LATEST NEWS

 

OVERFISHING FUELLING AFRICAN PIRACY (18 Nov 08) Overfishing in African waters is forcing fishermen to turn to piracy to make a living. The pirates blame foreign trawlers for destroying their livelihoods, forcing them into hijacking ships and demanding ransoms. The most dramatic seizure yet, a Saudi supertanker with its expensive cargo of oil, has underlined a surge in piracy in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping routes. The problem has spread south to the Indian Ocean coastal waters off Somalia with 62 ships attacked this year and there is a strong possibility that the practice will catch on in other coastal regions in Africa as fishermen look for alternative ways of making money. The International Maritime Board's piracy monitors say there are at least 10 vessels and 221 crew members held hostage in ports such as Eyl, east Somalia. Pirates, many operating out of former fishing ports such as Eyl and Bosaso, are deploying increasingly sophisticated methods, including high speed launches, GPS trackers, and satellite communications, to target shipping.

 

STOPPING BYCATCH & DISCARDS KEY TO COD RECOVERY (7 Nov 08) Resolving the issue of discards in European fisheries is key to recovering depleted fish stocks such as cod, a new WWF report reveals. As important negotiations take place on fishing opportunities for 2009, the report suggests the EU take the lead from Norway on how to protect and manage cod in a sustainable manner, thus ensuring a successful and profitable fishery in the future. Last year more than 8,000 tonnes of North Sea cod was thrown overboard by fishermen. WWF, the conservation organisation believes fragile North Sea cod stocks will only recover through implementing mandatory technical measures, including the use of more selective gears to avoid catching cod in the first place, and the avoidance of fishing in areas with large concentrations of cod. The WWF Norway report shows that a number of these technical measures to reduce fish mortality are already being put into practice in Norway with positive results. These include a ban on discards, the mandatory use of selective fishing gears such as sorting grids to minimise cod bycatch, and the closure of key spawning areas. Consequently, the Barents Sea now holds the largest cod stock in the world, providing stability to the Norwegian fishing industry.

 

UK SEAS FACING A CRISIS (14 Oct 08) The Marine Conservation Society has today launched a new report highlighting an urgent need for conservation action for UK seas. The report, entitled Silent Seas, documents the damaging effects of over-fishing, coastal pollution and inadequate habitat protection and warns that without radical mitigation, UK seas could suffer ecological disaster.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded here, and a series of three backing papers are also available which provide the evidence behind the key messages in Silent Seas. Download full report (NB Large File 50Mb) Download the report in parts (13-18 Mb each) Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

UN URGES SEABIRD BYCATCH REDUCTION (23 Sept 08) Following the success of strategies to protect seabirds from longline fishing activities, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has today urged regions using other industrial fishing techniques, such as trawl nets and gillnets, to implement safeguards in areas where seabirds are at greatest risk. The threat of fishing on populations of already endangered seabirds – including albatrosses, of which 18 of the 22 species are listed as endangered – can be curbed by joint action, FAO has suggested. The Chilean longline fishing fleet have introduced the so-called "umbrella system" in which the hooks are set in bunches shrouded by cone-shaped net sleeves that prevents birds from taking the bait when the longlines are dropped overboard. As a result of the umbrella system the number of birds killed by fishermen in Chile dropped from 1,600 kill, including 1,500 albatrosses, in 2002 to none in 2006.

INTERNATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR DEEP SEA FISHERIES ADOPTED (4 Sept 08) A United Nations agency has adopted international guidelines designed to ease the impact of commercial deep-sea fishing. The guidelines, the result of two years of negotiation, limit the impact fishing has on habitats and deep-sea fish species, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in a news release issued from New York. "Until now, there really hasn't been an international framework for tackling this issue," said Ichiro Nomura, assistant director general of the organization's Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture. "These guidelines ... are a breakthrough in that they address both environmental and fisheries management concerns in an integrated manner. The guidelines include measures to be used to identify and protect ecosystems and offer guidance on the sustainable use of living resources in deep-sea areas", Nomura said. They also recommend that fishing nations assess the deep-sea fishing by their fleets to determine whether any adverse impacts are involved. If significant adverse impacts are found, the guidelines said the fishing activity should stop.

MIXED FORTUNES FOR CETACEANS (12 Aug 08) The latest global assessment of cetaceans shows that the marine mammals throughout the world's oceans have experienced mixed fortunes. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species reveals that some large whale species, including the humpback, are now less threatened with extinction. The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) has moved from Vulnerable to Least Concern, meaning it is at low risk of extinction, although two subpopulations are Endangered. The southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) has also moved to Least Concern. Despite the improvement in status of these two species, the assessment revealed deterioration in the status of others. Overall, nearly a quarter of cetacean species are considered threatened, and of those, more than 10% (nine species) are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered, the highest categories of threat. In addition, two subspecies and 12 subpopulations are listed as Critically Endangered. The IUCN added that it was unable to assess more than half of the world's cetaceans because of a lack of data.

UK SEABIRDS FAIL TO BREED YET AGAIN (14 July 08) Early reports of seabird breeding performance on RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) Scotland's coastal reserves indicate continuing problems for the United Kingdom's internationally important population of seabirds. Guillemots, kittiwakes, puffins and other seabirds are suffering, with nests abandoned and empty cliffs which should now be teeming with thousands of nesting birds at this time of year. Worryingly, evidence suggests these repeated annual breeding failures are now substantially reducing populations of certain species, with some experiencing massive population declines in recent years at cliffs that used to support huge colonies. A shortage of fish caused by overfishing and possibly climate change is thought to be to blame. 

'UNSUSTAINABLE' SEAL HUNT TO BEGIN (30 June 08) The annual cull of Namibia's Cape fur seals begins tomorrow. During this year's season — from July 1 to Nov. 15 — seal hunters will be allowed kill 6,000 adult males and 80,000 pups, a quota that remains the same as last year, said Moses Maurihungirire, director of resource management at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources. Maurihungirire said that the seal population is healthy and not at risk of extinction, despite the fact that the stocks have not been properly assessed since 1996. The government has said the seal hunt protects its fish stocks because seals consume 900,000 tons of fish a year, which is more than a third of the fishing industry's catch. The hunt also provides revenue from skins, fur and meat, and creates 149 jobs, Maurihungirire said. But activists from Seal Alert South Africa said the country's seal population is no longer sustainable. Francois Hugo, of Seal Alert, said a colony on Cape Cross island was wiped out during last year's hunting season.

PUFFIN NUMBERS DROP BY 30% (4 June 08) A dramatic drop in the population of puffins at their main North Sea breeding site has alarmed scientists. After almost 40 years of breeding success puffin numbers on the Isle of May have plummeted by 30 per cent. It is not known whether the sudden decline is merely a blip or whether the tiny iconic bird has joined the list of sea birds in long term decline in the North Sea. The sudden drop in numbers was revealed in a survey carried out every five years on the island off Scotland's east coast by scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. The disappearance of the sand eel due mainly to industrial fishing by factory ships in the North Sea is believed to be one of the main factors in the puffin's decline on May.