Good Fish Guide warns UK consumers of species to avoid: The Good Fish Guide has warned that a range of UK fish species should be avoided due to declining stocks. The guide, which is compiled by the Marine Conservation Society and updated twice each year, looks at both species populations and the sustainability of methods used to catch them. Only one in eight UK fisheries were given green status for sustainability and a quarter were given the red status, meaning fish or shellfish from that fishery should be avoided. The rest were given an amber rating, denoting that the fishery required improvements to be made. In terms of species, pollock caught around the UK were moved from the amber category into red, as were beam-trawled plaice from the English Channel, Dover sole from the Irish Sea, North Sea prawns and bass from the west coast of Scotland. Good Fish Guide’s manager, Charlotte Coombes, told the Guardian: “With the majority of UK ratings in the Good Fish Guide staying on amber, it is evident that the UK has yet to fulfil its commitment to achieving world-class sustainability in fisheries … Urgent and improved fisheries management is imperative for the sake of our seas.” Read more here.
Chinese mitten crabs continuing to spread around UK: A warning has been issued after invasive Chinese mitten crabs continue to spread around the UK. The species is native to south east Asia and has been present in the UK since the 1930s. It is believed that eggs of mitten crabs were transported outside of their natural range in the ballast water of cargo vessels, allowing them to become established well outside of their natural range. Recent years have seen them spread to new areas of Britain. Chinese mitten crabs have been found in the Thames since the 1970s, but have recently been found much further inland in south west London, and appear to have established inland populations, with sightings of the species being made in Cambridge and Peterborough. It is feared that Chinese mitten crabs – which can grow to 3 inches (9m) across the carapace – will outcompete native species for food and eat the eggs of vulnerable fish species such as salmon and trout. Scientists from the Natural History Museum have created the UK’s first mitten crab trap at Pode Hole in Lincolnshire, with the crabs it catches being retained and frozen so they can be analysed. Members of the public who encounter Chinese mitten crabs can report their sightings at mittencrabs.org.uk. Read more on this story by clicking here.
Oysters released off the coast of South Tyneside: Around 10,000 native oysters have been released off the coast of Whitburn, South Tyneside to help re-establish the species and clean the sea. Around 750 tons of stones have been lowered to the seabed in recent weeks with the oysters released into this area. The oysters will not be harvested but will instead be left to establish a new population and potentially spread to new areas around the coastline. Oysters absorb nitrogen through their shells and also effectively clean the sea as they filter water through their bodies while feeding. A single oyster can filter as much as 200 litres per day. Oysters were once common around the coastline of Britain but have reduced by around 95 per cent since the 1800s, with overharvesting, pollution and habitat loss all contributing to their decline. Read more on this story here.
Damaged North East England to remain closed: In more news related to North East England, three piers in the region will remain closed after they were damaged by Storm Babet this month. South Shields Pier, which is one mile long, was battered by the storm. The dome of the lighthouse at the end of the pier was knocked off and lost to the sea, while the wall at the end of the pier was partially demolished. Tynemouth Pier at on the other side of the Tyne was also damaged by the storm, and Roker Pier, which is located further south in Sunderland, will require “in-depth structural inspections” before it is declared safe. All three piers are popular fishing marks and anglers will be waiting for news of all three piers reopening. Click here to read more on this story.
Tuna washes up on Dorset beach: A tuna measuring 9ft (2.7 metres) in length has been found washed up dead on a beach in Dorset and was reported to the Dorset Wildlife Trust. While tuna have been returning to UK waters, in the south and south west of England this has mostly been around Cornwall, and they have remained relatively rare off the coast of Dorset. Read more here.
UK chefs vow to ban farmed salmon from their restaurants: A number of prominent figures in the food and drink industry have said that they will no longer serve farmed salmon in their establishments due to concerns over the environmental impact of salmon farms. Long touted as a success story by the Scottish government, salmon now makes up around 40 per cent of Scotland’s food exports and is worth millions of pounds to the nation’s economy. However, the impact that such farms have on the marine environment is becoming increasingly apparent. There are issues around mass parasitic lice infections due to the close proximity the salmon are kept in, problems with high mortality levels, concerns over the vast amount of waste produced by farmed salmon and threats to wild salmon stocks due to interbreeding with escaped farmed salmon. Now restaurants such as the Michelin-starred Grace & Savour in Solihull and Palmerston restaurant in Edinburgh have said that they will stop serving farmed salmon. Read more on this story by clicking here.
Diners put off by the ‘hidden environmental cost of scampi’: An article in the Telegraph this month said that shoppers and supermarkets were being urged to avoid scampi due to the high environmental cost of fishing for the species. Scampi is the culinary term for the species Nephrops norvegicus, a small member of the lobster family. It is considered the most commercially important crustacean in Europe. They are caught by heavy trawl nets which are dragged across the seabed, catching large numbers of non-target species and damaging the marine environment. Open Seas – the marine conservation organisation – says that for every kilogram of scampi caught by commercial trawlers, the same amount of other sea life is either killed or caught and discarded. Open Seas has now written to major UK supermarkets and asked them to stop stocking scampi until sustainable methods are used to catch it. Nick Underdown, the head of campaigns at Open Seas, told the Telegraph: “[Scampi] comes with a big environmental price tag for our seas … the mesh of the bottom trawls used are particularly narrow, which means that large volumes of other sea life are caught, killed and wasted. We think that customers will want to know the hidden and unsustainable cost of scampi and take action.” Read more on this story by clicking here.
Scottish fishing boats are “bypassing the local economy”: In another story involving Open Seas, major Scottish fishing boats have been accused of “bypassing the local economy” by landing their catches abroad. Over a third of catches in 2022 were landed at foreign ports. This equated to 38 per cent of catches by tonnage and 27 per cent by value. For mackerel – Scotland’s most valuable sea species – this rose to 52 per cent of total tonnage and 53 per cent by value. Phil Taylor of Open Seas said: “Our seas and the fish in them are a public asset and the right to fish should be given in a way that yields the most benefit to Scotland and its people. “It is currently given without charge to fishing businesses, with some turning it into vast private profits. Scottish and UK ministers have a legal duty to ensure that private benefit is balanced against social and environmental ones.” Major fishing companies have consistently argued that landing more of their catches at Scottish ports would harm the industry’s revenues. Click here to read more.
Celebrity chef criticised for £37 fish and chips: Tom Kerridge, the Michelin-starred celebrity chef, has been criticised after the price of his take on fish and chips increased from £35 to £37. Sold at a restaurant in Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, London the dish consists of “Cornish fish” in gluten-free batter and comes with curry sauce, tartare sauce, pease pudding and, according to the Daily Mail, just eight chips. Thick-cut chips cost £9.50 and a side of peas or coleslaw costs £8.50. The price of a whole lobster had also increased from £65 to £80. While many people on social media criticised the cost of the meal, Kerridge defended his prices saying that fish sold in traditional fish and chip shops was “frozen at sea, in a big block, a year ago” and the potatoes which made the chips were “four weeks old.” He said that his fish and chips offered “bespoke dining” and featured “line-caught, day-boat turbot” and potatoes specially selected for their sugar and starch content. Read more here.
UK backs moratorium on seabed mining: There have been growing calls to allow the controversial practice of seabed mining, a process which sees mineral and valuable metals such as cobalt, copper and nickel extracted from the seabed rather than mined from land. Proponents of seabed mining claim that it is cheaper and less environmentally damaging than land-based mining, but critics claim that it could cause severe damage to marine ecosystems and the long-term impacts of seabed mining have yet to be understood. A meeting of the International Seabed Authority, the UN agency which issues licences for seabed mining in international waters failed to reach a decision on allowing the practice to go ahead in July. The UK government had previously stopped short of backing a moratorium but following pressure from scientists, conservationists and opposition MPs the government has now said that it will support a ban on seabed mining until more evidence on the impact it will have on marine ecosystems is available. Other countries such as France, Germany, Sweden and Canada all also back the moratorium and even companies such as BMW, Volvo and Samsung which would all use the metals mined from the seabed in the batteries used in their cars and electronic products have said that they will not buy or use metals mined from the seabed. Read more on this story by clicking here.
Huge stingray caught off New York: A stingray which was 6ft long and 5ft across has been caught off the coast of New York. The catch was made in Long Island Sound by a team conducting a scientific survey for Connecticut Fish and Wildlife. The roughtail stingray was taken left on its back to avoid causing further distress to the creature, and after being measured and photographed it was returned to the sea. Based on its size its weight was estimated at 400lbs. The team stated on their Facebook page that they watched it “swim away alive and well.” Read more and see pictures by clicking here.