Cornish fishermen complain about post-Brexit foreign fishing: An article on the BBC website this month said that Cornish fishermen felt that they had been “sold down the river” by the post-Brexit fishing deal as foreign vessels were still allowed to fish near the British coast. Following Brexit Britain had regained some fishing rights but foreign vessels are still permitted to fish between six and twelve miles of the UK coastline. Cornish fishermen have said that this is particularly damaging to the region’s under-10 metre (33ft) fleet. Cornish fisherman Martin Gilbert, who fishes out of Newquay Harbour, told the BBC that “The French, the Belgians and the Spanish have still got the majority of the quota … We have to go past the French to fish in our own waters and it’s not right.” The government said it was “listening” to the fishermen and Steve Double, the MP for St Austell and Newquay, told BBC Radio Cornwall that the UK now had “better control” of its fisheries, but didn’t have “all that we wanted” but added that he thought it was “unrealistic to expect just in one go you’re going to undo forty years of integration.” Read more on the BBC News website here.
Rare phenomenon sees Kent coastline light up with bioluminescent plankton: A stunning display of blue bioluminescent plankton was seen off the coast of southern England this month. Dubbed the ‘Northern Lights of the Sea’ the phenomenon was seen off the coast of Sheerness in Kent. The plankton, which is much more common in warmer seas and oceans, emits light when it is disturbed as oxygen reacts with the plankton, creating the glowing light. An article in this month’s Daily Mail showed pictures of the plankton and added that cloudy nights in areas away from artificial sources of light were the best areas to spot the plankton. Read more by clicking here.
Scottish government accused of not properly protecting marine environment: Campaigners have accused the Scottish government of breaking promises to protect the nation’s marine environment. The Marine Conservation Society, Open Seas and National Trust for Scotland said that the Scottish government had delayed measures to protect vulnerable flame shell reefs which were located outside of officially protected areas, while advice that trawlers and scallop dredgers were damaging marine protected areas had been ignored. The charities said that commercial fishing inside protected areas should be restricted by 2025 and more fisheries protection vessels should be commissioned to enforce existing laws, along with tagging and tracking of commercial fishing vessels. The charities were further concerned by the Scottish government’s leadership change. Recently appointed first minister John Swinney has appointed Kate Forbes as his deputy – a rural MSP who was highly critical of the now abandoned plan to establish a series of highly protected marine areas around the coast of Scotland. Overall the charities said that Scotland was in danger of missing the EU standard that 10 per cent of waters should be “strictly protected” by 2030. Read more on this story here.
Australian teenager wins $1,000,000 by catching tagged fish: A 19-year-old Australian angler has won one million Australian dollars by catching a tagged barramundi fish. Keegan Payne won the Million Dollar Fish tournament which is held in Australia’s Northern Territory. The competition sees a single barramundi – which can live in freshwater and saltwater – being tagged with the person catching it winning the entirety of the prize money. Payne was fishing on a boat on the Katherine River with his younger sister when he caught the fish, although Payne did not see the tag until his sister pointed it out. The competition began to encourage more anglers to go fishing during the quieter off-season for fishing in northern Australia and Payne was the first person to win the top prize. Read more by clicking here.
Shellfish industry on ‘knife edge’ after sewage discharges: An article on the Sky News website this month has said that the shellfish industry across England is at risk due to the amount of untreated sewage being released into the sea. Data from the Environment Agency revealed that South West Water released the most sewage with 13,000 separate discharges, while Southern Water was responsible for 7,000. In total sewage was released for 159,000 hours in English waters in 2022, an increase of a fifth from the previous year. Sky News reported that some shellfish beds had to be closed in the south west due to the presence of e. coli in oysters and mussels and there are fears that norovirus could also be transferred through the sewage. Overall, only 9 per cent of shellfish in England reach the top ‘class A’ category meaning they can be sold without being purified first. Liberal Democrat MP told Sky News: “This environmental scandal is putting wildlife at risk of unimaginable levels of pollution. The food we eat, and the British fisheries industry, must be protected from raw sewage.” Click here to read more.
Cautious optimism over the future of endangered silver eels: The Cambridgeshire cathedral city of Ely is named after the silver eel and holds an annual festival to celebrate the species. However, silver eels have been severely reduced in number in recent years, and are now considered to be an endangered species with numbers declining by an estimated 95 per cent since the 1980s. In Ely’s River Great Ouse, the number of silver eels entering each year is a fraction of what it once was, and the city’s last eel catcher retired in 2014 and was not replaced. An article on the BBC News website this month stated that there was, however, cautious optimism over the future of eels, not just in Ely but across the UK. Silver eels need to migrate along rivers to reproduce, and the number of dams, sluice gates, pumping stations and other obstructions which have been built across British rivers is seen as a major factor in their decline. In recent years, the Environment Agency has created eel passes which let the creatures bypass such obstructions, while Dr David Righton of Cefas (Centre for Environmental Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) that an eel management plan has been put in place by Defra gave him a “sense of optimism.” However, Dr Righton warned that positive changes in eel populations would take a very long time, possibly as long as twenty years. Read more on this story by clicking here.
Scottish fish farming industry to drop the word ‘farmed’ from labelling: Conservation groups are to bring a legal challenge over the decision to allow farmed Scottish salmon to be sold with the word ‘farmed’ dropped from its prominent position on the front of the packaging. The Scottish salmon industry appealed to remove the word farmed, stating that, as all of the salmon sold in supermarkets was farmed, and customers were aware of this, the word was redundant. Defra allowed this to proceed last month, although information that the salmon is farmed will still need to appear on the back of the packaging. However, conservation groups have now challenged this decision, claiming it misleads consumers. Abigail Penny from Animal Equality UK, one of the organisations which is bringing the legal challenge, told the Guardian: “Changing a label doesn’t change the reality. The Scottish farmed salmon industry is riddled with issues. … Rather than admit to its ineptitude, the industry is instead attempting to bury the truth, and risks seriously deceiving unsuspecting consumers in the process.” Click here to read more on this story.
Tuna found on the Cumbrian coast: A bluefin tuna has been found washed up on the coastline of Cumbria. The tuna was found at Beckfoot, three miles south of Silloth. While the tuna was washed up dead on the beach its presence has been seen as a sign of the increasing health of the Solway and Cumbrian marine environment. Read more on this story here.
UK restrictions on sandeel fishing cause clash with EU nations: The clash between Britain and EU nations over sandeel fishing has continued this month, as the EU now claim that Britain is breaching post-Brexit agreements. The dispute began when Britain, using post-Brexit freedoms, banned the commercial fishing of sandeels in multiple areas of the North Sea which fall under British jurisdiction. This was done to protect seabirds, especially puffins, and predatory fish, which feed on sandeels. EU nations which previously fished for sandeels in these areas were outraged and demanded to be able to continue fishing for sandeels in these areas. Many wildlife and conservation groups have backed the ban, but the EU, and especially Denmark – which catches billions of individual sandeels from British waters each year – have claimed that the UK is breaking post-Brexit agreements by implementing the ban. Exactly how the dispute will play out remains to be seen, but it could be the case that the EU implement some form of sanctions against the UK for the first time since Brexit. Read more on this story by clicking here.
National Fishing Remembrance Day commemorates lives lost at sea: The first National Fishing Remembrance Day has taken place to remember and commemorate the lives of people who were lost at sea while fishing. Held on Sunday, 12 May, the day saw several marine charities including The Seafarers’ Charity, Fishermen’s Mission, and Stella Maris come together to hold events across the whole of the UK. Fisheries Minister Sir Mark Spence, who attended an event in Grimsby on the day, said: “I have huge respect for our fishermen. It’s tough, dangerous work carried out in challenging conditions. Today I was humbled to join families and the fishing community of Grimsby for the first National Fishing Remembrance Day.” Read more by clicking here.