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Tuesday 25 March 2014

Illegal fishing activities: trade measures decided by the EU Council

The Council today triggered a series of measures affecting the trade in fisheries products and other fisheries- related activities with Belize, Cambodia and Guinea in order to put a stop to commercial benefits stemming from illegal fishing activities.

Ultimately, fisheries products caught by vessels from these countries will be banned from being imported into the EU (6262/14). The adoption of the implementing decision establishing a list of non-cooperating third countries in fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing pursuant to regulation 1005/20081 is the first decision of this kind and follows a formal warning made in November 2012. This decision marks an intensification of the EU's fight against illegal fishing by identifying Belize, Cambodia and Guinea as non-cooperating third countries.

Despite the EU working closely with the national authorities to set up fisheries management and effective control measures, the three countries have still not addressed structural problems and have failed to show real commitment to tackling the problem of illegal fishing. Fisheries products caught by vessels flying the three countries' flags will be banned from being imported into the EU. EU vessels will have to stop fishing in these waters. Other forms of cooperation, such as joint fishing operations or fisheries agreements with these countries, will no longer be possible.

Yesterday, EU member states fishing ministers backed the European Commission in their efforts against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. Agreement was absolute to support the fight against perceived widespread abuses.

The decision is consistent with the EU's international commitment to ensuring the sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources at home and abroad through compliance with IUU rules adopted by the United Nations and the FAO. All of the identified countries have failed to fulfil their duties as flag, coastal, port or market states - for example, by not complying with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) or the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement.

The EU's approach towards combating illegal fishing reflects the fact that IUU fishing is a global criminal activity which is harmful not only to EU fishermen and markets but also to local communities in developing countries. Fiji, Panama, Sri Lanka, Togo and Vanuatu also received formal warnings in 2012. The remedial actions introduced by those countries are being monitored continuously through bilateral dialogue, and a progress report is due shortly. In addition, formal warnings were given to Korea, Ghana and Curacao in November 2013. The EU is also continuing the dialogue with the three countries listed as non-cooperating, as some of them have initiated attempts to address IUU fishing.

Regulation 1005/2008 establishes a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. This key instrument in the fight against illegal fishing aims to allow access to the EU market only to fisheries products that have been certified as legal by the flag state or the exporting state concerned.

Belize, Cambodia, and Guinea have all been blacklisted. Fish caught by their fleet or from their waters will no longer come into Europe.

Other countries are under investigation by the European Commission. South Korea, Ghana, Curaco have all be warned to address their fisheries. And Panama, Fiji, Togo, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu have been given until the spring of 2014 to implement the measures they have told the EU Commission they would introduce.

It seems a few countries thought the EU was bluffing. They have just learned the EU is very serious about taking and beating Pirate fishing.

Around $10 billion a year of fish caught is from IUU fisheries. Europe has learned from its on battles taking on illegal fishing in its own waters. Taking on the Blue Fin Tuna illegal fishing in the Med took years and tens of millions of euros of taxpayers money to bring an out of control fisheries back into line.

Sometimes people may forget that the EU is established on the idea of the “rule of law”. This means that no country, person or industry is above the law. 3 countries yesterday were reminded of that very simple idea.

Story courtesy of Aaron McLoughlin

Have your hake and eat it - part II #eatmorefish

After finding hake to be the UK's current most sustainable fish, the NFFO organised a tasting evening with journalists, retailers, fishermen and leading seafood chef Mitch Tonks at the well-regarded Wright Brothers Oyster & Porter House in Soho. Celebrity fishing fans can spot skipper Phil Mitchell, Fishing News International assistant editor Ruyita and Barry Deas from the NFFO amongst others all enjoying a hake fest washed down with a few oysters.

Let's hope in a few months time big supermarkets like Waitrose will rally to the cause and put fresh Cornish hake on the wet fish counters!

New research from the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations has found hake to currently be the UK’s most sustainable fish. The NFFO conducted an evaluation of stock and catch data of the UK’s most commonly caught species against a criteria of 10 industry sustainability markers and #hake, against very stiff competition from other species, currently meets more of the standards than any other species. However, of the 12,000 tonnes of hake caught by British fishermen last year, just 1.5 per cent was consumed in the UK.

Fine-scale diel and gender-based patterns in behaviour of Atlantic cod

A selected Editor’s Choice article from the latest issue of the ICES Journal of Marine Science is now freely available. This month, read more about the fine-scale movements of Atlantic cod as they return to the same spawning grounds over multiple seasons.

Diel usually refers to a 24 hour cycle involving day and night

Atlantic cod is one of the most commercially sought-after and socio-economically important fish species in the world. Despite inordinate attention on stock assessment and fishery management, most cod populations have experienced steep declines in abundance with limited success at rebuilding. In each case, a suite of contributing factors can be pointed to, including overfishing, climate change, and predator-prey relationships; yet, there appears to be an element to the population dynamics of this species that is currently misunderstood to allow for such pervasive stock depletion and recovery failure to occur.

Recent research suggests that ignoring fine-scale population structure is a contributing, if not a leading cause. There is ample evidence that many cod stocks function as a metapopulation, containing multiple subunits comprised of semi-discrete spawning components. By managing stocks as a single homogeneous group, we ignore this fine-scale population structure and risk the serial depletion of unique sub-components, thereby lowering stock productivity.

Spawning behaviour is at the heart of a metapopulation; it provides not only the mechanism by which population structure is developed and maintained, it also influences whether lost or depleted components will recover. Understanding the 'where', 'when', and 'how' of spawning allows for the more effective management of cod stocks by providing the necessary information with which to design conservation measures that prevent the loss or depletion of spawning components.

Using an acoustic telemetry positioning system, Dean et al. describe the fine-scale movements of spawning cod in situ as they return to the same spawning location over multiple seasons. This unprecedented view of natural spawning behaviour challenges the conventional wisdom about cod's mating system and underscores their vulnerability to disturbance and depletion while spawning. Their findings are particularly relevant to the design of spawning closures and the influence of behaviour on stock assessments as well as general reproductive ecology.

You can read the full article here:

Monday 24 March 2014

Fisherman with head injury airlifted from the Western Chieftain off the Irish coast.

A fisherman has been admitted to hospital in Sligo after being airlifted from the "Western Chieftain" on Mar 23, 2014, by an Irish Coast Guard helicopter some 260km off the Mayo coast. An emergency call was received from the vessel by the Marine Rescue Centre in Malin in the morning. After discussions with doctors at Medico Cork, which provides medical support and information for vessels in Irish waters, a decision was made to carry out an emergency airlift.

The Rescue 118 helicopter was dispatched from Sligo just before 10am, and made its way to the scene with support from an Air Corps CASA plane. The man — an Irish national — was taken safely from the vessel and flown back to shore. He was admitted to Sligo General Hospital at 1.31 p.m. The Air Corps plane ‘Charlie 252′ arrived on scene at 11.50 a.m. and remained with the trawler, providing a communications relay between it, the Coastguard and ‘Rescue 118’ during the Mission.

Courtesy of Timsen on VesseltTracker