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Thursday 27 November 2014

Margiris- update from down under.

The 143m Margiris is currently steaming north...

yesterday, she was one of a handful of flagged and foreign supertrawlers working off the west coast of Ireland.

Report from Australian media:

NICK GRIMM: An environmentalist and a fisherman from Tasmania have travelled to Canberra today to deliver a petition signed by 30,000 people asking the Federal Government to permanently ban super trawlers.

The pair represent a range of groups from around the country working together in opposition to vessels of that type.

The Federal Government introduced a temporary ban on the ships two years ago in response to a Tasmanian company's plan to use a 143 metre-long super trawler.

One of the temporary bans expired last week and the next will expire in April next year.

Felicity Ogilvie reports.

FELICITY OGILVIE: The company Seafish Tasmania already has a quota to fish for mackerel redbait and sardines. The fishery extends from the waters around Queensland all the way down to Tasmania then up to the ocean near Perth.

Seafish wanted to cover the huge fishing area with a 143 metre-long super trawler called the Margiris but the move was fiercely opposed by environmentalists and recreational fishers.

The Federal Government responded two years ago by temporarily banning the use of super trawlers. Now one of those bans has expired and the other ban is up for review in April. Seafish Tasmania has made it clear it won't be bringing the Margiris back to Australia but those who opposed it are worried that other super trawlers could be brought in.

Rebecca Hubbard is an environmentalist who coordinates the Stop the Trawler Alliance and she's in Canberra today to deliver a petition to politicians.

REBECCA HUBBARD: Well, we're urging the Government to legislate a permanent ban on super trawlers in Australian waters, considering the huge risk that super trawlers will pose to our fisheries and our marine life here.

FELICITY OGILVIE: A spokesman for Seafish Tasmania says the company holds a quota for the fishery and will fish it in the future.

How and when that will occur will be announced by the company in due course.

Rebecca Hubbard is worried that Seafish Tasmania will bring in another super trawler to be used in the fishery.

REBECCA HUBBARD: Look, it's not really related to the length of the trawlers but what we do know is these huge freezer factory capacities of these trawlers is what gives them the ability to really have a massive impact and really damage our fisheries and impact upon protected species more extensively.

So what we want is a permanent ban on industrial freezer factory trawlers.

FELICITY OGILVIE: Nobby Clark is also in Canberra today. He's representing recreational fishers who are worried about the effect that super trawlers targeting smaller fish would have on larger sports species like tuna.

NOBBY CLARK: Look, we believe that what could happen is that high levels of bait could be taken out of certain areas of the fishery and this could have a direct impact on the bigger prey species that frequent that area. We've seen this happen before in Tasmania, which is renowned for having some very heavy fishing of small pelagic.

FELICITY OGILVIE: The Federal Government commissioned an expert panel to look at the fishery that Seafish Tasmania has its quota in. The panel considered issues such as localised depletion of fish stocks and impacts on protected species such as seals and sea birds. The panel has found fishing will result in the deaths of some seals and birds but the experts couldn't say to what extent that would happen.

Rebecca Hubbard from the Stop the Trawler Alliance says the uncertainty should prompt a ban.

REBECCA HUBBARD: Well, from our point of view the expert panel really confirms that conservation and recreational fishing groups have been raising for a number of years, these super trawlers could have a great impact on our protected and threatened species, and they could cause extensive impacts on the local fishing populations, but we just don't have the information to be able to assess that impact or manage that impact.

FELICITY OGILVIE: The Federal Government is still considering its response to the expert panel's report.

NICK GRIMM: Felicity Ogilvie reporting.

French go back to long lines to reduce the environmental impact of deep-sea trawling - a trial of sorts.

Same size, same color. Yet very little to do with the old version. Arrived Sunday morning at Keroman, Heliotrope, vessel of 33 meters, is about to start a new life. The former trawler Scapêche just spent nine months in a Spanish shipyard. " We almost changed everything, leaving only the shell , "says Jean-Pierre Le Face, operations manager of the first French company to fishing. A simple glance at the stern enough to realize it. Missing winches and reels so characteristic of trawling.

Built in the early 90s, the Heliotrope has been completely refurbished to practice a new type of fishing: longline. The principle is simple. A line consisting of thousands of hooks is launching keyed for several hours on the bottom, or in open water surface, then reboarding.

Although @Scapêche already practice this type of fishing in Reunion - where one of its 23 ships stalking toothfish in the Southern Ocean - the choice to transform a former longliner trawlers still a gamble. In response to environmentalists who advocate this type of fishing, " without a priori one hand, says Jean-Pierre Le Visage. There is not in itself good or bad trade. We opted for an auto longline system that is not fully known technical feasibility or profitability. We just want to see what we can do with, especially on deep-sea species such as blue ling and sword . "

A substitute trawl?

Now transformed into a " living laboratory "Heliotrope conduct fishing trips of ten days in Northern Scotland. It will also target species such as hake, cod and haddock. Already practiced by the Spaniards and the Norwegians longline seems to be a "tool objectively more selective . " " But it also has a downside , "the manager added immediately. While a trawler can capture in a campaign fifteen different species, longline can hope for " two or three ". Besides risk-catch some protected species like the shark. In other words, no revolution either to wait with longlines. " This is an opportunity that we want to try, but it certainly will not come to replace trawl , "they warned the Scapêche. As proof, the Jean-Pierre Le Roch, new ship of 41 meters of Lorient fleet, currently under construction in Spain, is a trawler. Delivery scheduled for summer 2015

Cefas are hiring fishing observers

Click here for more details and an application pack.

A chance for local MP and Fisheries minister George Eustice to prove his mettle - #dontletusdown

NEWLYN could lose at least £3 million next year as a result of new fishing quotas, with dramatic impacts on the whole community, a local industry expert has warned.

Fisheries Minister George Eustice will meet other European leaders on December 14-15 to agree what are expected to be more dramatic cuts to the amount of fish trawlermen can land.

CFPO chief Paul Trebilcock - Photo courtesy of the Cornishman

Paul Trebilcock, chief executive of the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation (CFPO), says he fears the minister, despite living just ten miles from the UK's leading white fish port, will not fight for beleaguered Cornish fishermen.

Mr Trebilcock has already seen the proposed cuts to quotas for species like hake, cod, haddock, plaice and monkfish – the latter alone earned £4.7 million for Newlyn last year. He fears their severity, combined with sudden and unexpected restrictions on fisheries imposed in the last few weeks, could create an economic disaster for communities like Newlyn next year.

Fishermen in Newlyn have already seen major restrictions placed on landing monkfish, plaice and Dover sole in recent weeks.

Mr Trebilcock said: "We've gone through [the European Council proposal] and we estimate that it would mean a loss of £3 million for Newlyn, and for the broader South West we think over £10 million in lost fishing opportunities, and that's just literally what it's worth at the market, it would be frightening to think what that would be at the shop end. It goes beyond the boats landing the fish. It's not just the 1,000 fishermen in Cornwall, it's the 4,000 people from the whole industry. And the families who rely on them."

European fisheries policy sets quotas to achieve what it calls Maximum Sustainable Yield; essentially the point at which fishing would not affect whether a species could thrive.

The CFPO is signed up to the idea to give fishing a future for the long term. But it says cutting too quickly, and on the basis of emotion not science, may leave a fishing fleet with no short-term future.

It also fears Mr Eustice, whose family runs Trevaskis Farm, near Hayle, has not grasped the complexities of the issue.

Mr Trebilcock said: "I don't think there is the same confidence with George Eustice as the ministers we have had in the past."

Mr Eustice said: "I have had regular meetings with fishing representatives, including Paul Trebilcock, to discuss this year's December Fisheries Council and I will be arguing for a balanced approach where there is a danger that sharp reductions in quota on individual species could cause increased discards.

"We are also working with fishermen in Newlyn. However, we must recognise the need to fish sustainably to protect the long-term future of the fishing industry."

In an open letter to the minister, Mr Trebilcock writes: "There is a heavy responsibility on your shoulders. If the Cornish fleet is to emerge intact from this December Council, it will not be sufficient to return from Brussels to claim that some cuts have been mitigated.

"You must use every weapon in your armoury to deliver an outcome that is consistent and compatible with the economic viability of the South West fleets. You may rest assured that we are as committed to sustainable high yield fisheries as you are. But if the Cornish fleet is to reach that destination it must also have a future in the short term."

Story courtesy of the Cornishman.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Ecologists worry about capture of juvenile sardines

It could lead to destruction of precious fisheries resources: The landing of more than a hundred tonnes of juvenile sardines, measuring between 8 and 11 cm, on World Fisheries Day at the Thottappilly Fishing Harbour, Alappuzha, was a cause of worry for conservationists, who saw the incident as one of many acts of “wanton” destruction of precious fisheries resources.

Juvenile sardine catch at the Thottappilly fishing harbour on November 21, which is observed as World Fisheries Day.

The catch was not sent for sale to the market, but was packed off to a fish meal factory in Mangalore, a scientist involved in marine fisheries conservation activities told The Hindu. A few of these factories have recently been set up in Kerala too.

He said that fishermen had been reporting these incidents quite often. Charles George, president of Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedi, a forum for fishermen’s unions, had recently said that juvenile catch was a destroying precious resources and hurting the livelihoods of traditional fishermen.

“It is quite pathetic to understand this valuable fish resource is being destroyed by ring seine fishing,” said the conservationist.

It has been reported that large quantities of major fish varieties like sardine, mackerel and nemipterus (kilimeen), which are major items in the daily fish markets in the State are being captured and sent to fish meal factories, he added.

There appears to be no means of controlling such destructive practices, the conservationist pointed out.

He cited CMFRI data to show that sardine catch in 2013 was only one lakh tonnes, against the 3.9 lakh tonnes in 2012.

During that year, sardine catch contributed about 46 per cent of the total fish landings in Kerala.

The situation in this year “will be disastrous” if the practices of destructive fishing continue, he said and warned that sending juvenile catch to fish meal factories would end up with destruction of livelihood means for several lakhs of people.

Fishing harbours in other parts of the Kerala, too, have been witness of juvenile catch landings and threw was a big issue at the Chettuva fishing harbour in Thrissur district a few months ago, he said.

The fish workers refused to handle the juvenile fish landed at the harbour and only the intervention of the political leaders and the district administration ended the dispute, he added.

Courtesy of the Hindu

Salt of the Earth - launch party at the Mission in #Newlyn

Salt of the Earth from Dead Interesting Productions on Vimeo.

Newlyn is home hundreds of fishermen who land the finest prime line, trawl, net and pot caught fish and shellfish daily. This book is a wonderful photographic view of the Fishermen and the wider fishing community in Newlyn, Cornwall. 100% of the proceeds of the book are in aid of national charity, the Fishermen's Mission.

Wednesday's fish

Making the most of the weather, the boars that can be at sea are at sea so Wednesday's market has but a few boxes of inshore dayboat #quality fish this morning...