Category: Article

New FISH money for Polish NGOs

The Fisheries Secretariat’s financial support to Polish NGOs has been widened to include new areas where granting may be possible. Grants of up to € 30.000 are available for projects that will contribute to more sustainable fisheries in the Baltic Sea. Our overall goal of more sustainable fisheries in the Baltic Sea remains the same, … Continued

Swedish export boom is mostly Norwegian

A 25 percent hike in fish exports made agriculture and food products all but the only Swedish export sector that expanded in 2009. However, farmed salmon from Norway, repacked and then re-exported, accounted for most of that increase, otherwise dominated by herring sold in IKEA stores. According to statistics from the Board of Agriculture, Swedish … Continued

EU in line for tuna decision

In the build-up for the CITES meeting in Doha on Saturday, EU member nations have agreed on supporting a bluefin tuna trade ban – with reservations. In Doha, Qatar, on March 13-25, 175 nations will meet to consider including the bluefin tuna and other threatened species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species … Continued

Crime still pays for fishing crooks

Thirty-six French and Spanish vessels found guilty of breaking CFP rules still received a total of €13.5 million in subsidies between 1994 and 2006, a report shows. The study, done by fishsubsidy.org and commissioned by the Pew Environment Group, focused on only Spain and France, two major fishing nations in the Union., so Pew underlined … Continued

Sushi gone bad

In a sting operation under the auspices of the maker of Oscar-winning “The Cove”, a sushi chef in California has been charged with serving illegal whale meat. In October, two activists posing as customers went to The Hump, a restaurant in Santa Monica, and ordered “omakase,” which means they let the chef choose the choicest … Continued

More TAC to the good guys, new report suggests

Fishermen 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. The report, commissioned by the OCEAN2012 alliance and written by the Meridian Prime consulting firm founder Chris Grieve, was based … Continued

USA endorses tuna trade ban

The US Government has announced that it will support a trade ban on bluefin tuna at the CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar. In Doha on 13-25 March, 175 nations will meet to consider including the bluefin tuna and other threatened species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Annex 1, which would … Continued

No eel at all

For the third straight year, a Swedish research vessel trawling the Skagerrak and the Kattegat has found no glass eel at all. The glass eel phase is the second stage of the severely threatened species’ evolution, after the larvae has come drifting to coastal waters on its long journey from the Sargasso Sea. This annual test trawling … Continued

Top UK Science Councellor carries many hats

According 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. Professor John Beddington and his wife are sole shareholders in, and last year made some 550,000 euros from, the Marine Resources … Continued

No peak for pike

Swedish anglers in the Baltic are facing sharp restrictions in their favourite catch from April 1, the Board of Fisheries has decided. A three-units-a-day limit for pike anglers with hand gear is taking effect then, and only those fish between 40-75 centimetres may be kept. These permanent restrictions apply to the whole Swedish Baltic coast, … Continued