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Featured Articles
Has the tide turned ?
Interesting parallels to the state and issues of Scottish inshore waters. Condensed from an original article by the Sea Fishery Advisory Group, Irish Seal Sanctuary March 6th, 2010 – Following its brief to “strive for sustainable use of Marine resources for all users” the Sea Fishery Advisory Group of the ...
For the third straight year, a Swedish research vessel trawling the Skagerrak and the Kattegat has found no glass eel at all. The glass eel phase is the second stage of the severely threatened species� evolution, after the larvae has come drifting to coastal waters on its long journey ...
The UK Marine Protected Areas Centre is a resource for information and news on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the UK. The website draws together resources that will help to build capacity amongst UK MPAs practitioners and facilitates sharing information, good practice and learning. Through their site you ...
Anglers -- Big powerful common skate will terminally expose any weakness in tackle. Terminal tackle in particular needs to be strong, and rig design well considered. But what is the best rig? Boat angler Les McBride has numerous massive commons under his belt and reveals the rig ...
Foreign Species Alert
Update ::An invasive sea squirt has been found recently at Largs. It has also been recorded south of the Solway and on the Irish coast and it is believed there must be a high chance that it will be found in the Solway.Some advice suggests that early action may be ...
There was a public meeting in Connel on 26 January 2010 regarding the Loch Etive ICZM (Inshore Coastal Zone Management). The meeting record and the presentation given have been added to the Marine and Coastal Development Unit’s pages of the Council website on this page.. Meeting records from the ...
Discards – PhD Opportunity
Discarding in UK Commercial Fisheries School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia Prof A Grant (Project Supervisor) Worldwide, in excess of 7 million tonnes of fish are discarded by commercial fisheries. In the seas to the south and west of the UK, for example, more than ...
Elephants, sharks, bluefin tuna and polar bears will be high on the agenda at the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) meeting in Doha, Qatar, 13-25 March. The EU could have a powerful presence if member states can agree on their priorities, ...
New research organisation
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) announces the creation of a new, national research organisation that will work in partnership with the UK marine research community to deliver integrated marine science and technology from the coast to the deep ocean. The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) will be formed by bringing ...
Scottish Executive News
Marine Bill receives Royal AssentFrom a government press release.
Yesterday Scotland’s Marine Bill today received Royal Assent, marking a major turning point in safeguarding the future of Scotland seas and laying the foundations for a more simplified marine planning and licensing system.
The Marine (Scotland) Act provides a framework which will help balance competing demands on Scotland’s seas. It introduces a [...]
Holyrood response to CFP Reform
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(i) Scotland is the major fishing nation within the UK and one of the most significant fishing nations within the EU. The Scottish industry has been at the forefront of fisheries management modernisation and innovation aimed at ensuring sustainable fisheries. Many coastal communities in Scotland are amongst the most fisheries-dependent in Europe.
(ii) [...]
Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) Reform The Common Fisheries Policy is Europe’s regulatory regime governing fisheries in EU waters.
Each Member State is given an annual Total Allowable Catch (TAC) that is distributed so each country has relative stability of fishing activities. More recent controls have involved limits on fishing efforts and technical conservation measures.
The Policy has been criticised by some [...]
Commercial
Commercial coalition to focus on MPAsThe new Marine Acts have created legal obligations for the UK and devolved governments to introduce Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in UK waters.
A new UK-wide fishing industry body, the MPA Fishing Coalition, has been formed to help ensure that the interests of commercial fishermen are fully taken into account during the consultation and designation process [...]
Devon trawlers reduce discards by 57%
Radical approach by scientists to work alongside fishing fleet brings unprecedented results
An innovative partnership between scientists and the Devon beam trawler fleet aimed at helping to protect fish stocks, has led to skippers reducing the amount of juvenile fish discarded overboard by 57%.
This unprecedented success has been achieved, using modified nets as part of a [...]
Where did it all get lost ?
A memorandum submitted by The Highlands and Islands Fishermen’s Association to a Westminster Select Committee in 1999
It is our Association’s view that no finite resource can ever get too much research into its capability and productive capacity within it’s sustainable limitations. Money however, is not inexhaustible, and there is a [...]
Government
EU vessels fishing illegallyIn a previously confidential legal opinion, forwarded to the Parliament in July 2009, but finally made public when tabled for debate in the Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, the European Parliament’s Legal Service has declared fishing by European vessels in Western Sahara’s waters to be in violation of international law.
The new opinion calls on the European Commission [...]
EC close to banning trade in tuna ?
The EC is proposing a negotiating stance of a near-total trade ban in bluefin tuna at the upcoming CITES meeting in Doha in a bid to save the fish from serious decline in the Mediterranean; it will also call for restrictions on trade in porbeagle and spiny dogfish shark. A weighted majority of EU member [...]
UK MPA Update The MCZ Project
Since the Marine and Coastal Access Act received Royal Assent in November 2009, the MCZ Project team members have been progressing data collection, drafting guidance and undertaking stakeholder engagement activities.
The regional MCZ Projects have employed their expected full teams and are engaging stakeholders in their regions to form their stakeholder groups. It is [...]
