Fish Voice 20 - 21 December 2005 AN INDEPENDENT VIEW FROM THE FISH Slaughter to continue CFP legacy No respite in sight for How have fi sh and other Mediterranean bluefi n tuna or creatures fared under the EU’s traditional fi shers fi sheries policy? Page 2 Special Report – Page 3 Special European edition Special European Deep-sea fi sh horror: thousands left to rot in nets © Nils-Roar Hareide By Annie Whiting Europa anniewhiting@econofi sh.com THOUSANDS of tonnes of Sealed fates? monkfi sh and deep-sea sharks are The fate of many eurofi sh in the being left for days and sometimes Northeast Atlantic Ocean will even months in gillnets set in the be determined this week, as Northeast Atlantic Ocean, only the human EU Fisheries Council to be thrown away rotten when meets to determine quotas for fi shing vessels return to collect Homo sapiens fi shing fl eets in 2006. their catch. Page 2 Human fishers are leaving thousands of kilometres of gillnets News in various areas on the continental shelf for a very long time. Sixty- five per cent of the monkfish Com-plaice-ency caught this way must be thrown 80% of plaice caught in the away because they are unfit for North Sea, almost all juveniles, human consumption. The same is are discarded and left for dead happening to deepwater sharks. due to wasteful practises in the “Our deep-sea communities North Sea. are outraged and live in fear of Page 2 this negligent practice,” said Rotten monkfi sh and deep-sea crabs from a net left for four months at Rockall Bank. Benedict Monkfi sh, an outspoken Survey critic of intense human fi shing efforts. He said deep-sea, slow- published recently by the Homo The long soak time is that manage human interests Buyer power growing species are “already sapiens species. It investigates responsible for the high proportion in the North Atlantic Ocean and The vast majority of human vulnerable” to these efforts, and a fl eet of deep-sea gillnet vessels of the catch being unfi t for human adjacent seas. seafood indulgers, retailers, “cannot afford” such high levels mainly targeting monkfish consumption. On average, 65% of “These fisheries are of mortality. (Lophiidae) and deep-sea sharks monkfi sh must be discarded after poorly understood and poorly and restaurateurs in Europe are Scientists estimate that some (Centroscymnus coelolepis and being left for dead in the nets for documented, with very little, if concerned by their impact on the deep-sea shark populations in the Centrophorus spp.) at depths this long, according to data from a any, management,” he added. marine environment. Northeast Atlantic have already of 200-1,200m. These fisheries Norwegian Coastguard inspection “We are recommending a zero Page 2 declined to just 20% of their operate from the UK, Ireland of one vessel. catch for deep-sea sharks.” original levels since gillnet fi shing and Scotland to Norway, on the A subsequent investigation Global conservation Trends for these species began some ten Porcupine, Hatton, and Rockall found seven tonnes of deep-sea organisation WWF told years ago. A long-term population Banks and between the Shetland sharks in 200 nautical miles of Fish Voice that such tragedies Endangered soup recovery strategy is essential for and Faroe Islands. active nets, of which 60% was will continue unless humans A Guinness World Record for The these species, which only reach Each vessel sets up to 250km rotten. The vessel that had set the close all their deep-sea Most Expensive Bowl of Soup breeding age after 20 years and of fi shing gear at a time, which nets had not been on the fi shing fisheries in the Northeast Commercially Available has been whose females only produce 15- is left unattended for 4-10 days grounds for at least 2 weeks. Atlantic Ocean. WWF is calling awarded to a bowl of shark fi n 30 pups every second year. The before being hauled in. In some “The appalling squandering of on the EU Fisheries Council soup. Will humans strive to beat only solution for recovery is to cases, the nets are being left monkfi sh and deep-sea sharks is meeting this week to take close this fi shery. for much longer. The report completely unacceptable,” said this big step until scientists this record and will this spur even The shocking revelation of the “conservatively estimates” that a Piscos Ices, a scientist working have data showing that such more deaths of sharks and other sheer scale of fi sh being wasted total of 5,800-8,700km of nets are for the regulatory body providing stocks can sustain fishing beleaguered creatures? comes from DEEPNET, a report in constant use. advice to human governments pressure. Page 4 STOP WASTEFUL FISHING Make your voice heard - take action @ http://www.panda.org/passport/fi sheries 2 20 - 21 DECEMBER 2005 Fish Voice News Fisheries management INDEX News 2 The EU and Libya allow continued Analysis 3 Editorial 3 Entre Fish 4 bluefi n slaughter in the Mediterranean By Paulo Pescado fi shstep do not even want to THE WEEK paulopescado@econofi sh.com protect our survival.” The proposed measure LAST month bluefi n tuna could have cut human tuna AHEAD were denied a much-needed catches by 30% and helped 20 December: EU Fisheries summer respite. Humans protect spawning females, Council meeting starts in from the US, Japan, Norway, she said. “The failure of Iceland and Mexico tried ICCAT to adopt it could well Brussels, Belgium. On the to introduce proposals mean the disappearance of agenda: setting of Total to substantially reduce one of the oldest and most Allowable Catches for fi sh fi shing pressure on already important fi sheries in the populations in EU waters dwindling Mediterranean world”. and for European vessels in bluefin tuna stocks by The fish-friendly other waters where catch closing the industrial purse conservation organization WEEK seine fishery during July WWF has recognized limitations are required. and August. that the Mediterranean Late night haggling, However, to the bluefi n tuna fi shery suffers sea-horse trading, and dismay of fi sh right groups, from massive overfi shing, political ducking and diving environmental organizations, management abuses, expected. Will Fisheries and traditional fi shers, the and the catch of illegal Ministers fi nally take the EU and Libya rejected these and undersize tuna. The measures at the 19th annual organization estimates that plunge and give our survival meeting of the International 45,000- 50,000 tonnes of a chance? Commission for the bluefin tuna were caught 21 December: Fish will Conservation of Atlantic in 2004, greatly exceeding Tunas (ICCAT) in Seville, the 32,000 tonne quota fi nd out their fate... Hundreds of traditional tuna fi shers joined conservation group WWF in a demonstration outside the Spain. allocated by ICCAT. ICCAT meeting in Seville, Spain Tuna rights groups “Current levels of teamed up with traditional fi shing are 2.5 times higher for traditional tuna trap 500 jobs in Spain and wild tuna in cages mainly tuna fishers to condemn than the bluefin tuna fishers, net and boat another 800 in Morocco. for the Japanese sushi No plaice this failure of a human populations can sustain,” builders, processors, and “Tuna trap fi shers want market. This has expanded fi sheries management body said Charlotte Mogensen, sellers of tuna products sustainability,” said Martina the market for the tuna, to hide to take action to save the Fisheries Policy Offi cer at in coastal communities Spadara, of the tuna trap leading to a further increase Mediterranean bluefi n tuna WWF’s European Policy of the Mediterranean Sea, producers organisation. in fi shing effort. Worse, the By Poirot Poisson from extinction. Office. She said ICCAT’s and the Atlantic coast of She said the industrial fl eet practise falls outside ICCAT “We were given failure to extend the closing the Iberian Peninsula and is systematically violating regulation, resulting in an poirotpoisson@econofi sh.com hope that at least some of the fi shing season means north Africa. conservation measures, unregulated growth of tuna FISH rights groups have humans were taking fish “a new massacre” next year In the tuna trap sector, and will destroy in just a farming. expressed outrage over management seriously, but in Mediterranean waters. bluefi n tuna catches have few years a fi shery that is Humans are even human fishing practices unfortunately not enough of Strangely, humans are dropped 80% over the 3,000 years old. resorting to illegal that see half of the plaice them to make a difference,” even putting thousands last 5 years. These traps One reason behind the measures, such as using caught in the North Sea said Rosy Shark, a tuna of their own species at are a selective, fi xed, and escalating bluefi n slaughter spotting airplanes to search thrown away dead. Worse, expert. “We feel betrayed risk. Bluefi n tuna provide traditional type of fi shing is the relatively new practice for tuna outside of the they say, is that the vast that politicians on our own employment and income gear that maintain around of tuna farming: fattening of fi shing season. majority of plaice caught by humans have never even Public awareness Human politics had the chance to spawn. “Humans estimate This needless loss of plaice spawning stocks to Growing appetite for People meet to decide life is often the result of be near the lowest level mistaken identity. Plaice observed in their history,” sustainable seafood new fi shing quotas are caught alongside said Peter Plaice from sole in mixed fisheries.