News
November 23, 2006
Deep-sea stocks still at risk after divided Council decision
In spite of scientific advice from ICES that deep water fish such as orange roughy, blue ling and deep water shark fisheries should be closed immediately, EU Ministers in the Council agreed on 21 November on relatively modest reductions in TACs (Total Allowable Catches) for 2007 and 2008, aiming at a final phase-out by 2010/11. … Continued
November 21, 2006
North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission fails to sufficiently protect deep-sea stocks and biodiversity
NEAFC, the intergovernmental commission responsible for managing deep-water fishing in the North East Atlantic, made some progress on improving the protection of deep-water fish and corals last week. However it failed to deliver some much needed tougher decisions to protect deep-sea biodiversity. The proposal to close the fishery on the highly vulnerable stocks of Orange … Continued
November 16, 2006
New Report on the impacts of Deep Sea Bottom Trawling on Seamounts to be presented at the UN General Assembly this Friday
On Wednesday scientists warned that deep-sea bottom trawling is destroying seamounts teeming with marine life, causing irreparable damage to ecosystems. The report will be presented at the UN General Assembly on Friday where negotiations will resume on the issue of a high seas bottom trawling moratorium. Over-exploitation of commercial species like cod and hake has … Continued
November 16, 2006
MSC decides not to take on farmed seafood
According to The Wave Newsletter, the Board of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has decided not to expand the current MSC ecolabel to include farmed seafood. At this week’s MSC Board meeting in Thailand, it was agreed that the MSC would not develop its current certification and ecolabelling scheme to cover farmed fish and shellfish … Continued
November 10, 2006
Baltic Anglers: Restore the Baltic Sea and recognize angling interests now!
November 7, angling representatives from the Baltic countries met in Visby, Sweden. The meeting agreed on the joint statement: “The Baltic Sea in focus”. Every year, millions of people in the countries around the Baltic Sea fish for recreational purposes. Among large groups of people, sportfishing promote physical activity and contact with nature. Recreational angling … Continued
November 6, 2006
Science report on the Ecosystem Effects of Fishing
According to a report published in the current edition of Science, there is a risk of collapse of the world’s seafood populations by 2048 if current trends in destruction and overfishing continue. Scientific data going back to the 1960s and historical records of over thousand years reveal that marine biodiversity has declined dramatically, with 29% … Continued
October 25, 2006
Baltic TACs and quotas for 2007: Cod stocks at risk of depletion
The Council decided on the 24th October on the levels of TACs (Total Allowable Catch), the level of agreed fishing in the Baltic for 2007. The decision is a 10% reduction of the TAC for the eastern Cod stock (from 45 339 in 2006 to 40 805 tonnes in 2007) and a 5% reduction of … Continued
October 24, 2006
Baltic Sea RAC to arrange a conference on IUU in late March
The Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council (RAC) is planning a conference on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Copenhagen in March 2007. The focus of the conference is to identify the actions needed to minimize IUU in the Baltic Sea. The conference aims to adress the relationship between catching capacity and the catching opportunities … Continued
October 23, 2006
Scientists proposes to close all cod fisheries south of Iceland except for the western Baltic stock
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) released a report on October 20 on the status and perspectives of some of the most important Northeast Atlantic fish stocks. The 22 international scientists of the Advisory Committee on Fishery Management (ACFM) analysed the status of commercial fish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic. The … Continued
October 16, 2006
EU Commission Statement on High Seas bottom trawling too weak
The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), of which the Fisheries Secretariat is a member, accused the European Commission of greenwashing a set of proposals designed to undermine the growing support for a high seas moratorium on bottom trawling, and noted that it did not seem to reflect the will of all EU Member States. This … Continued