The web site for the
Fisherman's Assoication has just published this aricle:
We have covered the ridiculous scare story of their being practically no grown cod in the North Sea
here,
here and
here.
Now, thanks to
EUReferendum,
we can examine another side of the story. Well, not that particular
story as this does not concern the CFP. It seems that in countries
outside that noxious system the number and size of cod has been growing
to the point that fishermen in Alaska are complaining about the drop in
price. Well, yes, that is what happens when there is more produce.
However, the really interesting development is to be found in the Barents Sea. Last October the
Barents Observer recorded that
The Barents Sea cod stock is growing and spreading northwards and
eastwards. Never before have scientists found cod as far north as during
this year’s ecosystem mission.
Apparently
Norwegian and Russian scientists recently concluded this year’s joint
ecosystem mission to the Barents Sea. The conclusion is that the cod
stock in the Barents Sea has set a new record when it somes to northern
distribution.
The Russian research vessel “Vilnjus” found cod as far north as 82 degrees 30 minutes north.
The cod stock in the Barents Sea is considered to be the largest in the
world. The quotas for 2013 will probably be over 900.000 tons.
In March Fishupdate.com was reporting that the predictions were coming true.
Six Icelandic factory trawlers have been fishing in the Norwegian and
Russian zones of the Barents Sea. One of them is HB Grandi’s Venus, and
according to this trip‘s skipper Haraldur Árnason, there are a huge
amounts of fish on the grounds, including on the Malaga shallows and the
Fugløy bank in the Norwegian zone where the Icelandic vessels have
mostly been fishing.
The skippers are complaining - not a good development. With more cod and
bigger cod the price per tonne will fall. They might have to think of
joining the EU after all. (Just kidding.) There are other ways of
dealing with the problem and Norway is looking at them.
One can look to improving quality or to spreading the season. (This
article about a report released by the Norwegian research institute
Nofima is well worth reading in full.)
As EUReferendum says very pertinently:
That Norway is even able to consider these options rests almost entirely
on its refusal in 1994 to join the European Union (for the second
time). As it stands, fisheries stocks in the Barents Sea are managed by
the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission, established in 1975.
Had Norway become an EU member, it would have handed control of its
fisheries to the Commission, to be treated as a "common resource". The
EU would be negotiating directly with Russia, excluding Norway from the
table.
And like Britain, it might have been looking at quotas in the tens of
thousands, rather than the hundreds of thousands of tons it is currently
catching, with their fleet a fraction of the size. It is a small wonder
that the EU's CFP was one of the main reasons why Norway didn't want to
join.
Would it be possible for our politicians, journalists and other would-be experts to understand that.?
