Commercial fishing for tuna restarts in British waters: Commercial fishermen will be allowed to catch sixty-five tons of bluefin tuna in UK waters. The species has been making a comeback around the British Isles with numbers increasing significantly in recent years. Under new post-Brexit rules, British fishermen will now be able to catch the species. But only ten boats have been licenced to catch the species and they must use low-impact fishing methods, meaning the tuna must only be caught on rod and line using artificial lures. ITV reported that the first tuna was caught in August from the southwest of England. The fish weighed 440lb (200kgs) and was almost 9ft (2.7m) long. Anglers are able to catch tuna on a catch-and-release basis from boats that are registered to take part in the CHART research and tagging scheme. Read more on this story here.
Oceans reach hottest temperatures ever: An article on the BBC News website stated that global sea temperatures hit 20.96C this month, the highest ever recorded. This was put down to the world’s seas and oceans absorbing the excess heat created by climate change and the effects of El Niño. This is a phenomenon where warm water rises to the surface off the coast of South America causing global sea temperatures to rise. Scientists have warned that the El Niño is still relatively weak, meaning the new record temperature could soon be broken again. Rising sea temperatures will have huge consequences for the planet’s marine environment, ranging from species being forced out of their natural areas of distribution to rising sea levels due to melting polar ice and dead zones in the sea where little marine life can exist as warmer water contains less oxygen. Read more here.
Restaurant where diners catch their own fish goes viral: A restaurant in Japan where diners can catch the fish they then have cooked and eat went viral on social media this month. Fishing Restaurant Zauo is nothing new, having been around since the 1980s. However, its existence appears to have been little known in the UK with several mainstream news outlets running stories about how the restaurant operates this month. Fish and lobsters can be caught using rods and nets, often while seated at the table where they will later be eaten. Staff will bait the hooks and provide advice and guidance on catching the fish to diners, with the prices paid for the meal varying depending on which species has been caught. While the restaurant chain appears popular in Japan it has not fared well in the West, with the single Fishing Restaurant Zauo which was opened in New York closing after less than two years in business. Click here to read more on this story.
Fishing continues in protected zones: An article on the Sky News website stated that thousands of hours of commercial fishing is still taking place in the UK’s supposedly protected marine zones. Drawing on data gathered by Global Fishing Watch, Sky reported that since January 2022 there had been 90,000 hours of fishing across the UK’s ninety-one Marine Conservation Zones. This included 2,700 hours of dredging – one of the most destructive forms of commercial fishing where the seabed is effectively ploughed to gather scallops and shellfish. Sky News said that they asked the government why dredging was still permitted in supposedly protected zones. In their response, the government did not directly answer the question but said “We aim to have all Marine Protected Areas protected from damaging fishing activity by 2024… additionally, we recently designated the first Highly Protected Marine Areas.” Read the full article here.
Great white sharks in UK waters?: The Telegraph claimed this month that great white sharks could soon appear in British waters. Following news that a 65-year-old woman was attacked by a shark and lost part of her leg when swimming off a New York beach, the Telegraph pointed to the similarities with British beaches. The newspaper said that the water temperature and abundance of prey were almost the same, meaning there is no reason why great white sharks should be absent from the waters of the UK. Furthermore, bans on hunting grey seals – the favoured prey of the great white shark – in the waters around New York may have been responsible for the rise in shark sightings and attacks. A similar increase in seal numbers has been seen in British waters, with the UK now home to an estimated 40 per cent of the world’s grey seal population (and 95 per cent of Europe’s). While there has never been a confirmed sighting of a great white shark in British waters, there have been around 100 anecdotal sightings. Richard Peirce, a former chairman of the Shark Trust, estimated that 10 per cent were credible. He told the Telegraph that it was unlikely Britain had a resident population of great whites, but “every once in a while we have an occasional vagrant visitor rocking up.” Read more on this story by clicking here.
Threat of salmon farming to Scottish Islands: The website Geographical ran a story this month of the threats posed by the ever-expanding Scottish salmon farming industry. The article looked at a new salmon farm that was being constructed in the waters of the Orkney Island of Papa Westray. The farm will be built on the island’s south east coast and will consist of six huge circular cages and will cover an area the size of five football pitches. A barge that can hold and transport 600 tons of fish will be stationed permanently at the farm, according to Geographic. The plans for the fish farm were approved by the Orkney Islands Council last year, despite protests from the island’s 80 or so residents, and is part of the ongoing expansion of Scotland’s salmon farming industry. This expansion has continued despite the severe environmental impact that salmon farming has on the marine environment. There are major issues with parasite infections of salmon which result in tonnes of antibiotics having to be used to treat the fish, major issues with the amount of waste farmed salmon produce, and the threat of farmed salmon escaping and impacting wild salmon stocks. Furthermore, there are increasing levels of fish mortality, with 15 million salmon mortalities being reported by the Scottish fish farming industry in 2022, compared to 8.5 million in 2021 and 5.8 million in 2020. Wendy Elves, a Papa Westray resident, said that the “uninterrupted seascape” of the island would be ruined by the fish farm, and added that the island’s small number of residents meant that there was little they could do to protest against the fish farm, and the objections they had made had “fallen on deaf ears.” Read more on this story by clicking here.
Controversial new device promises to hook more fish: A new device that has been designed for freshwater anglers has caused controversy in the carp fishing community. The Magic Twig is a self-triggering hooking device that pulls the line tight when a fish takes the bait, replicating the action of the angler striking to set the hook. The was invented by Craig Barwell, a plumber from Sutton Coldfield, and developed by OMC, a company owned by celebrity angler and TV presented Ali Hamidi. He told the Telegraph “I developed this to counter the many frustrations I have had when fishing. This is going to make people catch more fish and enjoy their hobby.” However, others have not taken to the device so well. A representative of Horcott Lakes, a carp fishery in Gloucestershire, told the Telegraph “Anyone seen or caught using this contraption will be asked to leave with immediate effect.” Other fisheries have said that they will give lifetime bans to anyone found using the device. Despite this, Hamidi said that he expected the Magic Twig to sell out when it went on sale this month, and there may be a version designed for sea anglers coming in the future. Read more on this story by clicking here.
No evidence of eels in Somerset Levels: Critically endangered silver eels appear to be absent from the Somerset Levels – an area where they were once abundant. The Somerset Levels consist of 170,000 acres of wetland and have been an area where silver eels have remained in relatively high numbers as they have declined dramatically elsewhere. But now DNA analysis carried out by the Sustainable Eel Group and Somerset Eel Recovery Project has found no sign of eel DNA in the Levels. Ali Morse from the Wildlife Trust told the Guardian: “The Somerset Levels have been a stronghold for eels for thousands of years, but illegal fishing and the loss of wetland habitat have contributed to catastrophic declines. It is estimated that populations have decreased by as much as 90 per cent since the 1980s.” Andrew Kerr, chair of the Sustainable Eel Group, told the Guardian that the number of barriers that had been built across rivers in the area may be the cause, as many of the rivers still held eels, but they could not bypass barriers such as dams, weirs and sluice gates to access the Levels. A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that the government was committed to removing barriers to upstream migration and was implementing measures to support and protect eel populations. Read more here.