IN BRIEF - Rebound in Groundfish Leads to New Flexibility for Fishermen, Protection for Deep-Sea Corals
UNITED STATES
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Sweeping changes in West Coast groundfish fisheries adopted this week will reopen access for fishermen to productive fishing grounds where fish populations have rebounded. These changes will also protect sensitive deep-water habitat and deep-sea corals from bottom fishing.
The changes come in the form of an amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for groundfish off the West Coast. The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended the amendment to NOAA Fisheries, which finalized it this week. The new provisions take effect January 1, 2020, and are widely supported by fishermen and other stakeholders.
The changes affect what is known as Essential Fish Habitat, or EFH, the habitat necessary to support sustainable fisheries. By law, the Council must minimize effects on EFH, and in 2005 did so for groundfish habitat. It established area closures that limited bottom trawling and other types of gear that contact the sea floor.
The Cabinet has decided to extend the allocation of quotas for expired right holders to allow them to catch one third of the Total Allowable Catch, for various species until end of 2019/2020 financial year.
The Minister of Information and Communication Technology says this measure is to maintain and allow stability in the fishing industry.
Colombo - The Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) has decided to monitor the plastic usage on single and multi-day fishing trawlers. Fishermen take 500 to 1000 1 litre bottles when they head out to sea. These steps are being taken to protect ocean life.
Attention has been drawn to only permit the carrying of 5-litre containers to the ocean. The plan is set to be put into action together with the help of the Sri Lanka Coast Guard.
Acting fisheries minister Albert Kawana says the planned investigation into the fishing sector could take years to complete.
Kawana said people should not expect issues of maladministration, corruption and nepotism in the fishing sector to be fixed in a week, a month or a year, because some of the anomalies could require the government to amend the Marine Resources Act.
The acting minister explained at a media briefing on Monday that he was ordered by president Hage Geingob to investigate if there were any instances of maladministration, corruption and nepotism in the sector.
The duration for the closed fishing season will be extended from one to two months, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mrs Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, has stated.
The closed season, which prohibits fishers from going to sea, was observed between May and September 2019, with majority of artisanal fishers observing it between May and June.
It aims to encourage the rejuvenation of marine fish stocks to improve the recent dwindling fish stock.
A furious Brexiteer MEP has lashed out at the EU for destroying UK fisheries, claiming that many British fishermen wouldn’t be able to even buy Christmas gifts this year. MEP June Mummery took issue with the controversial EU Common Fisheries Policy - a common target for British fishermen who claim it has ruined their livelihood. Speaking at a debate at the EU's Fisheries Committee, Ms Mummery asked when was the last time any of the EU elite had bothered to speak to any fishermen face-to-face.
The MEP challenged the Fisheries Committee members to get out and "speak to the people" for themselves to better understand the state of the fishing industry.
The question silenced the room, as the Brexit Party MEP went on to outline how British waters had been left “without any fish” because of EU rules.
Figures for October this year, the most recent month for which statistics are available, show that the export value of farmed products of all types totalled 3.1 billion kroner (ISK) or GBP 19.6 million.
While the figures are still a long way short of the total that rivals Norway and Scotland sell overseas in an average month – and are likely to remain so – they show the country is moving up the fish farming league at an impressive rate.
Aquaculture exports were just a fraction of that figure five or six years ago.
If the current trend continues for the final two months of 2019, Iceland’s aquaculture exports are expected to reel in more than ISK 24 billion – or around GBP 152 million.
The value of catch from Icelandic fishing vessels in September was 12.4 billion ISK, 13.6% more than in September last year. Demersal catch value increased by 26.5% and the total value was 8.2 billion ISK. All major demersal species increased in value compared to September last year, cod by 23.6%, haddock by 37% and saithe by 35.4%. Value of pelagic catch was 5.8% less than in September 2018, or about 3.4 billion ISK whereas it was nearly 3.6 billion in 2018. The dominant pelagic species was herring, with value of 2.2 billion ISK. Value of flatfish was 5.1% more than in September 2018 or 590 million ISK.
Total value of catch in the 12 month period from October 2018 to September 2019 was 144.2 million ISK which is a 15.4% increase compared with the same period a year earlier.
Fish production increased in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal, and came down in states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu during 2018-19.
In a written reply to Shobha Karandlaje, Member of Parliament from Udupi-Chikmagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, said fish production in the country increased from 10.26 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 13.34 million tonnes in 2018-19. The production stood at 12.59 mt and 11.43 mt in 2017-18 and 2016-17, respectively.
Andhra Pradesh topped the list in fish production with 3.99 mt (2018-19), 3.44 mt (2017-18), and 2.76 mt (2016-17). This was followed by West Bengal at 1.77 mt , 1.74 mt and 1.7 mtduring 2018-19, 2017-18 and 2016-17, respectively.
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