Saving Seafood

Shark-finning incidents of Hawaii island raise alarm

August 1, 2019 — Marine biologists say they are alarmed by recent shark finning incidents on Hawaii island, citing photographs of two oceanic whitetip sharks lacking fins and still alive, and that of a dead, gutted whitetip reef shark.

Oceanic whitetip sharks are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and dive tour operators reported seeing two off the coast of West Hawaii that were still alive but their fins had been removed off coast.

“Shark finning is not a new phenomenon, but the recent number of incidents is concerning,” said Stacia Marcoux, a Fish and Habitat Monitoring Technician with the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources. “This is especially true for the threatened oceanic whitetip. We hope that once people see these photos they will join us in condemning and discouraging this kind of activity regardless of its legality.”

Read the full story at the Honolulu Star Advertiser

Population of Critically Endangered Vaquita Porpoises Now Less Than 19 Individuals

August 1, 2019 — There are now less than 19 individual vaquita porpoises left in the wild, according to an alarming new survey. Scientists say immediate measures are now required to save this enigmatic species from extinction.

If fishing nets continue to be used illegally off the coast of Mexico, vaquita porpoises (Phocoena sinus) will likely become extinct within a year, according to new research published today in Royal Society Open Science. This species, which lives exclusively in the upper Gulf of California, is listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered. As the new research shows, and despite measures taken by the Mexican government in 2015 to crack down on the use of illegal nets, the population of vaquita porpoises continues to decline.

Vaquita porpoises are the world’s smallest cetacean. On average, females measure around 140 centimeters (55 inches) in length, while males are slightly shorter at 135 centimeters (53 inches) long. Vaquitas, which translates to “small cow” in Spanish, have a gray or white complexion, a tall dorsal fin, dark eye rings, and long flippers.

Read the full story at Gizmodo

Pew issues IATTC advice ahead of July meet

July 22, 2019 — The Pew Charitable Trusts has issued some advice to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) on tightening fishery control ahead of its meeting on July 22-26 in Bilbao, Spain.

Firstly, it said, improving transshipment regulations can secure a legal seafood supply chain.

Transshipment refers to the practice of transferring catch from a fishing vessel to a carrier ship, which then delivers the fish to port. This is an important step in the global seafood supply chain that often takes place outside the view and reach of authorities—creating opportunities for illicit activities and the misreporting or nonreporting of catch. This year, IATTC members should adopt policies that increase the transparency and ease of verifying transshipment activities, Pew said.

Since the Commission last updated its rules on this widespread activity in 2012, the number of recorded transshipments has increased more than 65%, the NGO said. What’s more, a recent analysis using publicly broadcasted vessel-position data indicates that unauthorized transshipments may have occurred in the IATTC convention area in 2017.

Then, modernizing fishery management is needed, it said.

“Gone are the days when managers viewed setting short-term catch limits annually as the best way to manage fishing. Today, managers and other stakeholders are starting to realize that agreeing on a harvest strategy can prevent political gridlock from obstructing sustainable management. A harvest strategy is a science-based, precautionary system of multiyear management rules that guides fishing in the future to ensure that the stock remains healthy and triggers automatic actions if the stock is in danger of becoming overfished. Harvest strategies are tested via computer simulation to help ensure that their performance is in line with overall fishery objectives.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

China playing public relations game focused on cooperative conservation

July 22, 2019 — The vigor with which the government has prosecuted its crackdown in domestic waters has certainly been unprecedented this year in China – it seems that every village government in the country has had a publicity event that involves pouring bags of fish seedlings into local waters.

China appears to also be playing a clever public relations game by embracing neighbors in joint fisheries rehabilitation projects that are also helping to keep a lid on simmering disputes over territorial waters and illegal fishing.

For instance, last week, a delegation of Filipino fishery officials led by the deputy head of the agriculture and fishery ministry in Manila travelled to Beijing for the third annual “China Philippines United Fishery Committee.” The meeting was a recap on all that’s been achieved in three years of activity, according to a Chinese summary of the meeting featured prominently in local media reporting.

“China continues to donate grouper fish seedlings to the Philippines…we have been training Filipino fishermen in aquaculture and algae technology and we are together fighting illegal fishing,” noted a statement from the Chinese ministry. China and the Philippines are working together to resolve any territorial disputes, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, Chinese state TV didn’t devote much air time to the update from the arbitral tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which found in favor of Manila’s case against Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea in July 2016. Convened under the compulsory dispute settlement provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the tribunal’s five arbitrators ruled overwhelmingly in the Philippines’ favor. Three years on, China is in compliance with just two out of the 11 parts making up the ruling.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Pope urges better protection of fishermen’s human rights

July 15, 2019 — Pope Francis is encouraging efforts to safeguard the human rights of fishermen and mariners.

Francis tweeted that he is praying for them and their families and noted that Sunday is a day dedicated to seafarers and fishermen. Francis tweeted: “I encourage every effort to protect and safeguard their human rights.”

Separately, the Vatican issued a prayer to mark the day, noting that seafarers endure difficult working conditions, including long stretches away from home and sometimes not getting paid, and face threats of piracy or terrorist attacks.

Read the full story at the Associated Press at the Star Tribune

New “Fishyleaks” website seeks to blow the whistle on EU overfishing

July 12, 2019 — A new website launched by the NGO Our Fish aims to provide a confidential, anonymous and secure way for people working in the E.U. fishing industry, public authorities or other areas to report what they believe are improper, unethical or illegal fishing practices.

“We created Fishyleaks to help those who want to share information with us, in a confidential, anonymous and secure manner,” Rebecca Hubbard, Our Fish program director, said. “Europe’s fisheries are a common resource, for the benefit of all citizens, that should be managed sustainably and legally to ensure the future of coastal communities, food security and ocean health in the face of the climate crisis. Fishyleaks aims to provide a platform for people who witness activity that undermines these important aspirations, so that they can share that information, while minimizing risk to themselves.”

Fishyleaks.eu provides examples of the kind of report that could prove useful to achieving legal and sustainable fisheries. The website asks whistleblowers whether they believe they have witnessed illegal or unethical activities, or witnessed improper practice at sea, such as illegal discarding or high-grading.

“Our Fish often receives news of infringements, but lack the evidence to prove it. By receiving information via Fishyleaks, we hope to expose the problems in the sector, so that we can push for solutions,” she said

Read the full story at Seafood Source

High Stakes for China as WTO Fishing Subsidies Cap Looms

July 8, 2019 — As the World Trade Organisation confronts a deadline this year to reach an agreement to eliminate subsidies that are decimating global fish populations, perhaps no nation faces higher stakes than China.

China operates the planet’s largest fishing fleet, catches the most seafood and hands out the most money in fuel subsidies and other support that enables industrial trawlers to travel to the furthest reaches of the ocean. As a result of the expansion of global fishing fleets to meet rising demand, 33% of fish populations are being harvested at biologically unsustainable levels while 90% are fully exploited, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Researchers in 2016 pegged total annual fishing subsidies at US$35 billion (in 2009 dollars). They categorised US$20 billion of those incentives as harmful with as much as 85% of that money going to industrial fishing operations. A 2018 study found that in the absence of US$4.2 billion in subsidies, more than half of high seas fishing would be unprofitable. Furthermore, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Spain account for 80% of fishing outside territorial waters. Researchers estimate that China alone was responsible for 21% of high seas fishing in 2014 and nearly 19% of global fish catch averaged between 2014 and 2016.

In 2001, the WTO formally recognised the need to reform fishing subsidies and member nations four years later called for the abolition of incentives that contribute to overfishing. Negotiations languished for a decade but took on new urgency in 2015 after the UN adopted a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Among them was SDG 14.6, which calls for the prohibition by 2020 of subsidies that contribute to overcapacity, overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Still, WTO’s last biennial meeting in December 2017 ended without an agreement on fishing subsidies. However, the 164 WTO member states, which must approve decisions by consensus, did agree to redouble efforts to reach an agreement by the end of 2019.

This year, negotiators have been meeting monthly at WTO headquarters in Geneva to try to break the stalemate. An agreement to ban fishing subsidies would have a profound impact on ocean health and national economies. Unlike other international agreements, such as the Paris accord on climate change, WTO actions are binding and carry the weight of law.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

Taiwan’s IUU yellow card rescinded by EU following reforms

June 28, 2019 — The European Commission (EC) has lifted the yellow card issued to Taiwan in October 2015 for not fully cooperating in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, acknowledging the progress made by the country over the past three and a half years.

“I welcome the considerable efforts undertaken by Taiwan to reform its fisheries legal framework, implement new control tools and improve the traceability of marine fisheries products. The European Union’s dialogue with Taiwan has shown again that international cooperation is a key driver towards healthier ocean management,” said Karmenu Vella, EU commissioner for environment, maritime affairs and fisheries.

Measures taken by Taiwan in cooperation with the E.U. include:

  • A comprehensive review of the distant-water fisheries legal framework, in order to align it with the International Law of the Sea, including though the establishment of a deterrent sanctions scheme
  • Strengthening of the distant-water fleet monitoring and control tools, including a reinforced vessel monitoring system (VMS), the obligation to be equipped with electronic logbook, observer coverage in line with RFMOs requirements and the development of an inspection scheme for both domestic and foreign ports
  • Implementation of the FAO Port States Measures Agreement (PSMA) to foreign-flagged vessels calling in Taiwanese ports
  • An enhanced traceability system covering the whole supply chain
  • Enforcement of the revised legislation and of the new sanctions scheme
  • Significant reinforcement of the financial and human resources dedicated to the fight against IUU fishing

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Europol announces increased effort to stop European eel trafficking

June 27, 2019 — During a press conference at the Sustainable Eel Group’s 10 Year Anniversary Event, Europol announced that it has seized at least 15 million endangered European eels and arrested 153 smugglers from across the European Union.

The seizures and arrests represent a 50 percent increase in the organization’s enforcement against the smuggling of the endangered European eel. The eel is subject to a number of European regulations, including a blanket ban on all imports and exports and a global restriction on trade. The species was listed under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and a complete ban on all exports from the E.U. has been in place for multiple years.

Despite the ban, its estimated that 300 million glass eels (also known as elvers) are trafficked from Europe to Asia each year. The eels are worth roughly EUR 1.00 (USD 1.13) each, making even just a kilogram of glass eels worth thousands of euros. That high value and small size makes the species a prime target for poachers and smugglers, which sometime coordinate in large operations that can pull in tens of millions of euros.

It has been estimated that roughly EUR 3 billion (USD 3.4 billion) worth of eels are being smuggled every year. The eels are trafficked out of the E.U. to Asia, where they are grown into full-sized eels and resold, either within Asia or to the U.S., Canada, and the E.U.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

13 Environmental NGO’s Call For 100% Observer Coverage on Industrial Tuna Fishing Vessels

June 27, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — A total of 13 environmental NGO’s – including Fishwise, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), Monterey Bay Aquarium, PEW Charitable Trusts and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership – are joining forces to request that Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMO) that regulate tuna fishing in the Indian, Pacific, Atlantic and Southern Oceans, require observer coverage on all industrial tuna fishing vessels.

According to these NGOs, many tuna fisheries lack independent monitoring of fishing activity. This means that illegal fishing, misreported or unreported catch, as well as bycatch of endangered, threatened and protected species, goes unseen. However, RFMOs could change that by requiring that these tuna fisheries have 100% observer coverage – whether it be human or electric.

“100% observer coverage can and must happen soon,” reads a press release from the organizations. “There are no longer credible reasons to delay. We are committed to working together to make 100% observer coverage a reality.”

As part of their effort, the NGOs are seeking support from fisheries organizations, conservation organizations, and foundations. Consumers can also join the fight by signing a petition posted on The Action Network.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.