Saving Seafood

  • Home
  • News
    • Alerts
    • Conservation & Environment
    • Council Actions
    • Economic Impact
    • Enforcement
    • International & Trade
    • Law
    • Management & Regulation
    • Regulations
    • Nutrition
    • Opinion
    • Other News
    • Safety
    • Science
    • State and Local
  • News by Region
    • New England
    • Mid-Atlantic
    • South Atlantic
    • Gulf of Mexico
    • Pacific
    • North Pacific
    • Western Pacific
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Fishing Terms Glossary

Northeast Atlantic pelagic stocks in critical danger, with no coastal state agreement in sight

October 4, 2024 — After several years of overfishing, Northeast Atlantic pelagic stocks are reaching a critical point.

Overfishing over the past decade has largely been due to coastal states such as Norway, the U.K., the Faroe Islands, and the E.U. being unable to come to a quota-sharing agreement with every player involved, resulting in unilateral quotas that exceed recommended catch totals from the International Council on Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Four years on, Brexit continues to undermine segments of UK seafood industry

February 10, 2024 — Supporters of the U.K.’s departure from the E.U. four years ago promised the dawn of a golden era for the fishing and seafood industry. Those operating in the sector hoped the move would offer more control over volumes caught and the people catching in U.K. waters, subsequently presenting more opportunities for growth, particularly in coastal communities.

For those attempting to navigate the unique challenges Brexit has wrought on the U.K.’s seafood supply chain, that optimism has faded for many in the country’s seafood sector. Many continue to lament red tape complicating the export of many types of seafood to key overseas markets. If products do make it to Europe, they often incur significant additional costs. Brexit has also limited the number of foreign workers available for hire by U.K. processors, leaving them struggling to find sufficient numbers of employees to operate in a cost-effective manner.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Survey says 57 percent of U.K. fishermen saw lower catches, profitability around wind turbines

January 21, 2024 — Early results from a survey of fishermen who work around offshore wind projects in the United Kingdom show “more than half of those surveyed have cited a negative outcome on catches and profitability,” according to the Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

The research group is conducting a survey of fishermen through Jan. 21 to assess the impact on the fishing industry from wind power developments. Most of the fishermen responding to the survey so far fish within 6 and 12 nautical miles offshore.

They work on boats from 20 to 140 feet, using “trawls, dredges, creels, pots, jigging machines, hand lines, trammel and gill nets,” according to a Jan. 10 update from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

Claire Szostek, an ecosystems services scientist at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, described some initial results from the survey, encouraging other commercial fishermen to contribute information about how they have been affected, and anticipated future impacts of wind turbine construction.

According to Szostek, “80 percent of the 43 wind farms that are currently operational or under construction are viewed as impacting fishing activity. The majority of fishers have had to use different fishing grounds due to wind farms, with a few choosing to change gear and one fisher leaving the industry as a result.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

EU fishermen to be compensated for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit

March 22, 2019 — In order to help mitigate the impact of a “no-deal” Brexit on European Union fisheries, a new regulation will allow member states’ fishermen and operators to receive compensation under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), the European Council has confirmed.

The contingency measure is one of a series of new legislative acts adopted by the council in preparation for the United Kingdom’s departure from the E.U. without agreements in place about what the future relationship would look like. The compensation would be to offset the temporary stop of their activities in the event of a sudden closure of U.K. waters to E.U. fishing vessels.

These new acts are aimed to limit the most severe damage caused by a “disorderly Brexit” in specific sectors where it would create a major disruption for citizens and businesses, the Council said. The measures are temporary in nature, limited in scope and will be adopted unilaterally by the E.U.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

UK strikes Brexit deal with two of its biggest seafood partners

March 21, 2019 — The United Kingdom has reached a temporary agreement with Norway and Iceland that allows trade to continue unchanged should it leave the European Union without a deal in place.

Through the new arrangements, which mimic those already in place with E.U. member states, zero tariffs remain on established quotas on seafood and agricultural products. A basis for negotiating a permanent agreement was also established.

The agreement is now subject to final legal checks and is expected to be formally signed next week.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Brexit may not have desired outcome for UK fishermen, but US could see upside

January 25, 2018 — The exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union – colloquially known as Brexit – doesn’t pose a major threat to American exporters, and it could provide some upside, according to Rabobank Global Seafood Industry Senior Industry Analyst Gorjan Nikolik.

Speaking at the 2018 Global Seafood Marketing Conference on Wednesday, 24 January, Nikolik laid out the three most probable scenarios facing Great Britain in its move away from the E.U.: a hard Brexit, a soft Brexit, or a soft-ish Brexit with a free trade agreement. Nikolik dismissed a fourth option, “Bremain,’ where the U.K. reverses course and decides not to leave the E.U., as doubtful and not likely to cause major change to existing trade.

A “hard” Brexit, in which the U.K. would break off from the E.U. without any negotiated special agreements, would be “the worst outcome for everyone,” Nikolik said. Trade barriers would be high, the price of imported goods would increase by an estimated 11 percent, the total labor force in the U.K. would decline by 1.3 million people by 2030, and the British pound would lose approximately 30 percent of its value, according to economic modeling cited by Nikolik.

On the other hand, a “soft” Brexit would sustain many of the U.K.’s ties to the E.U., potentially including its continued membership in the continent’s single market. Under this scenario, prices of imported goods would rise by an estimated three percent and the British economy would grow by a predicted 1.6 percent annually, as opposed to 1.3 percent under a hard Brexit and 2.1 percent under the “Bremain” scenario.

E.U. negotiators will push back hard against efforts for a truly soft Brexit, Nikolik said, as it gives too much away while clawing back little in return. Nikolik’s pick for the most probable outcome is a soft Brexit with a free trade agreement.  Such an agreement would result in an estimated 700,000 fewer laborers working in the U.K., and hike the cost of imported goods by around six percent, Nikolik said. It would also result in a 1.6 percent expected GDP growth rate, he added.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Recent Headlines

  • Murkowski and King reintroduce Working Waterfronts Act
  • Policymakers to Reauthorize the Young Fishermen’s Development Act
  • Fishers Forum Sheds Light on the Challenges and Passion Behind Hawai‘i’s Commercial Fishing Industry
  • EU unveils new Ocean Pact at UN Ocean Conference, pledges EUR 1 billion in funding
  • Washed ashore and reborn: Fishing gear and plastics get new life
  • ALASKA: Trump’s cuts to fisheries science have industry and conservation groups sounding the alarm
  • Justice Department says Trump can cancel national monuments that protect landscapes
  • ALASKA: NOAA firings and cuts will reduce services used to manage Alaska fisheries, officials say

Most Popular Topics

Alaska Aquaculture ASMFC Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission BOEM California China Climate change Coronavirus COVID-19 Donald Trump groundfish Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Illegal fishing IUU fishing Lobster Maine Massachusetts Mid-Atlantic National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NEFMC New Bedford New England New England Fishery Management Council New Jersey New York NMFS NOAA NOAA Fisheries North Atlantic right whales North Carolina North Pacific offshore energy Offshore wind Pacific right whales Salmon South Atlantic Virginia Western Pacific Whales wind energy Wind Farms

Daily Updates & Alerts

Enter your email address to receive daily updates and alerts:
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Tweets by @savingseafood

Copyright © 2025 Saving Seafood · WordPress Web Design by Jessee Productions