International & Trade

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SEAFOOD.COM NEWS  by John Sackton – July 20, 2012  — The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has updated its review of tuna stocks, and has made two major changes.

First Bigeye tuna’s overall rating was changed from yellow to orange, meaning the conservation status of this stock has worsened.  The reason according to ISSF, is that nations that are members of the regional fisheries management organizations failed to act on scientific recommendations to either lengthen the current fishing closure, or to establish individual bigeye vessel limits.

An orange rating means the fishing mortality is above MSY, and there are no management measures in place that would reduce the fishing effort.   As per its charter, if this condition persists over time, ISSF members would have to stop purchasing Bigeye in fisheries where it is massively overfished.

The second change was in the status of yellowfin, where the biomass rating was changed from orange to green.  The spawning biomass of yellowfin has now grown to be above MSY levels, meaning the stock is in balance with the current level of fishing pressure in a long term sustainable manner.

The ISSF also released a rating of fishing methods, cautioning that pole and line fishing, which is a method that has been embraced uncritically by British retailers following the film ‘The End of the Line’, is actually a more problematic fishing method than some purse seining.

The reasons given are that the pole and line fisheries rely on huge supplies of live bait fish to attract and keep tuna near the boats; and that these bait fish are often taken from vulnerable and unregulated stocks.  The amount of baitfish available in the WCPO is a limiting factor to the amount of pole and line fishing that can occur. In addition, the bait species captured are generally more fragile than temperate baitfish species.

ISSF also rates purse seining on FAD’s as yellow, along with Pole and Line fishing.

The two purse seine methods that are green are setting on free schools, and setting on tuna / dolphin associations.

Finally, the ISSF notes some figures regarding global tuna catch, which has plateaued.

The global catch of albacore, bigeye, bluefin, skipjack and yellowfin in 2010 was 4.34 million tonnes, a 4% decrease from 2009. Catches increased steadily until the early 2000s and have stabilized since then. This plateau is explained by continuously-increasing catches of skipjack, offset by declining catches of yellowfin and bigeye. Ranked by species (using the 2006-2010 average = 4,471,000 tonnes), the majority of the catch is skipjack (55%), followed by yellowfin (27%), bigeye (9%), albacore (8%) and bluefin (1%). In terms of fishing gear, 63% of the catch is made by purse seining, followed by longline (14%), miscellaneous gears (gillnets, handline, traps, etc., 13%), and pole-and-line (10%).

 

 

July 19, 2012 – In a move that will help protect one of the most biodiverse areas on Earth, the European Commission today proposed phasing out destructive bottom trawling and bottom gillnetting among deep sea fishing fleets in the Northeast Atlantic. The Pew Environment Group praised EC Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, for the bold proposal to finally put an end to these unsustainable and destructive deep-sea fishing methods. Marine scientists have roundly concluded that deep-sea bottom trawling is the most direct and widespread threat to fragile deep-sea ecosystems. These ecosystems harbor a diversity of life – much of it as yet unidentified – that may exceed the biodiversity found in the Amazon rainforest.

We congratulate Commissioner Damanaki on her leadership today in proposing a thorough overhaul of the management of deep-sea fisheries and taking the first step towards phasing out one of the most destructive fishing practices in use today,” commented Matthew Gianni, policy advisor to the Pew Environment Group and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. “It is now up to EU fisheries ministers and the European Parliament to show similar resolve by adopting legislation to implement the Commissioner's proposal and put an end to destructive deep-sea fishing practices.”

The European Union’s (EU) deep-sea fishing fleet is one of the largest in the world. In the heavily exploited Northeast Atlantic the EU is responsible for 75 percent of the total catch of deep-sea species. “If the Commission proposal is adopted, it would transform the EU into a global defender of deep-sea marine life by protecting vulnerable deep-sea species and ecosystems from the harmful impacts of destructive bottom fishing,” continued Gianni.

Out of the Abyss, a policy analysis issued earlier this year by the Pew Environment Group, suggested ways that the EU could reform its deep-sea fishing regulations in line with a series of United Nations General Assembly resolutions on protecting vulnerable deep-sea life. The phase out of destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling for deep-sea species is one of Pew’s key recommendations.

Pew supports the Commission proposal but urges the European Parliament and EU member states to strengthen it further by: requiring impact assessments for all deep-sea fisheries, not just new fisheries; requiring closure of deep-sea areas to fishing where vulnerable marine species are known or likely to occur unless these areas can be managed to prevent significant adverse impacts; and requiring that all catch, including bycatch, be sustainable; and that all bycatch be landed unless there is adequate justification (e.g. high survival potential) for throwing catch back. 

Read the full story at the Pew Environment Group.

 

 

July 16, 2012 — The Future we Want, the final document from the Rio+20 summit, has quite a lot to say about fishing subsidies. Some see this as a little-noticed success from the disappointing gathering.

World leaders agreed to "eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and overcapacity", and to prohibit "fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing".

The trouble is that this was essentially reaffirming commitments made in Johannesburg 10 years ago and subsequently snarled in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.

Fish is a vital food source and fishing provides employment all over the world. That's why governments stump up money to put boats on the water. Unfortunately, too many boats result in the overfishing that The Future we Want refers to.

As much as 85% of the world's fisheries are estimated either at or over a sustainable limit. And the $35bn (£22.5bn) or so a year that countries spend supporting their fishing fleets has helped to reach that parlous state. Ultimately this is self-defeating, as overfishing eventually leads to lower catches, potentially irreversible declines in stocks and larger financial losses requiring even greater subsidies.

 

Read the full story in the Guardian

 

 

   

July 11, 2012 – South Korea says it may scrap research whaling plans that have been widely criticized.

Fisheries official Kang Joon-suk said Wednesday that Seoul may drop the plans if it finds ways to study whales without killing them.

The government said last week that it would allow the killing of whales for research because fishermen were complaining that whales were eating large amounts of fish.

The announcement drew protests from non-whaling nations and environmentalists who suspected the plan was a cover for commercial whaling.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe.

 

 

July 12, 2012 — Artisanal fishermen from Valparaíso, Talcahuano, Ancud, Puerto Montt, San Vicente, Coronel and Quellón, among other towns, held barricades and lit bonfires on Tuesday in the main ports of the country to protest against the new General Fisheries Act, which is being processed in the National Congress.

The sector argues that the legislation restricts their fishing quotas but extends those belonging to large companies.

It is likely that on Wednesday in the House of Representatives, deputies will vote for or against the Act.

As part of the protests, fishermen clashed with police and there were several arrests.

In Valparaíso, 120 kilometers west of the Chilean capital, protesters blocked the underground way so the police used tear gas and fire hydrant vehicles to make them leave the area, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, in Quellón (Chiloé), fishermen blocked two docks and in Coronel the port block was held.

Moreover, in Coronel ship-owners anchored their fishing vessels forming a barrier hampering the entrance of merchant vessels, Radio Santiago reported.

In this context, the head of the Undersecretariat of Fisheries (Subpesca), Pablo Galilea, invited artisanal fishermen to discuss the Fisheries Act.

"Many of the proposals fishermen are making are being discussed in Congress these days. We have been analyzing the information submitted by the various sectors in the Fisheries Committee to pass a better law for over 70 hours," stated the undersecretary.

"We are convinced that the Fisheries Act will not generate unemployment, as the project is based on resource sustainability, incorporating a fisheries management approach that relies on science, which will contribute to recovering the fisheries in Chile," Galilea added.

He also said: "For us, as part of the government, it would have been easier to extend the current Fisheries Act, but we believe this project will offer many benefits for the sector and so we are committed to this legislative initiative."

Furthermore, he recalled that the future standard includes the concept of Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) as an objective of fisheries management.

 

Read the full story on the Fish Info. & Services website

[seafoodnews.com]  July 10, 2012  — Independent DNA testing on randomly selected MSC-labelled products shows that the MSC  traceability certification requirements continue to deliver a very high degree of consumer assurance. Of the 196 products tested in the most recent market sampling, 192 were correctly labelled – a positive validation rate of 98 per cent – and testing confirmed they originated from the species of fish identified on the pack.

Samples were collected from across eleven different markets in Europe, Africa, the Americas, Australasia and Asia.

The four samples that were not correctly labelled were referred by the MSC for further investigation by the certifiers of the parts of the supply chains where the product substitution or mixing is likely to have occurred.  Expedited audits have been carried out as a result of the DNA test results. In relation to three products the issue was identified and shown to have been resolved. In the fourth instance an action plan to facilitate identification and surveillance of future potential risks will be put in place. The MSC has also informed affected brand owners.

If certifiers identify breaches of the Chain of Custody standard, either during a normal audit or as a result of investigations such as those conducted by the MSC, they require Chain of Custody certificate holders to remedy any problems, so ensuring the robustness of MSC supply chains.

The MSC developed DNA tests for three species in 2009 and carried out testing on 240 random samples, none of which were found to be mislabeled.

The MSC added to its repertoire of DNA tests in 2011 by working with the independent laboratory of Trace Wildlife Forensics Network to develop identification tests for: South African hake (Merluccius capensis and Merluccius paradoxus), Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) and hoki (genus Macruronus).

The MSC is expanding its DNA testing by further increasing the sample size and continuing to develop new identification tests. This will include European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus).   The MSC will also use the regional identifiers for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) found through the EU FP7 FishPopTrace project.

The DNA testing program is funded through a combination of financial support from private foundations and logo licensing revenue from ecolabel users.  In addition to DNA tests, the MSC conducts regular random traceback exercises within the supply chain. This checking by the MSC complements the audits regularly conducted by MSC Chain of Custody certifiers, ensuring that all elements of the supply chain and the MSC Chain of Custody program are regularly scrutinized.

Seafood News is a subscription website. This article is reproduced with permission.

 

 

June 14, 2012 — Australia has created the world’s largest network of marine reserves and will restrict fishing as well as oil and gas exploration in a major step to safeguard the environment and access to food.

With the expansion announced Thursday, Australia will protect 3.1 million square kilometers (1.2 million square miles) of ocean. The reserves will encompass a third of the island continent’s territorial waters, which sustain more than 4,000 species of fish.

Australia is surrounded by the world’s third-largest ocean territory, which provides important habitat to threatened species of whales, sharks and turtles as well as spectacular corals.

Previously only 800,000 square kilometers (310,000 square miles) of Australian waters were protected. According to the Protect Planet Ocean website, only 2.85 million square kilometers (1.1 million square miles) of oceans worldwide were within marine protection areas before.

Environmental group WWF welcomed the 2.3 million-square-kilometer expansion as a “major advance in marine conservation’’ that hopefully will inspire other countries at the United Nations’ Rio+20 conference on sustainable development, which is under way in Rio de Janeiro.

Environment Minister Tony Burke said the government expects to pay an estimated 100 million Australian dollars ($100 million) to compensate the fishing industry for new restrictions that will take effect late this year, with only a minor impact on most types of fishing.

While the public will be invited to lodge complaints before the sanctuaries are enshrined in law, the center-left government faces no hurdles in imposing the new restrictions under existing environmental laws.

But the conservative opposition has vowed to review the boundaries if it wins government at elections next year — an outcome that opinion polls agree is likely.

“I am instinctively against anything that damages the rights of recreational fishing … and anything that will further damage the commercial fishing industry and tourism industry,’’ opposition leader Tony Abbott said.

 

Read the full story in the Boston Globe 

 

 

 

July 9, 2012 – The United Nations food agency Monday urged countries to effectively manage their fisheries and aquaculture sectors to help ensure the food security for millions of people, warning that failing to do so would have serious environmental, economic and social consequences.

“Fisheries and aquaculture are making a vital contribution to global food security and economic growth,” the head of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Árni M. Mathiesen, said in a news release. “However, the sector faces an array of problems, including poor governance, weak fisheries management regimes, conflicts over the use of natural resources, the persistent use of poor fishery and aquaculture practices.

“It is further undermined by a failure to incorporate the priorities and rights of small-scale fishing communities and the injustices relating to gender discrimination and child labour,” Mathiesen added.

According to the latest issue of its report on the matter, entitled 'The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012', world fisheries and aquaculture produced a record 128 million tons of fish for human food last year – an average of 18.4 kilograms per person. In addition, the report notes that the sector is a source of income for 55 million people.

It goes on to note that the primary threats undermining the food and nutrition security potential of fisheries and aquaculture result principally from ineffective management coupled with poor conservation of habitats – and states that a transition towards people-centred approaches is required to enhance the sector’s contribution to food and livelihoods security.

In the report, FAO calls on governments to boost their efforts to ensure sustainable fisheries around the world, noting that many of the marine fish stocks monitored by the agency are under great pressure as nearly 30 per cent of them are overexploited, and 57 per cent are fully exploited, meaning that they are at their maximum sustainable production.

Read the full story here.

 

 

July 5, 2012 – South Korea plans to resume hunting whales for research purposes, officials said Thursday, drawing immediate protests from non-whaling nations and environment groups that suspect the plans may be a cover for commercial whaling.

South Korean officials conveyed the plan to the International Whaling Commission during an IWC meeting this week in Panama, according to Seoul’s Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The whaling would be aimed only at studying the types and amounts of fish whales eat as fishermen complain that an increasing number of whales are consuming large amounts of fish stocks, ministry officials said.

The IWC gives member states sovereign rights to scientific whaling but South Korea will still give up its whaling plans if the international organization rejects them, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Environmental groups decried the South Korean plans as a back-door effort to make the country only the fourth to allow commercial whaling, which has been banned since 1986. Various exceptions have allowed Japan, Iceland and Norway to hunt whales anyway. Indigenous groups in several countries also whale as allowed under international rules.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe.

 

 

June 29, 2012 — Marine Scotland data that has revealed aquaculture companies have culled over 300 seals during 2011 and 2012, a number of controversial eco-activists are trying to encourage a boycott of Scottish farmed salmon.

The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture (GAAIA) and Save Our Seals Fund (SOSF) are now calling on the US Government to ban imports of farmed salmon and for retailers to stop sourcing from ‘seal unfriendly’ Scottish salmon farms.

“Scotland’s seal killers should hang their heads in shame and hang up their guns,” said Don Staniford of GAAIA. “Supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco which condone the killing of seals by selling ‘seal-unfriendly’ farmed salmon have blood on their hands.”

John Robins, Secretary of SOSF in Scotland, said: “We have asked the US Department of Commerce to use existing US marine mammal protection laws to ban the import of salmon from Scottish floating factory fish farms. I hope the US Government can force Scottish salmon farmers to install seal exclusion nets, something the Scottish Government and the RSPCA have disgracefully failed to do. When you buy Scottish farmed salmon, even RSPCA-endorsed Scottish farmed salmon, you pay for bullets to shoot seals."

According to SOSF the Scottish Government admitted that 80 per cent of the nation’s salmon farms which were granted licences to shoot seals did not have anti-predator nets. GAAIA has now appealed to the Scottish Information Commissioner following Marine Scotland’s refusal to name the particular sites where the seals were killed.

“Consumers, chefs and retailers should boycott all Scottish farmed salmon from companies who support a shoot-to-kill policy,” continued Staniford. “It is a sad state of affairs when trigger-happy salmon farmers refuse to pay for predator nets and resort to the rifle as a first not last resort.  Scotland’s seals are paying a high price for cheap Scottish farmed salmon.”

However, in response to these accusations, Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, said: “We have a moral, ethical and legal responsibility to protect our fish against persistent aggressive predators. A rogue seal can cause enormous suffering to thousands of fish and removal is only considered as a last resort.

 

Read the full story on Fishupdate.com