Saving Seafood

WTO fisheries talks suspended due to COVID preoccupations: document

May 21, 2020 — World Trade Organization negotiations aimed at cutting billions of dollars in subsidies that contribute to overfishing have been suspended due to opposition from some countries that are too preoccupied with COVID-19, an internal document showed.

In an email to WTO delegates, chair Santiago Wills said some members were “unable to engage in negotiation discussions due to their need to combat COVID-19 pandemic domestically” as well as movement restrictions.

“It is fair to say that the Group as a whole is not ready to fully engage while still facing these struggles,” the email sent on May 7 said. Wills declined to comment.

It was not clear exactly which countries objected although a trade official said the African, Caribbean and Pacific States Group had raised doubts.

Read the full story at Reuters

Brexit trade talks face collapse unless EU abandon demands for continued access to UK fishing waters

May 1, 2020 — Brexit trade negotiations face collapse unless the EU abandons its demands for continued access to UK fishing waters, sources close to the talks have said.

Brussels has called for EU boats to keep access under “existing conditions” as a price for the free trade agreement being negotiated by the two sides. The UK insists any fishing agreement must be separate from the trade deal with access negotiated annually in a similar fashion to Norway’s agreement with the bloc.

A UK source close to the negotiations said that the EU’s red line would need to change, otherwise the talks could be terminated in June.

“There are some fundamentals that we’re not going to change, nor going to move on. Because they are not so much negotiating positions as they’re sort of what an independent state does” the source said.

Read the full story from The Telegraph at Yahoo News

New emergency funding offered for EU’s coronavirus-hit seafood industry

April 3, 2020 — A new set of measures designed to help the European Union’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been proposed by the European Commission through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

With fishers forced to stay in port and fish farmers facing the prospect of having to dispose of unused products, the E.C. said the new measures could provide immediate aid during the coronavirus crisis.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

EU opens door for coronavirus-hit seafood operations to receive aid

March 24, 2020 — Acknowledging that fishing and aquaculture have been “among the hardest hit” sectors by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission has introduced a temporary state aid framework that enables E.U. member states to provide financial support to affected operators.

Seafood demand across the bloc has declined dramatically in recent weeks as retailers, restaurants, canteens, and other large-scale buyers have been reducing or temporarily closing down their activities. At the same time, supply chains have been affected by various logistical disruptions.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fishing Presents a Vexing Snag in Brexit Talks

March 16, 2020 — In the pitch black of early morning, huge waves hurled the 30-ton vessel from side to side, drenching crewmen who struggled to keep their footing as they cast the trawler’s nets into the swirling seas.

But, once back on the bridge, the skipper, Dave Driver was oblivious to the stomach-churning motion of the boat, and dismissive of the perils of his work — even as he recalled once falling overboard and, on another occasion, rescuing two fishermen from drowning.

“I’m my own boss, I do what I want, I think it’s the best job in the world,” said Mr. Driver, who left school at age 15, but now owns the 1.2 million pound trawler Girl Debra, named after his wife.

He has only one major gripe in life: the French.

Mr. Driver thinks French boats are allowed to take too many fish too close to the British coast — touching on a deeply emotional issue on both sides of the channel that could dash hopes of a post-Brexit trade deal between Britain and the European Union.

Read the full story at The New York Times

France to Britain: No fish for finance deal

February 7, 2020 — The European Union must not give the UK concessions on access to EU financial markets in exchange for rights to fish in British waters, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday.

French fishermen temporarily lost access to waters off Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands situated near the French coast of Normandy, when a European fisheries treaty expired automatically on Jan. 31 with Britain’s exit from the EU.

While the fishermen are due to regain access to the area off Guernsey, future fishing rights in UK waters more generally are likely to be a flashpoint in the negotiations between Brussels and London on a post-Brexit relationship.

Read the full story at Reuters

Aquaculture Advisory Council gives second recommendations for developing EU aquaculture

January 28, 2020 — The Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC), which is partially funded by the European Union, has released its second recommendations on how to bolster sustainable aquaculture in the E.U.

The recommendations come as the European Commission is planning to draft new guidelines for sustainable aquaculture development in 2020. That new draft is in the wake of multiple other reports that showcased the lack of growth in E.U. aquaculture.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Rising sea temperatures could threaten Atlantic salmon production

January 16, 2020 — In 2017, aquaculture production in the EU reached a decade high thanks to increased production of high-value species like salmon and seabass, according to a report by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA). The same report also shows that in 2015, per capita world consumption of fish was 8 percent higher than in 2005, with Asia registering the highest growth, followed by Europe.

With the consumption of fish and shellfish expected to rise further, and  change rapidly affecting fisheries and habitats, it’s crucial to analyze the dynamics of fisheries and aquaculture production. The EU-funded ClimeFish project has been tackling this issue to help regulators, fish producers and aquaculture operators to predict, prepare and adapt to climate change.

Partially supported by ClimeFish, a team of researchers found that since the 1980s,  off the Norwegian coast have risen by 1 °C on average, as noted in a news item by project partner Nofima. The researchers predict further increases over the next decades, likely causing problems for . Salmon is the third most consumed farmed fish in the EU, according to EUMOFA.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

EU warns refusal to give access to UK fishing waters after Brexit could lead to new cod war

January 9, 2020 — Failure to grant the European Union access to British fishing waters after Brexit could lead to an outbreak of cod war style hostilities, the EU has warned.

Brussels is demanding continued access to British waters as a condition of the trade deal but Boris Johnson has warned the European Commission that Britain will take back control of its waters once Britain leaves the EU.

“We want to avoid any fisheries skirmishes in the Atlantic. We have seen them before we don’t want to see them again,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a press conference with Charles Michel, the European Council president in Zagreb

Read the full story at The Telegraph