Wednesday 22 May 2013

#Overfishing and warming devastating #Orkney #seabirds http://bit.ly/YLA4bz #Scotland

Blue Planet Society ‏@Seasaver20 May

.Decline of #seabirds coincides with Inshore Fishing (Scotland) Act 1984 which allowed fishing by all methods within 3 miles of the shore.

Details
Blue Planet Society ‏@Seasaver20 May

.@Seasaver #Climate scapegoat. Why the reticence to blame the fishing industry in #Scotland for devastating #seabirds? #coverup

Details
Steve Trewhella ‏@SteveTrewhella120 May

@Seasaver Climate has a role to play, but fishing is the biggest problem without doubt , hoovering up baitfish for farmed Salmon

Details
Blue Planet Society ‏@Seasaver20 May

.Another factor, ironically, may be cleaner seas. Food processing waste, sewage etc. fed small fish in many coastal areas.

Details
Brian Buchan ‏@LapwingPD97220 May

@Seasaver rubbish there isn't any inshore fisheries to speak of,,sandeels have disappeared and not with overfishing,30 years ago they were

Details
Laurence Hartwell ‏@ThroughTheGaps20 May

@LapwingPD972 @Seasaver hype vs facts!!

Details
Brian Buchan ‏@LapwingPD97220 May

@Seasaver everywhere,large areas of sea never saw a sandeel boat where we fished every fish had a sandeel in its stomach but today never see

Details
Brian Buchan ‏@LapwingPD97220 May

@Seasaver one sandeel huge areas never saw a industrial trawler don't blame overfishing because you don't have a clue!!! And I'm against

Details
Brian Buchan ‏@LapwingPD97220 May

@Seasaver industrial fishing but the decline in sandeels is environmental, water temp made their food disappear fishing is always a easy tar

Details
Brian Buchan ‏@LapwingPD97220 May

@SteveTrewhella1 @Seasaver I hate industrial fishing,but sandeels disappeared due to water temp and no food for them,,I hate industrial fish

Details
Brian Buchan ‏@LapwingPD97220 May

@Seasaver stop telling LIES I hate industrial fishing but not their fault !! You are a liar tell the truth!!!

Details
Brian Buchan ‏@LapwingPD97220 May

@Seasaver yea totally agree with you on this tweet back in the 60s loads of effluent pumped into seas another thing we hardly see today is

Details
Brian Buchan ‏@LapwingPD97220 May

@Seasaver is stinging jellyfish 30 years ago we were plagued by them, couldn't haul our nets without masks on but today we are lucky to see1

Details
Brian Buchan ‏@LapwingPD97220 May

@Seasaver when I was a kid was always down the rocks fishing,,fish allways next to sewage pipes or better the outflow pipe killing house

Details
Davie Tait ‏@DavieTait20 May

@throughthegaps @lapwingpd972 @seasaver lets stop this bullshit the sandeel collapse ork/shet was caused by salinity dropping 1%

Details
Davie Tait ‏@DavieTait20 May

@throughthegaps @lapwingpd972 @seasaver that caused eggs to fail,i worked at marine lab in aberdeen that did research,green bullshit

Details
Peter willox ‏@PeterWillox20 May

@ThroughTheGaps @LapwingPD972 @Seasaver well seasaver!!! Give us a reply to that one!!!! Or scared incase people fund out and money stops!

Details
Budding Rose PD418 ‏@buddingrose41820 May

@Seasaver it's the complete opposite ..less fishing boat equals less seabirds !!

Details
Budding Rose PD418 ‏@buddingrose41820 May

@Seasaver no Sandeel fishery in Scottish waters for years .. Fishermen get the blame for everything.

Details
Blue Planet Society ‏@Seasaver20 May

.Industrialized fishing has forced #seabirds to change what they eat http://bit.ly/12wGfkr @EnnNews

Details
Laurence Hartwell ‏@ThroughTheGaps20 May

@PeterWillox @LapwingPD972 @Seasaver seems to have all gone quiet on the Western front - uhmmm

Details
Peter willox ‏@PeterWillox20 May

@ThroughTheGaps @LapwingPD972 @Seasaver they were on about industrial fishing and seabirds dying couple o hrs ago, info from noah in his ark

Details
Peter willox ‏@PeterWillox20 May

@ThroughTheGaps @LapwingPD972 @Seasaver biggest load of gosh from them was about subsidies we get,don't seem to know Britain draws v little

Details

Tuesday 21 May 2013

CFP Reform Final Deal?

Aaron Mcloughlin has started a discussion: CFP Reform Final Deal?

"The reform of the CFP is coming into the closing straight. The Irish Presidency wants to have a deal by the end of the month. If one does not happen they'll let the Lithuanians work on the deal. The Irish want the bigger prize of CAP reform. But, if it gets delayed the momentum for reform will be shunted, and the Baltic nation may not be too keen to secure a reform. There is not a huge amount that divides the European Parliament and the Fishing Ministers. The EP who surprised everyone by taking a very ambitious position on a ban on discards & MSY (amongst other things) has pushed the Council further than many thought it capable of going. TFCs fell by the wayside, although their success in Denmark and Estonia has grown the appetite of many nations to bring in modern property rights to this sector of the economy. In 10 days or so we'll know if a deal is secured. The Norwegians will find it hard to believe that the EU copied them so much.

I'll provide a link to the final deal when it is announced. Aaron"

Fishing Into the Future - conference

Fishing Into the Future will enable the exchange of new knowledge and ideas between active fishers, fisheries scientists, fisheries managers and supply chain experts.

Strong local, regional and national partnerships between all fishing industry stakeholders can provide a solid foundation for sustainability and marketing efforts that will help ensure viable fishing communities and plentiful fish stocks in UK waters for future generations.

The workshop programme has been initiated by The Prince’s International Sustainability Unit in collaboration with Seafish. The agenda for Fishing Into the Future has been carefully designed by a Steering Group comprising fourteen fishermen and other fishing industry stakeholders. Through a participatory agenda the workshop will seek to answer a few critical questions.

To find out more information about the workshop please click here.

Fishing Into the Future will include presentations, demonstrations, discussion groups and an active social programme. The workshop offers the opportunity for fishermen and their partners from all over the UK to meet, network and share their stories and experiences.

awlemme seFishing Into the Future’s 1st National Workshop will take place at the Berryhead Hotel in Brixham from Sunday 14th to Tuesday 16th July.

The deadline for applications has now passed. If you are interested in attending the workshop please contact Laura Partridge.

The unintended consequences of simplifying the sea: making the case for complexity - with thanks to Samantha Andrews

Discuss!

The unintended consequences of simplifying the sea: making the case for complexity

So here's the old news....fish targeted by fisheries have been in decline for some time. Removal or reduction of populations can alter ecological interactions, meaning that other species may become more abundant (or less) in their place. This is typically done through something called competitive release (the species you compete with are gone, so there is more of a given resource for you) or trophic cascades (as one predator species is removed, its prey becomes more abundant because nothing is eating it. Of course that means that there is more of those species to nibble away at whatever they eat, causing a population decline in that prey species).

Here's the new..Prawns are really important to UK fisheries....about £110 million per year important, making them the move valuable of the UK fisheries.

Leigh Howarth and colleagues at the University of York, UK argue that this multi-million pound industry only came about because of overexploitation of other marine species - and that industry is not built on solid grounds.

You can read the press release which gives an overview of the paper herehttp://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2013/research/fish-into-fisheries

It seems that the paper has some backing from the industry too, with the Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust - a Scottish based charity - supporting the findings. You can read their thoughts here http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/19545

For those with access to the journal 'Fish and Fisheries'you can see the original paper herehttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/faf.12041/abstract

Image: The ecological effects of intensive fishing. From left to right, fishing effort increases over time. As a result, large predatory fish become depleted and fishers are forced to target new species.

#fisheries #oceans #oceanconservation #marineconservation #marinebiodiversity #science #scienceeveryday

With thanks to +Samantha Andrews

and more: this time from the Herald Scotland and MP Callum Roberts

Fisheries cannot rely on prawns for survival

Monday 20 May 2013

A COLLAPSING prawn-fishing "bubble" threatens to devastate UK fisheries that have become dependent on crustaceans and shellfish, experts claim.

As stocks of big fish have dwindled, fishermen have turned to smaller fry for their main income. Removal of big predators from the sea has seen catches of prawns, scallops and lobsters rocket.

In many regions, including the UK, shellfish are now the most valuable marine resource. But replacing fish such as cod and haddock with prawns and scallops is a highly precarious strategy, according to the authors of a new study. Shell-fisheries are unstable and at risk of collapse from disease, species invasion and climate change.

Lead researcher Leigh Howarth from the University of York said: "Prawns are now the most valuable fishery in the UK, with catches currently worth over £110 million a year. But this fishery has come to exist only after we over-exploited populations of cod, haddock and other predators.

"If shellfish now collapsed, the social consequences for fishermen would be devastating. There are simply very few remaining species left to target."

The study, published in the journal Fish and Fisheries, reports a similar situation all over the world.

In the US and Canada, lobster, scallops and crab have replaced catches of cod. In the Black Sea, Baltic Sea and off the west coast of Africa, over-fishing has caused areas to be overrun with jellyfish.

This has led to oxygen depletion and excess levels of hydrogen sulphide wiping out important food chains across 100,000 square kilometres of the sea floor.

Co-author Professor Callum Roberts, also from the University of York, said: "The rise of shellfish has been welcomed by many as a lifeline for the fishing industry. However, such changes are not a result of successful management, but rather a result of management failure – a failure to protect stocks and their habitats in the face of industry innovation and over-fishing.

"This study highlights why the UK needs to urgently act to protect our seas. We need more marine protected areas to stop our seas from becoming a wasteland."