Over the past few years, the stocks of many species of shark in Scottish waters have become severely depleted.
Although SSACN has long campaigned for Scottish governments to provide real leadership outside the commercial sector by working with us to regenerate the stocks of interest to recreational sea anglers, they have always failed to do so citing a lack of data.
As no scientific body can afford to pay scientists/marine biologists to effectively tag and release large numbers of fish, SSACN are proud to announce the launch of the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme which will enable anglers to fight for the protection of the shark, skate and ray species found within Scottish coastal waters by helping meet the evidential needs of the Scottish government.
Tagging is one of the few non-destructive assessments of sharks available and will help provide some of the much needed data for species migrations, growth rates, stock populations, make-up and fluctuations.
Featured Articles
Kill for a record ?
The controversy regarding anglers having to kill a fish to claim a record has once again become a hot topic following the capture of a 1,056lb six gill shark - the biggest fish ever caught on rod and line in the British Isles. Many anglers and conservationists want changes introduced which ...
Shoppers at UK Co-operative supermarkets believe the British “national dish” could have had its chips unless the Government introduces marine reserves in the forthcoming Marine Bill. 83% of its customers supported the introduction of highly protected marine reserves in a survey conducted via chip and pin pads at the checkouts ...
The Angling Trust this week welcomed the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, due to be debated in the House of Commons on June 23rd. Representatives from angling’s representative body attended a briefing on the Bill from Fisheries Minister Huw Irranca-Davies last week and held a meeting with Martin Salter, the ...
SSACN at World Ocean Day
16th June 2009 Sun shines for Oceans Celebrations at Luce Bay Luce Bay was a busy place at the weekend with 18 organisations involved in Sunday’s World Oceans Celebration at Port William co-ordinated by Solway Firth Partnership and 60 boats and 25 kayaks taking part in the Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network’s ...
From this BBC News item. A Sharkatag event is currently under way in the waters off the Dumfries and Galloway Coast. Organised by the Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network, it hopes to provide valuable data on shark numbers and behaviour. BBC News Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon joins a ...
Major decline in seabirds
A report published on 11 June, 2009 by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee has revealed major declines in many UK seabirds since the late 1960s. The report by JNCC – using information from the UK’s Seabird Monitoring Programme - reveals that the UK populations of at least nine of ...
According to the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation there is a comprehensive and growing list of conservation measures being spearheaded by the Scottish fleet which include: Two large decommissioning schemes in 2001 and 2003, which has resulted in a 65 per cent reduction in the Scottish whitefish fleet. ...
Sharkatag Update
Though Sharkatag 2009 is neither a competition nor a commercial event it has attracted a terrific number of dedicated, conservation minded sea anglers from Cornwall to Caithness who will try to help provide a strong set of base data for SSACN’s Scottish Shark Tagging Proramme by tagging as many shark ...
According to the EC
88% of European fish stocks are overexploited. Of these, 69% are at risk of collapse. Each day in European waters : More than 55,000 tonnes of oily and bilge waters and fuel waste are spilled into the sea More than 350,000 hectares of the sea bed are impacted by trawlers 20,000 tonnes of fish ...
Catching sector
Blue DesertWhy is no one brave enough to stand up to the fishing industry?
By George Monbiot. Abstracted from his blog.
I live a few miles from Cardigan Bay. Whenever I can get away, I take my kayak down to the beach and launch it through the waves. Often I take a handline with me, in the [...]
Another family just making a living The Portuguese Judicial Police have dismantled a group operating in the district of Viana do Castelo that had been implicated in a EUR 6 million fiscal fraud case related to the sale of frozen fish and shellfish.
The group, made up of six members of the same family, imported frozen products and later sold them [...]
One way of looking at it
Commercial fishermen want the authorities to stop invoking the Proceeds of Crime Act on them when they break EU quota rules. This follows on from the recent W. Stevenson and Son case where the Newlyn firm was ordered to pay £710,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act in compensation following an earlier conviction of several [...]
Governments
Eire support sea angling Conor Lenihan, TD, Minister of State for Natural Resources, launched a new sea angling guide at Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin today (24th June 2009). The publication, entitled ‘A guide to sea angling in the Eastern Region’ is written by Norman Dunlop, one of the main experts on sea angling in Ireland and is published by [...]
Inclusion – exclusion
Martin Salter MP
A few days ago, in my capacity as chair of the all-party angling group and my party’s spokesman on angling, I convened a meeting with the new governing body for angling, the Angling Trust, which brought together representatives from coarse, game and sea fishing. It discussed several issues, some of which have already [...]
Sea angling – a benefit
Bernard Jenkin MP
The North Essex test of the Bill is whether the sustainability of the inshore fisheries is protected and improved; only then will Essex fishermen and their successors enjoy a sustainable industry.
The Bill must also provide for recreational fishing, which I believe is one of the most unsung and under-exploited generators of employment [...]
Scottish Executive News
Renewables researchNew research to keep Scotland on track to meet ambitious renewables targets in Scottish waters whilst at the same time recognising the need to protect Scotland’s unique marine ecosystem and the many habitats and species which are found there.
Marine Scotland has announced three projects looking at the potential impact of marine renewables on Scotland’s biodiversity. [...]
Solway under the spotlight
The competing demands on the Solway Firth will be the focus of a meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Environment Committee in Kirkcudbright on Monday 22 June.
The committee will hold its first ever meeting in the town to gather evidence as part of its ongoing scrutiny of the Marine (Scotland) Bill. In [...]
Halt shark decline call
LABOUR CALLS FOR HALT IN DECLINE OF SHARK NUMBERS
As a shark tagging exercise gets underway in the Solway this weekend, Scottish Labour’s Elaine Murray has called for the Scottish Government to halt the serious decline in their numbers.
The Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network will use the exercise to gather data which will assist understanding of [...]
