over the interpretation of a 1994 mackerel agreement has caused a breakdown in the talks between the European Union and Norway on the 2010 TACs.
CSI: Sharks
09/12/2009DNA tracing may be a way to fight the sharkfin soup threat to that endangered species.
Seeing through our waters more clearly
09/12/2009Sonar scanning that is part of the so-called Census of Marine Life has been able to “see” schools of fish the size of Manhattan, the largest mass of life ever witnessed.