Saving Seafood

Scottish fishermen clash with overseas vessels, call for tougher controls

July 8, 2019 — Fishing skippers in Shetland are demanding urgent action on gill net and longline fishing by overseas vessels because of the amount of plastic debris they are leaving behind, according to the island’s fishing association.

A number of local boats have hauled up fine mesh twine in their own nets, and at least one had to sail for home for costly repairs after its propeller was fouled by longlines, said Shetland Fishermen — the collective term used for the Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) and the Shetland Fish Producers’ Organisation.

“The problem is being exacerbated by a lack of proper communication and often aggressive behaviour by the predominantly Spanish and French skippers.”

Many gill netters leave their nets in position when they steam south to Ullapool, Scotland, to land, denying access to local boats that have fished these waters for decades, the fishermen claim.

SFA executive officer Simon Collins said it was “particularly galling” for Shetland skippers to be forced off local fishing grounds by vessels that leave rubbish behind.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Scottish salmon expansion set to strain wild catch fisheries, study suggests

July 2, 2019 — The UK’s plans to expand Scotland’s salmon farming industry is set to place immense strain on wild-catch fisheries, reports The Scotsman.

According to a report from the environmental NGO Feedback, the decision by the Scottish government to double the output of salmon from its farms by 2030 will require a corresponding increase in fishmeal volumes by two thirds.

In short, Scotland will require an additional 310,000 metric tons of wild-caught fish for fishmeal purposes, on top of the 460,000t already used to feed farmed Scottish salmon each year.

Feedback said the planned expansion would have severe impacts on wild fish stocks, ecosystems, and other communities that rely on wild-caught fish for food.

However, the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) responded that it was working to reduce the amount of fish oil and fishmeal required in a farmed salmon’s diet, as the industry turns increasingly to alternative sources of protein, “particularly plant extracts”.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Salmon sales surge helps Scotland set new export record

June 24, 2019 — Scottish food and drink exports achieved record sales of GBP 1.4 billion (USD 1.8 million, EUR 1.6 billion) in the first quarter of this year, representing a year-on-year increase of 14 percent, with sales of whiskey and salmon driving much of the growth, new U.K. government figures show.

In total, Scottish beverage exports in the first three months of 2019 were worth GBP 1 billion (USD 1.3 billion, EUR 1.1 billion), up 16 percent on Q1 2018. Fish exports in the same period accounted for GBP 210 million (USD 267.4 million, EUR 234.8 million), while fruit and vegetables exports increased by 37 percent to GBP 21 million (USD 26.7 million, EUR 23.5 million). Dairy and egg sales rose by 24 percent to GBP 17 million (USD 21.6 million, EUR 19 million).

British whiskey sales, almost all from Scotland, rose by 19 percent, and salmon exports were up by 41 percent – the strongest growth of all the top 10 U.K. food and drink products. There was a 20 percent increase in the volume of farmed salmon exported from Scotland in the quarter.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

How Scottish salmon exports its way around the world and maintains its reputation

June 20, 2019 — Three days, that’s all it takes. That’s the maximum time needed to get salmon from the cold waters of a pristine sea loch in the far north-west of Scotland to an upmarket restaurant in Beijing, Sydney or Cape Town. Often it’s quicker than that. Salmon harvested just after midnight in Mallaig are in the main transport hub at Larkhall, just off the M74 south of Glasgow, by lunchtime that day, often arriving at Heathrow the same evening.

Sent out in the bellies of passenger aircraft, the fish can then be presented on dinner plates in New York the following day.

Salmon is Scotland’s biggest food export and in the top-three of UK food exports too.

It is, quite clearly, a hugely successful product. It is renowned globally for its quality and regularly comes top of surveys rating the best salmon in the world.

But, because it is a perishable product, the routes to market have to be swift. That is why so much effort goes into getting from the sea to the customer as quickly as possible.

That is also why the harvesting often begins at midnight. That way, the normally quiet hours of the night are utilised to transport the fish and get them to the processors by the morning.

There they will be packed in ice boxes and sent to Larkhall.

Read the full story at The Scotsman

New aquaculture regulations for Scotland; Salmon farms could get bigger

June 7, 2019 — A new, evidence-based regulatory framework has been introduced for Scotland’s finfish aquaculture sector by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

Launched following 22 months of work by SEPA, the framework implements proposals announced in November 2018, which were subject to a country-wide consultation. According to the public body, it takes advantage of more accurate computer-modeling approaches that will improve understanding of the risks to the local environment and allow assessment of the larger-scale impacts including interactions with other farms.

SEPA acknowledged that the science about fish-farming is “very complex” and said that the new approach would bring the sector up to date with the modeling practices used for other industrial sectors where there is a longer history of operation and analysis.

SEPA Chief Executive Terry A’Hearn said the new framework was an “important milestone” for the sector.

“It makes powerfully clear our aspirations and requirement that the industry reach and maintain full compliance with Scotland’s environmental protection laws, where SEPA will help those investing in innovation and moving beyond compliance,” he said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Insight: Scottish fishing industry fears radical measures to protect marine life

May 20, 2019 — Loch Carron is a breathtakingly beautiful spot in the northwest Highlands, surrounded by imposing mountains and nature at its most sublime. Less obvious is the beauty that lies beneath the waves. The area is home to rare marine life with international importance.

The seabed hosts the world’s largest known flame shell bed, with an estimated 250 million of the brightly colored mollusks. The reef provides important habitat and nursery grounds for many other species.

Today is a special day for that sea loch and perhaps also for Scotland. An incident took place here two years ago that has proved a turning point in the way the country’s inshore waters are to be managed.

A fishing crew wreaked havoc on the reef while dredging for scallops, leaving barren scars across the seabed and a trail of smashed up marine life in their wake.

Read the full story at The Scotsman

Report: Scottish wild salmon catches at record low

April 28, 2019 — Scotland’s salmon catches reached the lowest level on record in 2018, according to new figures published by the Scottish government.

The “Salmon fishery statistics: 2018” report confirms that in the rod and line fishery, a total 37,196 wild salmon and grilse were retained and released last year, representing just 67 percent of the previous five-year average. At the same time, the reported catch and effort for the fixed engine and net and coble fisheries were among the lowest recorded by either fishery since records began in 1952, with 3,751 wild salmon and grilse caught and retained. The latter was from a reported effort of 25.5 crew months.

Commenting on the statistics, Scottish Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said the decline in wild salmon numbers was of great concern and that she was determined to safeguard the future of the species.

“The problem is down to a range of complex factors, many of which are [out of] our control, including the unprecedented water shortages Scotland experienced last summer,” she said.

Such low flows are known to be difficult conditions for anglers catching fish, and salmon have been shown to delay entering rivers until flows increase, which can be toward the end of the fishing season.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Scottish minister urges seafood to grab trade opportunities, irrespective of Brexit

April 2, 2019 — While the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union will inevitably have an impact on Scottish seafood – with a lot of uncertainty surrounding trading relationships and the practicalities of exporting products – Fergus Ewing, cabinet secretary for the rural economy, is urging the sector to overcome these challenges and seize opportunities as they are presented.

Delivering the keynote address at the Scottish Seafood Summit in Aberdeen, Ewing stressed the importance of seafood to Scotland’s economy, and also the success of its exports, which have increased by 111 percent over the past 10 years.

Today, seafood accounts for 60 percent of Scotland’s food exports, compared to England’s 6 percent, he highlighted.

“We have a marvelous industry worth a huge amount of money – GBP 3 billion [USD 3.9 billion, EUR 3.5 billion] – it’s world-leading, as is the reputation we have for the quality of our produce and the cleanliness of our waters,” he said.  “This fuels success in the fish sector, but also spreads out to other parts of the food and drink sector; it enables other businesses to build on [the seafood industry’s] success worldwide. The seafood demand across the world is increasing – consumption has more than doubled in the past 50 years, and that can only increase [because] the amount of arable land is finite, and in almost every case is already being used. The potential to create more protein lies in the world’s seas and oceans.”

Ewing pointed out that almost 5,000 people work on Scottish-registered fishing vessels, while seafood processing provides over 8,000 jobs, and aquaculture, including the supply chain, supports more than 12,000 jobs, many of them in rural areas.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Scottish government: Fishing sector must unite to ensure brightest future

March 5, 2019 — A national discussion paper outlining the Scottish government’s vision for the future of fisheries after Brexit has been launched by Scotland Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing.

The paper’s key priorities include ensuring that access to Scottish waters and fishing opportunities are not traded away and that fishing quotas are in the hands of active Scottish fishermen. It also supports the principle of a discard ban, but wants stakeholders to put a more workable approach in place and also wants to encourage new entrance to the industry by creating additional licenses and quota.

Furthermore, it wants to press United Kingdom government to introduce a new work permit system to secure sustainable labor supply for the fishing industry.

Ewing launched the paper at a meeting with representatives from the local fishing community in Kirkwall, Orkney. This was the first of a series of meetings across Scotland to allow businesses and communities involved in fishing to have a say in the new strategy.

The minister said that the U.K.’s departure from the European Union will inevitably bringing changes in the way fisheries are managed and nature of the Scottish industry’s relationships with other seafaring nations.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Scottish minister calls for removal of link between seafood trade and access to waters

December 12, 2018 — Scotland Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing has written to the U.K. government raising serious concerns about the current Brexit Withdrawal Agreement’s failure to ensure tariff-free access to European markets for Scotland’s seafood exports.

Ewing warned Environment Secretary Michael Gove that non-tariff barriers like customs delays at ports could be catastrophic for an industry that relies on frictionless passage across borders, particularly for fresh and live products.

Ewing wrote that despite the Prime Minister Theresa May’s claims, a direct link between seafood trade and access to waters has been conceded, allowing for exclusion of fisheries and aquaculture from tariff-free access through a temporary customs union, if a fisheries agreement acceptable to the European Union cannot be achieved.

“Worse still, aquaculture has been included in this linkage despite having no connection to access to waters or quota,” Ewing wrote. “Salmon farming alone was the [United Kingdom’s] largest food export in 2017. Its inclusion is profoundly disturbing, risking the imposition of tariffs, which will inevitably increase the cost of exports, and perhaps even more importantly the spectre of non-tariff barriers hangs over Scottish seafood exports, which absolutely rely on frictionless passage across borders.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source