Category: SSACN Announcements
John Scott MSP – Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs & the Environment has joined condemnation of Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead for his refusal to prohibit the commercial fishing of tope, a rare species of shark. Mr Scott said: “I am dismayed that despite the UK Government recently banning the fishing of tope other than [...]
Two British trawlers, so far unnamed, were filmed discarding large quantities of fish in the North Sea by the Norwegian Coastguard. According to them, British vessels regularly discard fish they have caught inside the Norwegian sector outside of it, as it is illegal to discard fish in the Norwegian controlled sector of the North Sea [...]
Commercial fishermen within the NWWRAC (North Western Waters Regional Advisory Committee) wrote to the EU to try and have the 5% spurdog bycatch rules changed allowing them to catch more of the species. Fortunately the Commission has declined this request with a distinct change of language which should be welcomed as it now appears they [...]
The following are written answers from Mr Lochhead to parliamentary questions by Peter Peacock MSP (Lab). Unsurprisingly they are neither detailed nor particularly supportive of sea angling. What is particularly galling to us is the fact that the key direction always seems to be ‘sustainable management’ – no thought appears to be given to the [...]
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) has criticised the House of Lords report on the Common Fisheries Policy which concluded that no aid should be given to help fishermen survive the fuel crisis. SFF chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: “The report draws the general conclusion that EU Member States have been slow to reduce fleet capacity [...]
EUROPEAN fishing ministers last night agreed a massive aid package totaling more than two billion euros (around £1.5-billion) to help commercial fishermen cope with the fuel crisis. There is little chance that oil prices will significantly reduce, how much more will go to subsidise an industry that cannot run at a profit now.? So whilst [...]
Five years without fishing around the Lundy Island ‘no take zone’ (NTZ) off the coast of Devon has brought a significant revival in sea life. Over thirteen years of effort and Scotland still doesn’t have an NTZ. Though our inshore waters really need greater protection in order to allow stocks to regenerate, neither the proposed [...]
CONSERVATIONISTS came under heavy fire today from Scottish Fishermen’s Federation Chief Executive Bertie Armstrong who said he is very disappointed that a single element of the annual fisheries science – cod stocks – has been selected and turned into a prediction of hell and damnation for all species. He claims this misleads the public and [...]
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UK Initial Assessment and proposals for Good Environmental Status
Consultation Start: 27 March 2012 – Consultation End: 18 June 2012 This is a joint consultation between Defra, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government and on the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The Directive requires Member States to take measures to achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status [...]
Argyll and the Isles coast and countryside trust
Argyll and Bute Council have formed a partnership steering group with Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland, ABSEN, and Argyll & Bute Local Services Initiative to look at the possibility of establishing a new independent trust. The proposed aim of the Trust would be to: ‘work together to sustainably maintain, enhance and promote the coast [...]
Marine Strategy Framework Directive Consultation Event
Defra, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government are planning to launch a joint consultation on the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) on 27 March 2012. You will be able to find the consultation documents on the Defra web site http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/open/ Defra will be hosting a stakeholder event [...]
Argyll & Bute – Coastal Development Strategy
Argyll and Bute Council are preparing a Coastal Development Strategy as part of their new Local Development Plan. One of the key sectors that will be considered in the Strategy is coastal tourism & recreation and therefore the Council is seeking information and views to ensure a relevant, effective and up to date strategy is [...]
EGPS & Renewable Energy Routemap consultations
The Scottish Government has published a Revised Draft Electricity Generation Policy Statement (EGPS) and a draft Renewable Energy Routemap. These draft policies together set out Scottish Government policy for low carbon energy generation. Both policies are now open for public consultation which ends 4 June 2012. A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) under the Environmental Assessment [...]
Marine Social and Economic Data Project 2012
Robust and current data is needed urgently in the marine environment where policy makers are dealing with a number of new legislative requirements such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the development of Marine Spatial Plans and the designation of new Marine Protected Areas. In response to this, EMU Limited in collaboration with the Marine [...]
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