News
February 18, 2011
Morocco agreement: Council next
An extension of the European Union’s controversial fishing agreement with Morocco came one step closer as the member states’ EU ambassadors voted to send the proposal to a final vote among the fisheries ministers on Monday. A last-ditch effort to stop the proposal in Coreper, the ambassadors’ assembly, failed as some nations with many votes, … Continued
February 17, 2011
Ban plan in Bothnian Sea
To protect a dwindling whitefish stock, the Swedish Board of Fisheries is planning to establish a non-fishing zone in the southern Bothnian Sea. The Board considers the lavaret or common whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) as important for both professional fishermen and anglers. Historically, this fishery has been particularly widespread in the Bothnian Bay where catches have … Continued
February 16, 2011
US boosts up aquaculture effort
With almost half of all seafood consumed in the US stemming from aquaculture, but very little farmed domestically, the US Government has proposed its first aquaculture policy. Citing growing interest in seafood’s health benefits, as well as increasing consumer concern about how fish is produced, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published guidelines with … Continued
February 10, 2011
Reports: COM will OK extension of Morocco agreement
The EU Commission, running over its Fisheries Commissioner, is set to propose a one-year extension of the controversial fisheries agreement with Morocco, according to news reports. At focus for the controversy is Morocco’s occupation since 1975 of Western Sahara, off which coast much of that fishing takes place. An agreement between the EU and Morocco … Continued
February 10, 2011
The (very) goods and (very) bads of aquaculture
While a new fact booklet from the industry – with forewords by both FAO and WWF – claims that aquaculture will “feed the world” by 2050, a giant global campaign against “Big aquaculture” has been launched which compares the harms of salmon farming to those of smoking. Issuing a report later this month headlined “Smoke … Continued
February 9, 2011
WWF in hot seat over fish guide un-listing
The WWF’s un-listing, under threat, of a popular Vietnamese farmed fish has provoked a heated debate in Sweden – the WWF claiming that in exchange it reached a strong agreement for that industry to clean up its business. Reporters from the Swedish public radio “Matens pris” (The Price of Food) program had visited Vietnamese Iridescent … Continued
February 9, 2011
Russian caviar: Same as before, now legal
After a nine-year ban, Russia has reopened exports of its exclusive sturgeon caviar to the EU. Fearing extinction of the species, Russia stopped all exports of black caviar – the sturgeon’s eggs – in 2002, although smuggling through Turkey and the Caucasus has been an emerging growth industry since then. The Russian Federal Fisheries Agency … Continued
February 8, 2011
Huge catches in the Arctic, 75 times bigger than thought
A Canadian team of scientists that has studied catches in Arctic fisheries 1950-2006 has found them to be almost 75 times bigger than what had been reported to the FAO. The findings by a group of researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver are particularly interesting in light of the receding ice in … Continued
February 8, 2011
UN to focus on small-scale fisheries
In a “landmark decision” a fisheries committee under the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has decided to highlight small-scale fisheries with new international guidelines. In a comment on the decision by the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) said that it, and a line of other similar … Continued
February 5, 2011
EU worst in class as UN reports waning global fish stocks
The United Nations report on the state of global fisheries in 2010 finds consumption bigger than ever, but sees no improvement in the situation for depleted fish stocks. We consumed a record average of 17 kilograms per person per year, constituting about 15 percent of our protein intake, according to the 2010 “State of the … Continued