Monday 28 May 2012
Gwyner via Sennen to Lands End and back.
CFP reform wobble
European governments are backsliding on commitments to make fishing sustainable, campaigners are warning.
Talks on Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform are seeing important changes in moves to eliminate discards, reduce fishing fleets and rebuild fish stocks.
The original aim of repopulating stocks by 2015 is facing a five-year delay.
About three-quarters of European stocks are overfished, and studies show fishermen would have a more prosperous future by curbing catches now.
The main battle line pits more conservation-minded northern countries such as Germany and Sweden against southern states keener to protect fishermen's' short-term interests, including Spain, Portugal and France. "The question is very basic - do EU fisheries ministers have the courage to end overfishing or not?" said Markus Knigge, advisor to the Pew Environment Group.
The original CFP reform proposal put forward by European Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki last year contained three key elements: restore all fish stocks to maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015 reduce and regulate the size of the EU's fishing fleet through an internal trading mechanism eliminate the wasteful practice of discarding fish that are outside a boat's quota.
Governments have been negotiating on Ms Damanaki's proposal ever since, with the aim of finalising a package by next year. Trading schemes Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote We need a firm and effective discard ban as part of the basic rules” Maria Damanaki EU Fisheries Commissioner The trading mechanism, known as Individual Transferable Quotas, saw considerable opposition and will almost certainly not happen. Instead, each member state will take responsibility for managing the size of its own fleet. The final agreement is likely to include a mechanism for sanctioning countries that do not make adequate arrangements. This is raising alarm bells with some environment groups, who point out that many EU nations have proven unwilling to manage their fleets in the past.
Agreeing decentralised, regional management was a priority for the UK, which has successfully reduced capacity in its own fleets. Campaigners were alarmed by rumours of a backroom deal under which France would support the UK on decentralisation if the UK backed French moves to water down the discard ban. But Richard Benyon, the UK Fisheries Minister, said that was not the case. "We have asked France to join with us in our proposal on regionalisation - it's been adopted by Scandinavian and other northern European states and we want France to be part of it too," he told BBC News.
Industrial fishing has taken its toll - but technology is unlikely to be centrally regulated across the EU "They did canvas opinion about a proposal that would have watered down the discards policy, and we said we wouldn't be part of that." However, Mr Benyon said there were complexities with achieving a complete discard ban that were not always appreciated by campaigners. This is especially true in areas such as the North Sea, where a number of fish species live together and boats cannot altogether avoid catching ones they are not targeting. "There are certain pelagic stocks where we can have a discard ban tomorrow, and there are mixed fisheries where more detailed work is needed," he said. This "detailed work" is a combination of selective fishing equipment, smart regulations on issues such as fishing areas and times at sea, and a financial package that allows caught fish to be utilised without giving skippers an incentive to catch outside their quota. But Mr Benyon said a complete discard ban would be achieved in UK waters in "a very short period of time". He also said the UK supported the inclusion of an aim to ban discards in the CFP's basic rules. Some countries have been arguing that discard regulations should be delegated to long-term "recovery plans" covering individual species or locations.
Environment groups argue this would entail a major watering down of the headline commitment. Taking stock The issue arousing most concern is slippage in the commitment to rebuild stocks to maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015. Maximum sustainable yield is a target for the size of a stock. It is the level that gives fishermen the biggest annual catch they can have without depleting the stock. Under the latest draft negotiating text, governments would "aim to ensure that exploitation of living marine biological resources" rebuilds stocks to MSY "by 2015, for all stocks where possible, and by 2020 at the latest". In 2002, all governments of the world pledged to restore stocks to MSY "with the aim of achieving these goals for depleted stocks on an urgent basis and where possible not later than 2015".
European ministers are arguing that the words "where possible" mean they are entitled to water down the 2015 commitment. However, environment groups argue that the words were included only to allow poorer developing nations time to gather the data needed to set an MSY target. In addition, some EU governments are arguing that they should target a different measure, known as FMSY. This is the amount of catch that could be taken sustainably if stocks were at MSY levels. But some ministers argue their fishermen should be allowed to catch at FMSY rates even on stocks that have not been replenished, and that this constitutes sustainable management.
Next month the Danish government hosts a key session of environment ministers at which it plans to secure a show-of-hands agreement on major elements of the package. The European Commission says ministers must preserve pillars of the original proposal if they want to bring meaningful change. "We need firm dates for MSY, and we need a firm and effective discard ban as part of the basic rules," said Ms Damanaki.
Story courtesy of BBC Science-Environment
The main battle line pits more conservation-minded northern countries such as Germany and Sweden against southern states keener to protect fishermen's' short-term interests, including Spain, Portugal and France. "The question is very basic - do EU fisheries ministers have the courage to end overfishing or not?" said Markus Knigge, advisor to the Pew Environment Group.
The original CFP reform proposal put forward by European Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki last year contained three key elements: restore all fish stocks to maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015 reduce and regulate the size of the EU's fishing fleet through an internal trading mechanism eliminate the wasteful practice of discarding fish that are outside a boat's quota.
Governments have been negotiating on Ms Damanaki's proposal ever since, with the aim of finalising a package by next year. Trading schemes Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote We need a firm and effective discard ban as part of the basic rules” Maria Damanaki EU Fisheries Commissioner The trading mechanism, known as Individual Transferable Quotas, saw considerable opposition and will almost certainly not happen. Instead, each member state will take responsibility for managing the size of its own fleet. The final agreement is likely to include a mechanism for sanctioning countries that do not make adequate arrangements. This is raising alarm bells with some environment groups, who point out that many EU nations have proven unwilling to manage their fleets in the past.
Agreeing decentralised, regional management was a priority for the UK, which has successfully reduced capacity in its own fleets. Campaigners were alarmed by rumours of a backroom deal under which France would support the UK on decentralisation if the UK backed French moves to water down the discard ban. But Richard Benyon, the UK Fisheries Minister, said that was not the case. "We have asked France to join with us in our proposal on regionalisation - it's been adopted by Scandinavian and other northern European states and we want France to be part of it too," he told BBC News.
Industrial fishing has taken its toll - but technology is unlikely to be centrally regulated across the EU "They did canvas opinion about a proposal that would have watered down the discards policy, and we said we wouldn't be part of that." However, Mr Benyon said there were complexities with achieving a complete discard ban that were not always appreciated by campaigners. This is especially true in areas such as the North Sea, where a number of fish species live together and boats cannot altogether avoid catching ones they are not targeting. "There are certain pelagic stocks where we can have a discard ban tomorrow, and there are mixed fisheries where more detailed work is needed," he said. This "detailed work" is a combination of selective fishing equipment, smart regulations on issues such as fishing areas and times at sea, and a financial package that allows caught fish to be utilised without giving skippers an incentive to catch outside their quota. But Mr Benyon said a complete discard ban would be achieved in UK waters in "a very short period of time". He also said the UK supported the inclusion of an aim to ban discards in the CFP's basic rules. Some countries have been arguing that discard regulations should be delegated to long-term "recovery plans" covering individual species or locations.
Environment groups argue this would entail a major watering down of the headline commitment. Taking stock The issue arousing most concern is slippage in the commitment to rebuild stocks to maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015. Maximum sustainable yield is a target for the size of a stock. It is the level that gives fishermen the biggest annual catch they can have without depleting the stock. Under the latest draft negotiating text, governments would "aim to ensure that exploitation of living marine biological resources" rebuilds stocks to MSY "by 2015, for all stocks where possible, and by 2020 at the latest". In 2002, all governments of the world pledged to restore stocks to MSY "with the aim of achieving these goals for depleted stocks on an urgent basis and where possible not later than 2015".
European ministers are arguing that the words "where possible" mean they are entitled to water down the 2015 commitment. However, environment groups argue that the words were included only to allow poorer developing nations time to gather the data needed to set an MSY target. In addition, some EU governments are arguing that they should target a different measure, known as FMSY. This is the amount of catch that could be taken sustainably if stocks were at MSY levels. But some ministers argue their fishermen should be allowed to catch at FMSY rates even on stocks that have not been replenished, and that this constitutes sustainable management.
Next month the Danish government hosts a key session of environment ministers at which it plans to secure a show-of-hands agreement on major elements of the package. The European Commission says ministers must preserve pillars of the original proposal if they want to bring meaningful change. "We need firm dates for MSY, and we need a firm and effective discard ban as part of the basic rules," said Ms Damanaki.
Story courtesy of BBC Science-Environment
Lemon Sole from Nathan Outlaw's British Seafood
Fresh in the sunshine
Great British Menu - South West chefs do battle!
Week Eight of the seventh series of The Great British Menu and the last of the regional heats ends with the South West. Over these eight weeks, twenty four of Great Britain's finest chefs including many chefs from Great British Chefs site are competing in regional heats for the opportunity to create a four course menu at an Olympic banquet, hosted by sporting legend Sir Steve Redgrave with a guest list of British sporting greats. This week (starting 28th May 2012) chefs from the South West will be competing to create the final banquet.
Sunday 27 May 2012
The once-abundant oceans are running short of fish, while trawlers discard edible catch. Can slow food offer a solution before it's too late?
'Over-fishing', 'discarded' fish thrown back into the sea by fishing fleets because they have exceeded their EU quota; illegal fishing by pirates in search of the expensive - and now rare - fish species, (at an estimated annual cost of £9 billion) and the continual threat to endangered species like blue-fin tuna are all consequences of what many have begun to call a 'crisis' in the fishing industry.
Underpinning the 'crisis' is a wider story of social hardship; economic divisions; decline in traditional fishing communities and working practices, and environmental destruction. The driving forces of this crisis - namely the rapid expansion of global trade, the impact of the industrial food system and the dominance of supermarkets - have combined to put pressure on fish stocks, fishing communities and the health of the sea.
There are stories, too, of changing consumer patterns, and the juxtaposition of the pursuit of new exotic 'global' tastes, with the lack of appeal of 'local' familiar fish, while the loss of traditional skills and knowledge has contributed to the crisis. Yesterday's staples – including oysters in Britain and lobsters in North America – have become today's luxuries. Over-fishing has been a feature of the expansion of global trade, with both factory and illegal or unregulated fishing contributing to declining fish stocks. In short, there are too many boats and too few fish.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, 1% of industrial fishing fleets account for 50% of all catches. Declining fish stocks have become an international issue, the concern of the European Union as well as national governments and the subject of increasing political debate. According to Charles Clover in his book The End of the Line, recently made into a successful documentary film, over-fishing will mean extinction for the most popular fish species over the next decades. He argues that the way we currently consume fish is completely unsustainable. Clover proposed a campaign to "reclaim the ocean", in which he called for more marine protected areas, in order to conserve the environment, oceans and eco-systems; responsible fishing and a more curious consumer who will ask fishmongers and restaurants where the fish is from, and whether it is an endangered or exploited species.
Discards have become a major feature of the fishing crisis, publicised by the high profile campaign led by celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has argued that half of all fish caught in the North Sea are discarded. His Fish Fight was a very creative campaign against the practice of discarding fish on the grounds that the fishing team have exceeded their quota, and that the fish being discarded are less valuable than other species. His campaign became part of a wider battle against over-fishing, and for changing the way we consume fish, which engaged the public through petitions, challenging them to become more discerning consumers.
The Fish Fight campaign also developed effective alliances with movements like Greenpeace to force the large supermarkets (including Tesco and Morrisons) to change their practices. It drew on the knowledge of marine biologists, as well as local fishermen, to highlight the cause of endangered fish species. Hugh's Fish Fight, became a powerful campaigning lobby which has complemented other campaigns such as restaurants banning the use of bluefin tuna. One feature of the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall campaign is to try and raise awareness of simple, traditional fish like mackerel and sardines, which have lost their previous appeal but which are cheap, high in Omega 3 fish oils and universally recognised as good for the brain and heart.
This attempt to re-educate people about wider varieties of fish - including the more than 50 different species that come ashore in Cornwall - has also been reflected in many other movements such as the biennial Slow Fish gathering in Genoa, Italy, organised by the Slow Food movement. Here, fisherfolk, activists, chefs and consumers meet to debate the politics of fish and to taste sustainable dishes. At its 2011 meeting, Sanjay Kumar, an Indian chef based in Cornwall took his campaign for the Cornish sardine to EU fisheries minister Maria Damanaki.
So, will the crisis in the fishing mean the 'end of the line?' Leading ecologists and economists have estimated that if current momentum continues there will be no seafood at all by 2048. The first victims of the crisis in the fishing industry have been those who have earned their living from fishing and the sea. This could be the 'end of the line', too, for many in the Billingsgate fish market where generations of workers have plied their trade, as well as having devastating consequences for many communities in the UK, which were built on the back of the fishing industry.
However, there are at least signs that the crisis is now being addressed. Hugh's Fish Fight resulted in the support of European Union Fisheries minister Damanaki calling for a change to the EU's Common Fisheries Policy to ban discards (though this has since been opposed by a British parliamentary committee).
Research on the impact of Charles Clover's film, particularly following the large audiences it attracted after its Channel Four showing, suggested consumers were changing their behaviour. Some supermarkets like Waitrose experienced major increases in the purchase of sustainable fish options and several leading chefs removed bluefin tuna, a species facing extinction, from their menus.
The future success of the campaign will seem to depend on two factors. The first is about politics. The alliance between chefs, consumers, environmental activists and local fishing communities will need to grow further as it has done in other spheres of the growing politics of food. The second is about pleasure. The rediscovery of interest in traditional fish like sardines and mackerel will have many benefits for work, health, and environment, but above all educating people about the local and varied tastes and flavours of the sea close to home will be key to a more sustainable solution.
Further reading:
Underpinning the 'crisis' is a wider story of social hardship; economic divisions; decline in traditional fishing communities and working practices, and environmental destruction. The driving forces of this crisis - namely the rapid expansion of global trade, the impact of the industrial food system and the dominance of supermarkets - have combined to put pressure on fish stocks, fishing communities and the health of the sea.
There are stories, too, of changing consumer patterns, and the juxtaposition of the pursuit of new exotic 'global' tastes, with the lack of appeal of 'local' familiar fish, while the loss of traditional skills and knowledge has contributed to the crisis. Yesterday's staples – including oysters in Britain and lobsters in North America – have become today's luxuries. Over-fishing has been a feature of the expansion of global trade, with both factory and illegal or unregulated fishing contributing to declining fish stocks. In short, there are too many boats and too few fish.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, 1% of industrial fishing fleets account for 50% of all catches. Declining fish stocks have become an international issue, the concern of the European Union as well as national governments and the subject of increasing political debate. According to Charles Clover in his book The End of the Line, recently made into a successful documentary film, over-fishing will mean extinction for the most popular fish species over the next decades. He argues that the way we currently consume fish is completely unsustainable. Clover proposed a campaign to "reclaim the ocean", in which he called for more marine protected areas, in order to conserve the environment, oceans and eco-systems; responsible fishing and a more curious consumer who will ask fishmongers and restaurants where the fish is from, and whether it is an endangered or exploited species.
Discards have become a major feature of the fishing crisis, publicised by the high profile campaign led by celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has argued that half of all fish caught in the North Sea are discarded. His Fish Fight was a very creative campaign against the practice of discarding fish on the grounds that the fishing team have exceeded their quota, and that the fish being discarded are less valuable than other species. His campaign became part of a wider battle against over-fishing, and for changing the way we consume fish, which engaged the public through petitions, challenging them to become more discerning consumers.
The Fish Fight campaign also developed effective alliances with movements like Greenpeace to force the large supermarkets (including Tesco and Morrisons) to change their practices. It drew on the knowledge of marine biologists, as well as local fishermen, to highlight the cause of endangered fish species. Hugh's Fish Fight, became a powerful campaigning lobby which has complemented other campaigns such as restaurants banning the use of bluefin tuna. One feature of the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall campaign is to try and raise awareness of simple, traditional fish like mackerel and sardines, which have lost their previous appeal but which are cheap, high in Omega 3 fish oils and universally recognised as good for the brain and heart.
This attempt to re-educate people about wider varieties of fish - including the more than 50 different species that come ashore in Cornwall - has also been reflected in many other movements such as the biennial Slow Fish gathering in Genoa, Italy, organised by the Slow Food movement. Here, fisherfolk, activists, chefs and consumers meet to debate the politics of fish and to taste sustainable dishes. At its 2011 meeting, Sanjay Kumar, an Indian chef based in Cornwall took his campaign for the Cornish sardine to EU fisheries minister Maria Damanaki.
So, will the crisis in the fishing mean the 'end of the line?' Leading ecologists and economists have estimated that if current momentum continues there will be no seafood at all by 2048. The first victims of the crisis in the fishing industry have been those who have earned their living from fishing and the sea. This could be the 'end of the line', too, for many in the Billingsgate fish market where generations of workers have plied their trade, as well as having devastating consequences for many communities in the UK, which were built on the back of the fishing industry.
However, there are at least signs that the crisis is now being addressed. Hugh's Fish Fight resulted in the support of European Union Fisheries minister Damanaki calling for a change to the EU's Common Fisheries Policy to ban discards (though this has since been opposed by a British parliamentary committee).
Research on the impact of Charles Clover's film, particularly following the large audiences it attracted after its Channel Four showing, suggested consumers were changing their behaviour. Some supermarkets like Waitrose experienced major increases in the purchase of sustainable fish options and several leading chefs removed bluefin tuna, a species facing extinction, from their menus.
The future success of the campaign will seem to depend on two factors. The first is about politics. The alliance between chefs, consumers, environmental activists and local fishing communities will need to grow further as it has done in other spheres of the growing politics of food. The second is about pleasure. The rediscovery of interest in traditional fish like sardines and mackerel will have many benefits for work, health, and environment, but above all educating people about the local and varied tastes and flavours of the sea close to home will be key to a more sustainable solution.
Further reading:
The Fish Market: Inside Billingsgate
The End Of The Line
Hugh's Fish Fight
Slow Fish: The Food Programme: Sanjay and the Sardine
Have supermarkets got too much power? Have we lost touch with seasonal and local food in favour of convenience choice? Our panel - Dr Geoff Andrews (The Open University), Sanjay Kumar (Guest), Julian Cottee (Guest)
- discuss the future of British food.
The End Of The Line
Hugh's Fish Fight
Slow Fish: The Food Programme: Sanjay and the Sardine
Have supermarkets got too much power? Have we lost touch with seasonal and local food in favour of convenience choice? Our panel - Dr Geoff Andrews (The Open University), Sanjay Kumar (Guest), Julian Cottee (Guest)
- discuss the future of British food.
Friday 25 May 2012
Story of the 'Spirit of Mystery' on TV this Sunday
From the Spirit of Mystery camp:
Hi All,
We just thought you would want to know that Pete has received a call from the BBC saying that Spirit of Mystery will be featured on the Coast program this Sunday 27th May at 9pm on BBC2 and BBC HD:
"At the Cornish fishing harbour of Newlyn, Nick Crane re-lives an astonishing, unsung feat of heroic British seamanship. In 1854, a tiny fishing boat, The Mystery, set sail from Newlyn to make the 12,000 mile voyage to Melbourne. She was the smallest boat ever to attempt the journey, but the seven Cornishmen on board were prepared to risk their lives in the world's wildest seas to join the Australian gold rush."
We hope you will get a chance to watch it or catch up later on BBC i-player.
You can find out more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jhxj2.
There are no new projects ready to be announced, but watch this space - no doubt Pete will have another adventure up his sleeve. Keep visiting the website for more news: www.petegoss.com.
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