Saving Seafood

Moroccan octopus mafia accused of IUU fishing resulting in 60 percent population decline

July 21, 2022 — A scientific report by Morocco’s National Institute for Fisheries Research (INRH, per its French acronym) indicates the nation’s cephalopod catch is down by 60 percent, most significantly in the southern part of the country, according to Morocco-based news site Le Reporter.

According Le Reporter, word in the industry is that the current decline is due to poaching by an “octopus mafia.” There has been lax enforcement of the ban on fishing during the biological rest period, and the longstanding issue of smuggling of illegally caught octopus continues unabated.

Read the full article at SeaFoodSource

Nations decide to increase quota for Atlantic Bluefin tuna

November 22, 2017 — MARRAKECH, Morocco — Countries fishing the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean agreed Tuesday to expand the annual quota for prized bluefin tuna to reflect an improvement in their stocks. Environmentalists insisted the increase was excessive.

The 50-nation International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas agreed to increase the quota from 24,000 tons this year to 28,000 next year, with a further 4,000 tons added in each of the following two years.

The decision means the quota has more than doubled from five years ago, when once depleted stocks of bluefin tuna first started showing the potential of a recovery.

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

$5.3B Pledged for Marine Conservation at US Summit

September 19th, 2016 — A 90-nation conference devoted to the world’s oceans ended Friday with $5.3 billion in pledges for marine conservation, which U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said proves “we are making progress.”

Forty significant new or expanded marine protected areas were created at the Our Ocean summit, including President Barack Obama’s announcement of the first U.S. marine reserve in the Atlantic Ocean — an area totaling 13,000 square kilometers and known for its underwater mountains and canyons off the coast of New England.

Commercial fishing, oil exploration and other activities are limited in such areas to protect ecosystems.

Kerry said in closing remarks Friday that he had been in conversations with Russian officials about Moscow’s consent for a ban on fishing in the 960,000-square-kilometer Ross Sea, a pristine ecosystem in the Antarctic.

“We remain hopeful Russia will step up and join us in this endeavor,” Kerry said.

New technologies to fight pollution

The third Our Ocean event collected pledges of more than $1 billion to combat maritime pollution.

“It’s not just the dollars being brought to the table, but new technologies,” Kerry emphasized.

Five countries also detailed plastic bag bans: Mauritius said it has banned the import, manufacture, sale or supply of non-biodegradable plastic bags. Morocco announced that it has banned the production, import, export or acquisition of plastic shopping bags for sale or distribution. Ghana’s ban covers the manufacture of plastic bags thinner than .02 millimeter, and France informed delegates of its prohibition on all single-use plastic bags thinner than .05 millimeter. Senegal has banned the production and use of plastic bags.

In addition, France announced that it, Morocco and Monaco have launched an international coalition to ban single-use plastic bags.

Not only are the bags especially harmful to marine wildlife, they also litter the seas.

Read the full article from VOA News 

UN Agency Puts Fast-growing Fish Trade on the ‘Sustainability’ Menu

February 22, 2016 — Top fishery officials are gathering in Morocco this week to discuss sustainable trade practices in a $144 billion industry that provides developing countries with more export revenue than meat, tobacco, rice and sugar combined.

Lower-income nations’ exports of fish and fishery products reached $78 billion in 2014, more than triple the value of global rice exports, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“Sustainably serving those lucrative markets is of critical importance to developing countries, where most fish are produced, whether caught in the wild or grown in cages or farm ponds,” the agency’s news release says.

The biennial high-level meeting of FAO’s Sub-Committee on Fish Trade, being held in Agadir through Friday, 26 February, has drawn delegations of fisheries ministries from more than 50 countries to discuss emerging governance needs of the fisheries sector.

“Trade in fish is much more important than people think, both in absolute and relative terms,” said Audun Lem, Deputy-Director in FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Resources Division, who serves as Secretary of the meeting.

Dialogues will help FAO, its member countries and industry representatives understand new trends, opportunities and challenges in the fishing sector, fostering the development of strategies that can “best position developing countries to develop their fisheries sectors in a sustainable manner and to maximize their economic benefit from the growth we expect to witness,” Mr. Lem said. Traceability

Read the full story at Bloomberg Business