Saving Seafood

Brexit case for UK seafood industry was overstated, APPG study finds

November 8, 2022 — U.K fishermen were promised the results of Brexit and leaving behind the European Union’s common fisheries policy would enable the country to regain control of its waters. A fisheries white paper also guaranteed a historic opportunity to do things better.

However, a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group titled “Brexit: Voices of the U.K. Fishing Industry” shows the rhetoric turned out to lack substance. In reality, Brexit left the fishing industry and the wider seafood sector crying foul in the wake of unexpected and unwelcome detrimental impacts on livelihoods, business turnover, labor, exports, and access to fishing areas and quota. Report contributors expressed fears for the long-term viability of individual businesses, fishing fleets, processors, and transporters, following significant and ongoing financial losses.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Restaurants beg for help from new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

October 25, 2022 — Amidst record inflation, soaring energy costs, and political upheaval, restaurants in the United Kingdom and Scotland are struggling to survive. As a result, U.K. hospitality businesses are seeking lower tax rates while Scottish hospitality businesses are partnering with seafood and other suppliers on a new campaign aimed to bolster sales.

Rishi Sunak was elected as U.K.’s new prime minister and officially took office on Tuesday, 25 October, after Liz Truss resigned on 20 October, just six weeks after taking office.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New collaboration looks to expose, end labor violations in UK fishing industry

September 1, 2022 — Several labor unions and a labor-based human rights group have come together to launch a pilot program aimed at identifying and combating human rights violations on commercial fishing vessels in the United Kingdom.

Together, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the Fair Food Program (FFP) of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) are looking to implement the worker-driven social responsibility (WSR) model in the industry. The WSR is a U.S.-based human rights initiative highly regarded for implementing monitoring and enforcing workplace protections in food-industry supply chains, according to the ITF.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine creates turmoil for global seafood market

February 24, 2022 — Russian seafood exports to the United States and European Union are likely to be curtailed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Russian forces entered Ukraine on Wednesday, 23 February. In response, U.S. President Joe Biden, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced planned sanctions against Russia after its military forces engaged in a full-scale invasion of the former Soviet territory, which became an independent country in 1991.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

UK, EU settle row over fishing licenses

December 13, 2021 — Weeks of negotiations aimed at settling a dispute over post-Brexit fishing licenses have ended with the United Kingdom issuing 18 licenses for European Union replacement vessels in U.K. territorial waters and five licenses for E.U. vessels to access Jersey waters, the European Commission has confirmed.

French vessels have performed a series of protests, including a blockade of the British island of Jersey, arguing they were not issued a sufficient number of permits to cover all the fishing vessels that historically fished in U.K. waters before Brexit.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

France offers reprieve in post-Brexit fishing fight with UK

November 2, 2021 — France’s president offered Britain extra time for negotiations on Monday to try to reach a compromise on a troubling post-Brexit fishing spat, hours ahead of a threatened French blockade of British ships and trucks.

France has threatened to bar British boats from some of its ports and tighten checks on boats and trucks carrying British goods if more French vessels aren’t licensed to fish in U.K. waters by Tuesday. Paris has also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands, which are heavily dependent on French electricity.

The French government had said the port blockade would begin at midnight Monday if no compromise was found. But late in the day, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said talks would continue this week and no measures would be taken until at least through Thursday.

Speaking to reporters Monday in Glasgow, Scotland, where he is attending an international climate conference, Macron said the discussions center on a proposal he made to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson after they met at the G-20 meeting in Rome on Sunday.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

 

France to Announce Sanctions Amid Fishing Dispute With UK

October 21, 2021 — France will announce potential sanctions over energy prices and trade “by the end of the week” in its fishing dispute with the United Kingdom, the government spokesman said Wednesday.

France vehemently protested the decision last month by the U.K. and the Channel Island of Jersey to refuse dozens of French fishing boats a license to operate in their territorial waters. Paris called the move “unacceptable.”

France considers the restrictions as contrary to the post-Brexit agreement that the British government signed when it left the European Union.

“We are obviously in a position to take sanctions if the agreement is not respected,” French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said. “There are several types of sanctions that are possible: energy prices, access to (French) ports, tariffs issues.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

UK slows introduction of European seafood, meat import controls

September 22, 2021 — A new timetable for introducing full import controls for animal-based goods, including seafood products, being imported from the European Union to the United Kingdom has been laid out by the U.K. government.

The revised timings will give businesses more time to adjust to new border control processes, the U.K. government said in a press release. The “pragmatic new timetable” will see full customs declarations and controls introduced on 1 January, 2022, as previously announced, although safety and security declarations will now not be required until 1 July, 2022.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

UK Government Introduces New Ban On Shark Fin Trade

August 20, 2021 — In order to promote shark conservation, a ban has been initiated on the import and export of detached shark fins, the UK Government announced. This ban will include shark fin products like tinned shark fin soup.

Shark species are facing population decline, and shark finning is a huge force behind this. Out of over 500 species of shark, 143 are listed as ‘under threat’ under the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A key indicator and sign of ocean health is the presence and amount of sharks in marine areas. Sharks also play a major role in marine ecosystems because they help maintain healthy and normal levels of fish lower to them in the food chain.

Read the full story at Seafood News

UK panel hears lessons from abroad on building climate resilience

July 26, 2021 — Building climate resilience will be essential to the United Kingdom’s seafood indsutry if it hopes to maintain production and account for impendeing changes, speakers from around the world told the U.K. government’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries at its most recent meeting.

The panel, which is operated by the U.K.’s Fisheries Secretariat, is a cross-party body focused on issues affecting the U.K. fishing and seafood sector. The aim of its recent session was to gain insight into how to tackle issues resulting from climate change that could impact the country’s fishing industry in the future.

Read the full story at Seafood Source