EU Fisheries management - simple

An attempt at putting in simple diagram form how fisheries are managed in the EU - simple! 

Courtesy of the SWFPA in attendance at this year's Fisheries Dependant Information conference.

Fisheries Dependent Information conference 2014 - so far!

"You should utilize fishermen to collect data and collect biological samples......The fishermen need to own the data and have more confidence in the data that flows from that

And so say all of us!

Follow #FDI2014 on Twitter for updates from the biggest 

gathering of fishermen and scientists in the world

#EATMOREFISH

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CONFERENCE AND WHO IS THERE FROM THE WEB SITE

Cod Box - the closed season for cod in the Bristol Channel and off Ireland from February 1st to April 1st

From February the 1st to April the 1st

The shaded boxes are closed to all boats fishing for cod - let's hope the map reading skills of cod are up to the task - the eastern-most box is around 3200 square miles of ocean closed off to cod - do they get updates from the MMO?

Common Fisheries Policy: managing fish stocks - a debate

Highlighting environmental science, law and policy.

Price:	This is a free event.
Start date:	04-03-2014
Start time:	08.30am registration. 09.00 - 10.30 speaker presentations
CPD hours:	1.5
Event type:	CPD
Location:	Athenaeum Club*, Pall Mall SW1Y 5ER
Region:	Greater London United Kingdom *Please note that the dress code is smart (ties for gentlemen) and no jeans.

Background

The purpose of the debates is to provide objective and factual clarification of selected current environmental issues. To this end, a panel of three experts addresses the applicable science, law and policy. Each speaker has 15 minutes to present and then the floor is open for a question-and-answer session from which a summary of the Debate is produced. Chaired by Pamela Castle OBE, they are held approximately on a monthly basis from October 2013 to June 2014 at various locations across London in association with Sykes Environmental and sponsored by Legal Sector Alliance and the ENDS Report.

About the event

Since its creation in (1970), the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has failed in its objective of protecting EU fish stocks through the imposition of national fishing quotas. Fish stocks have crashed due to overfishing and imports now account for more than 50% of fish consumed in the EU.

This was addressed in a proposal for reform by the European Commission in 2011 aimed at restoring fish stocks by 2020. In February 2013 the European Parliament voted to support reforms including measures to protect endangered species and ending the practice of meeting quotas by discarding edible fish.

The new CFP is due to come into effect from 2014 but discussions with EU governments are ongoing. In May 2013 these discussions led to an agreement to rectify the situation which if approved by Ministers and MEPs will be phased in over the coming years.

Speakers*:

Science: Callum Roberts, Professor of Marine Conservation, University of York.

Law:       James Thornton, Founder and CEO at ClientEarth

Policy:    David Baldock, Executive Director, Institute for European Environmental Policy.

Organised by Pamela Castle in conjunction with Sykes Environmental

Thanks to Castle debates

Monday's piscatorial pleasures on Newlyn fish market

Despite the sensationalist predictions of Armageddon- "world's biggest waves to hit Cornwall" - high water passed without incident...

under some very heavy showers...

after Hugh's Fish Fight update showing last night it was good to see some quality cod on the market this morning...

along with another of those ugly fish contestants, the conger...

and some cracking turbot...

stunning black bream...

and mouth watering red mullet looking almost lickable...

bidding was swift especially for much-in-demand-mackerel...

and these pristine ray...

while the pollack peer from their bed of ice...

waiting for news on extra days at sea - the local crabbing fleet still have thousands of missing pots to find on top of a normal day's work - they are hoping that a meeting with the fisheries minister George Osborne will prove fruitful in gaining them the additional kilowatt sea days needed to retrieve their missing gear...

now taking shape, like a giant construction kit the first stage of the new ice works is nearing completion...

at high water the Mission witnesses the heavy surges running up the river...

while Tom keeps an eye on the Bay over the top of the barriers still keeping the public from accessing the coast path along the front to Wherry town...

lined up and ready to rock...

the true extent of the storm damage on the prom can now be seen as all the granite stones have now been levered from the beach...

out in the Bay two coasters wait for better conditions before attempting to round Land's End...

as heavy seas still attack the promenade at high water.

Hugh's Fish Fight goes to sea - first hand

Here's what the Guardian said:

It's three years since Hugh F-W decided the planet's oceans were worth saving and started to bang on about fish. In this update he's having a look at what has been achieved. And in the North Sea, the news is good. Well, unless you get seasick – there's a filthy chop off Peterhead today, the trawler Budding Rose is bouncing about all over the place and I'm feeling queasy just watching. It's beautiful though, as are the sad-eyed golden-green cod that spill into the hold when the catch is landed.

The good news is that none of this lot are going to be thrown back dead into the sea. For now it's a pilot scheme and means the Budding Rose has CCTV cameras all over the place (you've got to feel for the poor crew, being watched by Big Brother in Brussels). The fish is even marked "CCTV Cod" in boxes at market; make sure you ask for it in the chippy – large CCTV cod'n'chips please, open, and a pickled free-range happy egg.

Anyway, it marks the start of a ban on discards that will come into effect next year. A dumb European law has actually been changed, by a British TV chef and the hundreds of thousands who got behind his Fish Fight campaign. That's bloody brilliant, moving even. Nice one, Hugh. Maybe nice one you, too.




Here's what Scottish TV said almost one year ago:

Celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says he is listening to Peterhead skippers angered that his TV show misrepresented them and the UK fishing industry.

Hugh’s Fish Fight dumped the reality of discards right into the living rooms of the public; highlighting the merits of sustainable fishing and calling for action to be taken to ‘save our seas’. His methods however, angered a group of trawlermen who fought back with The Real Fish Fight campaign. The campaigners voiced concerns that the series did not differentiate between the healthy North East sector and troubled markets elsewhere in the country. They also argued that "there are plenty of fish in the sea". Now Hugh says he has been listening to the campaigners' arguments and says he recognises how healthy the north-east industry is. And he has heaped praise on campaign leader Peter Bruce, calling him a "top skipper" and someone who could "lead the UK fishing industry".

Speaking to STV, Hugh said: "I know that Peter Bruce of the Real Fish Fight is one of the top skippers in Scotland and catches great quality fish. He is on the innovative catch-quota system and so doesn’t discard any cod and has an MSC certificate of sustainability for his haddock. "He’s the sort of fisherman to lead the UK fishing industry in the right direction. I think we’ve got a lot in common and I am listening to what the Real Fish Fight has to say. "I do acknowledge that cod stocks are doing well in the North Sea from their all-time low point in 2006 and applaud fishermen and fishery managers for their hard work to make that happen. But looking at all stocks, across the whole UK, it’s a complicated situation. "Our latest series of Fish Fight focused on Marine Protected Areas, and did not discuss fish stocks in the North Sea. We filmed on the Isle of Man – in the Irish Sea – where cod stocks are still in dire straits, and scientists advise that we shouldn’t catch any cod if we can help it. It’s the same in coastal areas of West Scotland."

The fishing industry was dealt a heavily blow when, earlier this year, the Marine Conservation Society demoted mackerel on its list of ethical fish to eat, causing Hugh to ditch his campaign to get "mac baps" into Britain’s chippys. North Sea fishermen met with green groups, WWF, Marine Scotland and fisheries scientists, to find a solution to the depleting stocks and have swapped their nets for different mesh sizes to allow younger fish to escape. Campaign founder and skipper, Peter Bruce, said: "We’re not happy with the way that we have been portrayed. What the programme called facts were just lies. We thought there was such a misrepresentation of the situation; we had to set up on our own.

"There are plenty of fish in our seas. His campaign is all about scaremongering and I know that to be true because every time we take the boat out we can see for ourselves on our equipment just how many fish there are out there. "Fishermen haven't been given any credit for their efforts, and there is no evidence to suggest that by banning fishing in certain areas that fish numbers will increase, or that this will be the best way to conserve."

The fishing fleet at Petehead has fallen from 120 vessels in the 1990s to only 30. Two weeks ago, Peter’s boat, The Budding Rose, hauled her largest ever catch of cod - 30 tonnes in a single net.

Peter added: "I had never seen a catch like that in all my 30 years at sea. The boat’s ram was completely bent out of shape by the weight of the catch - so much so it has had to be removed for repairs to be carried out. "It was taken around 20 miles from closed cod spawning grounds; I had been fishing for haddock. I was in contact with a fellow skipper who was 75 miles away and he was having a similar experience." Peterhead is the UK’s largest white fish and pelagic (mackerel and herring) port and runs an on-site fish market from Monday to Friday. The fishermen claim that cod stocks in the North Atlantic have reached their highest levels for almost 20 years and ships such as the Budding Rose require only a relatively short time at sea to fill their holds.

Peter added: "Some people want the North Sea left as an aquarium and we just can't have that. We would like the scientists to come out with us and see what we are seeing on the grounds. "Hugh’s Fish Fight seems to be motivated by raising his profile and bank balance. In the first series, he did a great job of highlighting the issue and we were all for it but we are not happy at his more recent claims about fish stocks." "The money spent on his campaign should have been spent on scientific research; his measures will not provide a solution, it will only flood the market with products from overseas which have a high carbon footprint." Hugh’s Fish Fight production company, KEO Films, are currently reviewing their options for a follow-up episode of the series, but have not ruled out a meeting between the two fish crusaders.

To find out more about the Real Fish Fight campaign, you can find them on Facebook.