Joint statement by the co-chairs of the EU-UK Joint Committee - protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland

 

The co-chairs of the EU-UK Joint Committee – European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and the UK Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon Michael Gove – yesterday held a political meeting to address the outstanding issues related to the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement. Ensuring that the Withdrawal Agreement, in particular the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, is fully operational at the end of the transition period, i.e. as of 1 January 2021, is essential. The Protocol protects the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement in all its dimensions, maintaining peace, stability and prosperity on the island of Ireland.

Following intensive and constructive work over the past weeks by the EU and the UK, the two co-chairs can now announce their agreement in principle on all issues, in particular with regard to the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.

An agreement in principle has been found in the following areas, amongst others: Border Control Posts/Entry Points specifically for checks on animals, plants and derived products, export declarations, the supply of medicines, the supply of chilled meats, and other food products to supermarkets, and a clarification on the application of State aid under the terms of the Protocol.

The parties have also reached an agreement in principle with respect to the decisions the Joint Committee has to take before 1 January 2021. In particular, this concerns the practical arrangements regarding the EU's presence in Northern Ireland when UK authorities implement checks and controls under the Protocol, determining criteria for goods to be considered “not at risk” of entering the EU when moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the exemption of agricultural and fish subsidies from State aid rules, the finalisation of the list of chairpersons of the arbitration panel for the dispute settlement mechanism so that the arbitration panel can start operating as of next year, as well as the correction of errors and omissions in Annex 2 of the Protocol.

In view of these mutually agreed solutions, the UK will withdraw clauses 44, 45 and 47 of the UK Internal Market Bill, and not introduce any similar provisions in the Taxation Bill.

Next steps This agreement in principle and the resulting draft texts will now be subject to respective internal procedures in the EU and in the UK. Once this is done, a fifth regular meeting of the EU-UK Joint Committee will be convened to formally adopt them. This will take place in the coming days and before the end of the year.

Download the Joint statement by the co-chairs of the EU-UK Joint Committe

Ireland to drive down discards through research.

New technologies may help skippers avoid unwanted catches Fishing Boat. Photo courtesy of the Marine Institute. Scientists at the Marine Institute are investigating how new technologies could be used to share real-time information and help skippers avoid unwanted catches. The IFISH (Irish Fisheries Information Sharing Network Development) project, funded by the Science Foundation Ireland, is encouraging fishers to participate in the project and assist in developing a useful information sharing tool for the industry.

New technology is increasingly being used to assist skippers avoid unwanted catches, but is yet to be used in Irish fisheries. Co-operative schemes and mobile phone applications are being developed in fisheries across the world from the USA to Scotland, to help skippers receive up to date information on the location of fish, to assist in avoiding juvenile or quota limited species. The new BATmap app, for example, is being trialed by Scottish fishers to help avoid choke species in west of Scotland fisheries (https://info.batmap.co.uk/).

The IFISH project will build on the research conducted as part of the DiscardLess project, which resulted in the development of a discard hotspot mapping app (https://shiny.marine.ie/discardless).

The IFISH project will move beyond producing static maps of fish distributions based on historic catch patterns and look at how information sharing among the Irish fleet could help provide real time information on the location of fish that fishers don't want to catch, such as undersize juveniles, to assist skippers in avoiding them.

Julia Calderwood, scientist at the Marine Institute said, "At this early stage of the project, we are really keen to talk to anyone who is willing to share their experiences and opinions on how effective different fishing tactics are at avoiding unwanted catches, as well as how sharing information on the location of unwanted catches may potentially help in further avoiding them." 

Industry involvement in the IFISH project is key to help co-design information sharing tools and ensure they are developed to assist in avoiding problematic catches, whatever they may be locally or within particular fisheries. By working with partners in a number of different fisheries it will also be possible to set up separate information sharing networks in different fisheries or regions, rather than taking a broad approach.

"Industry input is really important to help shape this research so that we can ensure that we are addressing industry needs and concerns and to ensure any output from this work is useful and relevant," Julia Calderwood said.

The use of any developed tools will be completely voluntary, with skippers only taking part if they feel it would be useful, and all information shared would be private and only available to skippers using the tool.

For more information or to participate in the IFISH project please contact Julia Calderwood at julia.calderwood@marine.ie 

Full story from the Marine Institute.

Newlyn's Monday morning's fish market.

The weekend saw a mixed landing of fish from beam and inshore trawlers which included a few boxes of haddock...

some late season John Dory...

plenty of spotted dogfish that go for crab boat bait...

though it might come as a surprise to Roger to find tat he is using gill nets on his inshore trawler Immy...

good to see young Mr Bacon bringing home some mackerel from the bay...

plenty more handy-sized haddock...

and a good run of ray...

in addition to a good landing of hake the Silver Dawn landed a good proportion of his spurdog quota for the year...

looks like there's another foreign boat landing today - part of the Brexit deal will be an expectation that UK Flagged vessels will have to land 80% of their annual catch AND put it on the open market as opposed to transporting 90% of the fish they catch back to their own country as they do at present.

Fisheries APPG’s latest event promotes fishing safety

 

On Tuesday 1st December, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries held its final online event of 2020, on the subject of Staying Safe at Sea. The event heard from fishermen, technologists, communications experts and legislators, all of whom are working to make fishing a safer profession.

Fishing can be a high-stakes profession. Vessels capsizing or fishermen falling overboard, although relatively rare events in themselves, can often end in fatality. Because the stakes are so high, maximising fishing safety is crucial. “Fishing safety is an issue very close to my heart,” said Sheryll Murray MP, Chair of the APPG on Fisheries, who chaired the event. “It was fantastic to hear such passionate speakers discussing how we can make the industry as safe as possible, so that fishermen are more aware of the dangers they face.”

“Fishing is the most dangerous industry in the UK,” said Katy Ware, Director of UK Maritime Services, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, who spoke at the event. “The MCA can raise standards through regulation, training, and education within the industry, and we hope that safety awareness will be increased as a result. However, this will not work unless vessel owners ask themselves: can I do this safer, have I done everything I can to protect myself and my crew?”

Direct outreach can bring significant benefits to fishing safety. Denise Fraser, Head of Communications at Seafish, spoke about the work of the Fishing Industry Safety Group’s Home and Dry media campaign. “The fishing industry is having more conversations about safety at sea than ever before and I think we’ll start to see that culture change,” said Denise. “We’re trying to change generations of habits and attitudes so it will take time, but it’s going in the right direction.” Denise said the success of the campaign was due to a new coordinated approach - focusing on the benefits to be gained by maximising fishing safety.

Efforts at the regional level are also having a significant impact. Clive Palfrey, Regional Safety Adviser for Seafood Cornwall Training, spoke about how he interacts directly with fishermen on the quayside to stimulate engagement with safety concerns. His conversations revolve around safety matters such as best practice, compliance with regulations, and the health and wellbeing of crew members - making fishermen aware of the issues and opportunities where they can take action.

Looking for inspiration from other sectors could help bring about benefits for fishing safety. “Fishing safety has been improving, and can be developed further, by utilising techniques used in other industries, such as oil and gas,” said Kenneth Smith, Director of Hook Marine Ltd, who spoke about vessel stability technology. “We must develop the barriers which will stop accidents, including improvements in design, education, training, maintenance, examination and testing of vessels and equipment.”

Technologies that bring about substantial safety benefits do exist, but for reasons such as lack of resources or information, they are not always taken up by fishermen. “The biggest possible positive impact for fishing safety would be the reduction in the gap between safety equipment innovation and access to that equipment for the vessels and crew,” said Sean McCrystal, Senior Marketing Manager for Orolia Maritime, who manufacture Search and Rescue beacons.

Finding the time and resources for training can be an obstacle, especially since the fishing industry needs to make the most of fair weather to go to sea. “There are not enough safety providers or training courses, and those that do exist often fall at a time that fishermen are away at sea,” said John Clark, skipper of the Reliance III. At the event, John spoke about how his personal experience going overboard meant he went ‘above and beyond’ the current legislative requirements to fit his new vessel with safety measures, such as a winch guard and a clip-on safety rail for crew members. “If we are to attract new entrants into the fishing industry, we need to have a better understanding of safety and to provide a safe working environment.”

The event was recorded and is available on the APPG website, along with a summary of the panelists’ answers to questions from attendees. The APPG Secretariat will also publish a policy brief detailing the outputs and key messages for the event in the coming weeks. The APPG on Fisheries’ next event will take place in the New Year. Sign up to their newsletter to be the first to hear about the event launch.

BORIS JOHNSON’S EDWARD HEATH MOMENT 5TH DECEMBER 2020 IN BREXIT

 

The NFFO takes stock of the negotiations for a UK/EU fisheries deal, after the remaining issues blocking a deal have been elevated to the political realm

The announcement that no further progress can be made in negotiations towards an agreement on the future UK/EU relationship, by the chief negotiators, David Frost and Michel Barnier, comes as no surprise. The gulf between the two sides on fisheries has been huge and seems to have widened in recent days.

In the negotiations, the EU side has moved only millimetres from its original mandate which insists that the only acceptable terms for a trade agreement would be a humiliating surrender by the UK on fisheries. And it would be a huge capitulation. Under the conditions insisted upon by the EU, EU fleets would essentially retain the automatic access to fish in UK waters and hold the status quo on quota shares. To agree to these conditions would be to deny the UK’s legal status as an independent coastal state and render the UK’s departure from the EU as utterly worthless, so far as fisheries are concerned. Even the right to control its own waters inside its own 12-mile limit would be surrendered. On quota shares, be reminded that the UK share of Channel cod is 9%; the French share is 84%.

A compromise is on offer. The UK would agree to reasonable levels of access for EU fleets to fish in UK waters outside the 12-mile limit – in return for a rebalance of quota shares and recognition that the UK will act as any other coastal state, to maintain control over who fishes in its waters. The EU’s offer on quota shares has been risible and the EU will only accept terms that would neuter the UK’s rights as an independent coastal state. Hence the impasse.

The two parties will now take stock and consult with their political masters. We can expect that the phone lines between the capitals will be busy. The stakes are high:

A free trade deal which is in everyone’s interest The future of a UK fishing industry that has been tied for 40 years into an asymmetric and exploitative relationship with the EU The presidency of France and the future of Europe as Macron faces re-election in April 2022 The future, and legacy of the British Prime Minister, elected to get one job done. All hang in the balance. On fish, Boris Johnson knows that this is his Ted Heath moment.

No Deal

Leaving aside the unlikely, and frankly suicidal, possibility that the Prime Minister accepts the EU’s conditions of surrender, two possibilities occur. The other member states might curb President Macron’s Versailles-like surrender terms and a reasonable compromise could be reached in the next few days. Alternatively, there could be an acceptance that a trade deal is not achievable at this juncture. There is no disguising that this would carry serious adverse implications for both the UK and many EU member states. Tariffs would apply and trade between the UK and the EU would be conducted on less advantageous WTO terms.

No deal would also mean that the EU will immediately enter negotiations with the UK (and where they have an interest, with Norway) for an annual fisheries agreement for 2021, with no prior guarantee that EU fleets would have access to fish any part of UK waters from 1st January. Negotiations for an annual fisheries agreement (as opposed to the framework agreement under discussion) would normally have been approaching conclusion by this stage in the year. In the absence of a fisheries agreement for 2021, something like 3000 EU fishing vessels will have no legal access to fish in UK waters, until there is an agreement. The EU faced something like this a number of years ago when Morocco closed its waters to the EU fleets.

The EU is exerting every muscle to thwart the UK’s legal right under international law as a coastal state to harvest the resources within its exclusive economic zone. The reason why is clear. EU fleets benefit massively from the asymmetrical arrangements agreed in 1973 and again in 1983, with the introduction of quotas.

It is, however, the balance of domestic politics, particularly in France, that prevents the EU from gracefully accepting this landmark change in the legal and political realities.

It is also the balance of domestic politics that ensures that the UK Prime Minister is highly unlikely to follow Ted Heath in sacrificing the fishing industry, which has a huge totemic significance for those who voted to leave the EU.

Full story courtesy of the NFFO website. 

Heavy showers and sunshine in Newlyn on Saturday.

It's that time of year when the Newlyn Harbour Lights volunteers get busy...

between heavy showers and huge clouds the harbour gets a blast of solar power...

visiting Irish vessel Velvet Chord II S750...

a brace of Rowse crabbers...

sparks fly on the deck of the Sapphire II...

while the crew on the Admiral Blake go through their beam trawls...

 the Crystal Sea has taken her usual weekend break...

while it is time for the boys from the Joy of Ladram to let go the ends so that they can take ice, though I doubt they will sail until tomorrow morning looking at the forecast for the rest of the day...

a brace+1 of Rowse crabbers...

gear  overhauling under heavy showers...

as skipper Paul helps out...

replacing worn shackles and links on the chain mat of the sapphire II...

as Roger Nowell heads up the harbour to take ice...

nice pic of the Sapphire II on the company truck...

just a few more links to go...

twixt heaven and hell...

as the local gull population...

wheel around the harbour...

 looking for breakfast...

with most of the fleet at sea there's not much doing for them!

 

Study proves bits of DNA in seawater correlate to the weight of netted fish.

 

DNA bits in seawater samples drawn during New Jersey government fish trawls reveals relative abundance of fish with a 70% match between the two sampling methods;

In addition to great concordance, the study finds that each method yields information missed by the other.The research advances a novel, inexpensive way to census oceans from surface to seafloor, help monitor fisheries, assess shifts in marine life due to climate change, around coral reefs, aquaculture or wind farms, oil rigs, and more. Credit: Capt. Steve Cluett (retired), R/V Seawolf Humanity is a step closer to answering one of the most ancient of questions—"how many fish in the sea?"—thanks to newly-published proof that the amount of fish DNA collected in a water sample closely corresponds to kilos of fish captured in a trawl with nets.

In a breakthrough study, scientists report that floating bits of DNA found in small water samples reveal the relative biomass of fish in the sea roughly as well as a 'gold standard' US state government trawl with nets. The researchers drew seawater samples during New Jersey government fish trawls and tested the water for fish DNA. Analysis of the water was able to reveal the relative abundance of fish with a 70% match in results between the two sampling methods. In addition to the great concordance between methods, the study found that each sampling method yielded information missed by the other. While environmental DNA ("eDNA") has been proven before as a reliable way to determine the variety of fish in an area of water, the new study is the first to show that bits of eDNA floating in seawater also disclose the relative abundance of the species swimming through it.

Published by the prestigious ICES Journal of Marine Science, the paper certifies 'fishing for DNA' as an inexpensive, harmless complement to nets, acoustics and other established ways to monitor the health of fish stocks and/or the shifting diversity, distribution and abundance of aquatic life. The paper, a collaboration between The Rockefeller University, Monmouth University, and the New Jersey Bureau of Marine Fisheries, says the information about the diversity and relative abundance of fish available in a one-liter sample is comparable to a 66 million liter trawl sweep, enough seawater to fill a football stadium to the top of the goalposts. During four voyages by the New Jersey Ocean Trawl Survey in 2019 aboard the research vessel Sea Wolf, scientists led by Dr. Mark Stoeckle, Senior Research Associate at The Rockefeller University Program for the Human Environment, drew one-liter pop-bottle sized water samples from various depths just before the trawler's nets were lowered. The finding has profound implications for improving global fisheries management and has led to early proposals for a "Great American Fish Count" in rivers and coastal waters, aided by millions of citizen scientists, comparable to Audubon's Great Backyard Bird Counts.

Fish and other organisms shed DNA like dandruff, Dr. Stoeckle explains, leaving an invisible trail wherever they swim. This environmental DNA can be skin cells, droppings, urine, eggs, and other biological residues that last in the ocean for a few days. One year of eDNA sampling, out-of-pocket costs: $12,000 The eDNA process is straightforward and extremely inexpensive compared with traditional marine life monitoring methods, which involve ships with large crews and hand counts. Co-author Zachary Charlop-Powers at The Rockefeller University, lead developer of the software used in the DNA analyses, explains that eDNA testing involves collecting and filtering a water sample, extracting and sequencing the DNA in a laboratory, then matching the results found in an online DNA reference library. "The bioinformatic tools used by the team are the same 'barcode' analysis pipelines commonly used by microbiologists but were adapted for the study of marine vertebrates." He notes too that the year of sampling and DNA extraction required an investment of just $12,000, exclusive of salaries.

Message in a bottle: DNA in 1 litre of seawater = a trawl sweep of 66 million litres, enough to fill a sports stadium to top of goalposts.A proposed "Great American Fish Count," involving citizen scientists collecting waters samples, could set stage for 2nd global Census of Marine Life during the upcoming UN Oceans Decade.Here Monmouth University Assistant Professor of Biology Keith Dunton gathers eDNA in water samples. Credit: Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute "The applications of environmental DNA in the marine realm are vast," says Dr. Stoeckle, a Harvard-educated MD who helped pioneer DNA "barcoding," the identification of species from a small region of the animal's DNA sequence.

"eDNA offers a low-cost way to monitor the effectiveness of a marine protected area, for example, or whether efforts to restore a coral reef are succeeding. It could reveal the ecological effects of marine industrial activities, including offshore wind farms, oil and gas rigs, and commercial and recreational fishing." Adds Dr. Stoeckle: To put this in perspective, if we thought of a trawl as a full medical CAT or MRI scan, then eDNA can be thought of as a pocket ultrasound—it can be carried and used anywhere in the hospital, without the time and expense of scheduling a full-scale exam. And eDNA surveys will become better and more informative every year as the technique improves and the DNA reference library grows. Says co-author Dr. Jason Adolf, Endowed Associate Professor of Marine Science, Monmouth University, "eDNA could also be used to identify life in ocean regions hard to access with trawls, such as very rocky areas, or places too deep or too shallow."

Monmouth co-author Dr. Keith J. Dunton, an expert on endangered fish species, notes that the results are promising for rare as well as common fish species. "eDNA along with other technologies like acoustic telemetry offers a sensitive, non-extractive way to monitor declines and revivals of rare, threatened, and endangered species," he says. "We do not have to put them through stressful capturing to know that they are there." Trawl surveys, the main tool used to monitor fish populations, have carefully established protocols and yield rich information but are costly, time-consuming, and require special equipment and fish identification experts. Due to the crew size needed, such trawls have been limited recently by COVID-19.

The New Jersey surveys every season involve deploying a bottom trawl, similar to that used in commercial fishing, behind a vessel over a predetermined pattern. The catches in the nets are hauled up and sorted on tables where the weight of each identified species is recorded. Between 30 and 40 trawls are done about every three months.

To compare the trawl survey to the eDNA survey, one-liter water samples were collected at the surface and at depth before the trawls were done. However, samples were only taken before every fourth trawl. When the data from the two surveys were analyzed, the eDNA survey found most of the same fish species, and also found species not captured in the trawl. And it did so with only one-quarter of the samples taken and a fraction of the effort involved.

The paper says most (70% to 87%) species detected by trawl in a given month were also detected by eDNA, and vice versa, including nearly all (92% to 100%) abundant species. Conversely, most dropouts were relatively rare taxa. Trawl and eDNA peak seasonal abundance agreed for about 70% of fish species. In other comparisons, monthly eDNA species "reads" correlated with the monthly weight, or biomass, of that species recovered in the trawl. The eDNA reporting "largely concorded with monthly trawl estimates of marine fish species richness, composition, seasonality, and relative abundance," the paper says. "It's important to understand that the results of both methods are true, and complementary," noted Stoeckle. "They catch a lot of overlapping, concordant information as well as some information unique to each method."

Monmouth University student Skyler Post stores water and eDNA samples. Credit: Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute Gregory Hinks of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, who co-authored the paper with Bureau of Marine Fisheries colleague Stacy M. VanMorter, adds: "During times like COVID when it is unsafe to conduct surveys with large crews, the eDNA method might allow us still to maintain some continuity in our surveys. In any case, piggybacking eDNA onto an existing survey may eventually provide an affordable way to improve marine fish stock assessment."

The new paper lays out further research required, such as better calibration of eDNA 'reads' to fish body mass—how much DNA is shed by 1,000 anchovies weighing 1 kilo, for example, compared with a one kilo sized sea bass?—and how to account for eDNA reads that may be the result of injury due to a predator attack. Since collecting water for eDNA is so quick and easy to do, research or oceanographic vessels and commercial and recreational vessels can collect samples as they travel from place to place. Even drones could be deployed to collect water samples. And with the benefit of additional studies in marine and freshwaters, estimates of animal numbers using eDNA will continue to improve as well as the DNA reference data banks that allow reliable identification of aquatic species.

eDNA opens the way to surveys of unprecedented value, quality, and affordability, says Jesse Ausubel, Director of The Rockefeller University's Program for the Human Environment, who developed and helped oversee the first international Census of Marine Life, a decadal (2000-2010) collaboration of about 2,700 scientists in 80 countries. "eDNA makes the ocean a sea of biological information," he says. "In the U.S. we could organize a Great American Fish Count in which millions of citizen scientists might collect water for eDNA testing spanning all our waters. Globally, the incipient UN Decade of the Oceans could include a Great Global Fish Count sampling from sea floor to sea surface and near shore to mid-ocean all during a single day or week."

Tony MacDonald, Director of the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute, says "Our institute and scientists were excited to support this innovative work, one of several partnerships in recent years between UCI and The Rockefeller University Program for the Human Environment." "We hope to have the opportunity to continue and expand our collaboration with New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection Marine Fisheries and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on future fish trawls to further advance eDNA research."

Comments Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.) Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy NOAA Administrator: "NOAA is rapidly advancing 'omics technologies, including eDNA, to improve our ability to monitor and understand biological communities in our oceans and the Great Lakes."

"Important applications include monitoring endangered and invasive species, assessing biodiversity for ecosystem health, tracking aquaculture pathogens, and augmenting fisheries surveys." "Through the NOAA 'Omics Strategy' and our forthcoming Implementation Plan, we have defined goals and actionable steps to integrate modern 'omics technologies to help meet our mission. Collaboration with Rockefeller University and other partners will allow us to expand and advance 'omics research and eDNA in direct support of the American Blue Economy."

Marine eDNA's potential applications include: 

• Exploration: discovering species previously unknown in certain ranges 
• Discovering rare species and others unknown to science (or absent from genome databases) 
• Sampling remote, difficult-to-reach, and intriguing places 
• Assessment of the size of fish stocks 
• Identifying the range of marine animals 
• Determining the effect of protected area designation on fish and other marine animal populations and other forms of ecological restoration 
• Monitoring the effect on native species of fish farming operations, offshore oil and gas operations, or wind farms 
• Determining the effects of artificial reefs, of severe storms and other disturbances to marine ecosystems including harmful algal blooms 
• Monitoring vulnerable, threatened or endangered species, invasive species, or the presence of species dangerous to swimmers Gauging the impacts of climate variability 
• Mapping marine animal diversity, distribution, migration and abundance, including invasive species, and species popular with sport fishers

Full story courtesy of phys.org by ICES Journal of Marine Science cc