News
January 22, 2009
Commission issues thoughts on new approach to some TACs
In a draft ”non-paper” the EU Commission has outlined possible new approaches to stock management/TACs when there is scientific uncertainty in the stock assessment process. In a policy statement last year the Commission set out its approach to setting TACs in such cases, proposing as its aim to “set the TAC according to STECF advice … Continued
January 21, 2009
Eco-labels should include carbon footprint, scientists say
A wider scope for eco-labelling should include the carbon footprint of fishing practices and the use of toxic pollutants, a new study shows. The study by three Swedish and Danish researchers, commissioned by the EU Commission, compared eco-labelling systems used for licensing by four different bodies: ‘The Dolphin Safe Tuna’ – introduced as a ‘single … Continued
January 15, 2009
Green light for Barents cod
A more than 75 per cent decrease in illegal fishing has contributed to the number of cod ready to spawn in the Barents Sea now being the most favourable in decades, estimates from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) show. The Council estimates that illegal outtakes have shrunk from 166,000 tons … Continued
January 14, 2009
U.S. Agency names six nations for illegal fishing
A U.S. government agency has identified six nations, including France and Italy, as practising IUU fishing, a process that may finally lead to denied entry into U.S. ports and prohibited imports of fish products from that nation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in a first-ever report to the US Congress that fishing … Continued
January 14, 2009
Successful Swedish scrapping campaign
Six Swedish trawler owners have been granted 4.9 million euros in subsidies for scrapping their vessels, enabling Sweden almost at once to live up to its national goal of reducing the fleet trawling for cod in the Baltic by ten percent by 2010. The decision by the Swedish Board of Fisheries gives the owners six … Continued
January 13, 2009
Study says fisheries may alter ecosystem dramatically, and for the worst
The decline in the top predator cod, mainly caused by overfishing, may have triggered a huge ecosystem shift in the Baltic Sea, a new study implies. The study by the Swedish Board of Fisheries Institute of Marine Research shows that the sea’s ecosystem, historically controlled by temperature and salinity, now sports a much bigger role … Continued
January 13, 2009
TAC’s no good, says EU Parliament
In a new report, The EU Parliament urges the Commission to reconsider the present system of TAC’s and quotas, adding that it is “insufficient to measure fishing effort in a uniform way”. The report was in response to the Commission’s communication last April on the role of the Common Fisheries Policy in implementing an ecosystem … Continued
January 7, 2009
Sweden/France to take over EU Fisheries
The Czech EU Presidency has delegated many of the fisheries issues to Sweden and France, the Union’s next and former Presidency, respectively, a Swedish daily reports. Sweden will be responsible for matters related to waters north of the English Channel and France for the areas south of the Channel, Dagens Nyheter reported, quoting the Swedish … Continued
January 5, 2009
Closing of nuclear plant good for some fish
Surveys in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant that now is closed show large and long-time variations in stock indices of various species, among them cod and eel. The surveys, performed by the Swedish Board of Fisheries with pound-nets and fyke-nets in the vicinity of the Barsebäck nuclear power plant in the Öresund area, … Continued
December 22, 2008
A Report from Hel
Polish fisheries stakeholders, reaching from environmentalists to government and industry interests, have met to bring new life to the “Partnership for the Baltic” project. A board of 15 members has crystallized from the original informal working group of some 60 scientists, NGO and fisheries representatives and local and government officials. As part of the larger … Continued