UK holds first catch and release tuna competition: The first Bluefin Tuna Championship was held in Falmouth Harbour this month. The competition saw tuna caught on a catch-and-release basis, the first time such a tournament has been held in British waters. It is hoped that the competition will grow and become an international event. Tristan Rowe, the commercial operations manager of Falmouth Harbour told the BBC: “This championship is a unique combination of sport, science and sustainability and it’s exactly the sort of event we are focused on supporting and enabling here in our beautiful harbour waters.” Bluefin tuna were once common in British waters but their numbers decreased in the mid-twentieth century, only to return in recent years, allowing a highly regulated fishery for the species to be established. They can reach 10ft (3 metres) in length and weigh over 1000lbs. Read more on this story by clicking here.
Scottish protected zones still being damaged by commercial fishing: Campaigners have warned that large areas of Scotland’s seabed are still being damaged by commercial fishing, despite laws being passed over a decade ago to protect such areas. MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) were established around the coastline of Scotland in 2014 by the Scottish government, mirroring a similar scheme which took place around the coast of England and Wales. But campaign group Open Seas has pointed out that damaging forms of fishing, including shellfish dredging and prawn trawling still take place with supposedly protected zones. Further legislation which was supposed to stop such practices has never been enacted, and Open Seas says that 60 per cent of MPAs are still trawled and dredged. Open Seas pointed out that the MPA off the coast of the islands Rum and Canna – which was supposed to have dredging banned in 2016 – is still being intensively fished and provided footage of lines dug into the seabed caused by dredgers. Anna Safryghin from Open Seas said: “It’s like a barren sea bed with just these lines going straight across” while the Scottish government said that imposing restrictions on commercial fishing was “complex and challenging.” Read more on the BBC News website by clicking here.
Fall in Scottish basking shark numbers reported: Worrying news on Scottish basking shark numbers emerged this week, when it was announced that sightings had fallen to their lowest level in two decades. Basking sharks are the second largest species of fish in the world and can be seen off the west coast of Scotland in the summer and early autumn. Despite their immense size, they can reach 33ft (10 metres) in length, they are harmless to humans and feed only on plankton and very small fish. The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust said that the best year for sightings was 2010 when 162 basking sharks were observed, but last year this fell to just seven. A lack of plankton may be the reason for the decline, although the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust stated that they did not have a definitive reason and that further research was needed. Click here to read more on this story.
Giant oarfish caught by Australian angler: An angler on a charter boat fishing session off Melville Island off the northern coast of Australia caught a giant oarfish this month – one of the world’s rarest and most mysterious species. Also known as earthquake fish (due to the unproved belief that they appear just before earthquakes happen), there are only a few instances of giant oarfish being caught on rod and line, with most being found when they wash up dead on beaches. Many aspects of the giant oarfish’s life cycle remain unknown to science, and any instance of a giant oarfish being caught or found is likely to be of interest to the scientific community. Read more on this story and see pictures of the oarfish by clicking here.
Dutch government pushing to overturn ban on pulse trawling: The Dutch government’s obsession with pulse fishing shows no signs of abating, with news emerging this month that they were trying to get the EU ban on the method overturned. Pulse trawling is a commercial fishing method pioneered by the Dutch fishing industry which electric pulses are fired into the seabed to shock fish out of the sediment. Advocates of the method claim that it reduces bycatch and causes less damage to the seabed, although the fact that it reduces the fuel consumption of fishing vessels may be the real reason. Critics state that electrifying the seabed causes mass die-offs of shellfish and other creatures and many fishermen report that catches made by traditional trawling have significantly declined in areas where pulse trawling has been carried out. In a rare conservation-minded move, the EU banned pulse trawling in 2019, much to the dismay of the Dutch, Durk van Tuinen, a representative of the Dutch Fishermen’s Association, was quoted on the Fishing Daily website as saying: “We still have hope that this form of fishing will be allowed again at some point … It’s not just about the EU After an agreement is reached we must also engage with the UK to allow Dutch fishermen to use the technique in their waters.” While reinstating pulse trawling will be an uphill battle for the Dutch, it is clear that their fishing industry and government have not given up on the pulse trawling. Read more on this story here.
Fish farm allegedly removed tonnes of dead salmon before visit by MSP: An article on the BBC News website alleged that “tonnes” of dead and dying salmon were removed from a fish farm before a visit from members of the Scottish parliament. The claims were made by the campaign group Animal Equality UK which said that Scottish Sea Farms, the company that operates Dunstaffnage fish farm near Oban, was trying to depict a “wholly inaccurate” picture of how the farm operates and called the fish farm industry “deceptive and deadly.” Scottish Sea Farms said that they had “categorically not” had a mass mortality event, and any dead fish which were removed were simply part of the everyday running of the fish farm. Fish farming around Scotland has expanded significantly in recent decades following heavy support from the Scottish government and now generates more than half a billion pounds for the Scottish economy each year. However, this expansion has seen the environmental impact of fish farming come to light, with issues around pollution, escaped fish mixing with wild populations parasitic infections of farmed salmon and high mortality levels placing a question mark over the industry’s continued expansion. Click here to read the full article on this story.