AN INDEPENDENT VIEW FROM THE FISH20 - 21 December 2005

Deep-sea fi sh horror: thousands left to rot in netsBy Annie Whiting

anniewhiting@econofi sh.com

THOUSANDS of tonnes of monkfi sh and deep-sea sharks are being left for days and sometimes even months in gillnets set in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, only to be thrown away rotten when fi shing vessels return to collect their catch.

Human fishers are leaving thousands of kilometres of gillnets in various areas on the continental shelf for a very long time. Sixty-five per cent of the monkfish caught this way must be thrown away because they are unfit for human consumption. The same is happening to deepwater sharks.

“Our deep-sea communities are outraged and live in fear of this negligent practice,” said Benedict Monkfi sh, an outspoken critic of intense human fi shing efforts. He said deep-sea, slow-growing species are “already vulnerable” to these efforts, and “cannot afford” such high levels of mortality.

Scientists estimate that some deep-sea shark populations in the Northeast Atlantic have already declined to just 20% of their original levels since gillnet fi shing for these species began some ten years ago. A long-term population recovery strategy is essential for these species, which only reach breeding age after 20 years and whose females only produce 15- 30 pups every second year. The only solution for recovery is to close this fi shery.

The shocking revelation of the sheer scale of fi sh being wasted comes from DEEPNET, a report

published recently by the Homo

sapiens species. It investigates a fl eet of deep-sea gillnet vessels mainly targeting monkfish (Lophiidae) and deep-sea sharks (Centroscymnus coelolepis and Centrophorus spp.) at depths of 200-1,200m. These fisheries operate from the UK, Ireland and Scotland to Norway, on the Porcupine, Hatton, and Rockall Banks and between the Shetland and Faroe Islands.

Each vessel sets up to 250km of fi shing gear at a time, which is left unattended for 4-10 days before being hauled in. In some cases, the nets are being left for much longer. The report “conservatively estimates” that a total of 5,800-8,700km of nets are in constant use.

The long soak t ime i s responsible for the high proportion of the catch being unfi t for human consumption. On average, 65% of monkfi sh must be discarded after being left for dead in the nets for this long, according to data from a Norwegian Coastguard inspection of one vessel.

A subsequent investigation found seven tonnes of deep-sea sharks in 200 nautical miles of active nets, of which 60% was rotten. The vessel that had set the nets had not been on the fi shing grounds for at least 2 weeks.

“The appalling squandering of monkfi sh and deep-sea sharks is completely unacceptable,” said Piscos Ices, a scientist working for the regulatory body providing advice to human governments

Rotten monkfi sh and deep-sea crabs from a net left for four months at Rockall Bank.

that manage human interests in the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas.

“ T h e s e f i s h e r i e s a r e poorly understood and poorly documented, with very little, if any, management,” he added. “We are recommending a zero catch for deep-sea sharks.”

G l o b a l c o n s e r v a t i o n o r g a n i s a t i o n W W F t o l d Fish Voice that such tragedies will continue unless humans c lose a l l the i r deep -sea fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. WWF is calling on the EU Fisheries Council meeting this week to take this big step until scientists have data showing that such stocks can sustain fishing

pressure.

Spec

ial E

uro

pea

n e

dit

ion CFP legacy

How have fi sh and other creatures fared under the EU’s fi sheries policy?

Special Report – Page 3

Europa

Sealed fates?The fate of many eurofi sh in the

Northeast Atlantic Ocean will

be determined this week, as

the human EU Fisheries Council

meets to determine quotas for

Homo sapiens fi shing fl eets in 2006. Page 2

Com-plaice-ency80% of plaice caught in the

North Sea, almost all juveniles,

are discarded and left for dead

due to wasteful practises in the

North Sea. Page 2

Buyer powerThe vast majority of human

seafood indulgers, retailers,

and restaurateurs in Europe are

concerned by their impact on the

marine environment. Page 2

Trends

Endangered soupA Guinness World Record for The

Most Expensive Bowl of Soup

Commercially Available has been

awarded to a bowl of shark fi n

soup. Will humans strive to beat

this record and will this spur even

more deaths of sharks and other

beleaguered creatures?Page 4

STOP WASTEFUL FISHINGMake your voice heard - take action @ http://www.panda.org/passport/fi sheries

© Nils-Roar Hareide

Slaughter to continueNo respite in sight for Mediterranean bluefi n tuna or traditional fi shers

Page 2

News

Survey

Fish Voice

Editorial - Page 3

2

By Paulo Pescadopaulopescado@econofi sh.com

LAST month bluefi n tuna were denied a much-needed summer respite. Humans from the US, Japan, Norway, Iceland and Mexico tried to introduce proposals to substantially reduce fi shing pressure on already dwindling Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks by closing the industrial purse seine fishery during July and August.

H o w e v e r , t o t h e dismay of fi sh right groups, environmental organizations, and traditional fi shers, the EU and Libya rejected these measures at the 19th annual meeting of the International C o m m i s s i o n f o r t h e Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Seville, Spain.

Tuna rights groups teamed up with traditional tuna fishers to condemn this failure of a human fi sheries management body to take action to save the Mediterranean bluefi n tuna from extinction.

“ We w e r e g i v e n hope that at least some humans were taking fish management seriously, but unfortunately not enough of them to make a difference,” said Rosy Shark, a tuna expert. “We feel betrayed that politicians on our own

The EU and Libya allow continued

bluefi n slaughter in the Mediterranean

Hundreds of traditional tuna fi shers joined conservation group WWF in a demonstration outside the ICCAT meeting in Seville, Spain

NewsINDEXNews 2

Analysis 3

Editorial 3

Entre Fish 4

THE WEEK AHEAD20 December: EU Fisheries

Council meeting starts in

Brussels, Belgium. On the

agenda: setting of Total

Allowable Catches for fi sh

populations in EU waters

and for European vessels in

other waters where catch

limitations are required.

Late night haggling,

sea-horse trading, and

political ducking and diving

expected. Will Fisheries

Ministers fi nally take the

plunge and give our survival

a chance?

21 December: Fish will

fi nd out their fate...

fi shstep do not even want to protect our survival.”

The proposed measure could have cut human tuna catches by 30% and helped protect spawning females, she said. “The failure of ICCAT to adopt it could well mean the disappearance of one of the oldest and most important fi sheries in the world”.

T h e f i s h - f r i e n d l y conservation organization WWF has recognized that the Mediterranean bluefi n tuna fi shery suffers from massive overfi shing, m a n a g e m e n t a b u s e s , and the catch of illegal and undersize tuna. The organization estimates that 45,000- 50,000 tonnes of bluefin tuna were caught in 2004, greatly exceeding the 32,000 tonne quota allocated by ICCAT.

“Current leve ls of fi shing are 2.5 times higher than the bluefin tuna populations can sustain,” said Charlotte Mogensen, Fisheries Policy Offi cer at WWF’s European Policy Office. She said ICCAT’s failure to extend the closing of the fi shing season means “a new massacre” next year in Mediterranean waters.

Strangely, humans are even putting thousands of their own species at risk. Bluefi n tuna provide employment and income

for traditional tuna trap f ishers , net and boat builders, processors, and sellers of tuna products in coastal communities of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula and north Africa.

In the tuna trap sector, bluefi n tuna catches have dropped 80% over the last 5 years. These traps are a selective, fi xed, and traditional type of fi shing gear that maintain around

500 jobs in Spain and another 800 in Morocco.

“Tuna trap fi shers want sustainability,” said Martina Spadara, of the tuna trap producers organisation. She said the industrial fl eet is systematically violating conservation measures, and will destroy in just a few years a fi shery that is 3,000 years old.

One reason behind the escalating bluefi n slaughter is the relatively new practice of tuna farming: fattening of

wild tuna in cages mainly for the Japanese sushi market. This has expanded the market for the tuna, leading to a further increase in fi shing effort. Worse, the practise falls outside ICCAT regulation, resulting in an unregulated growth of tuna farming.

H u m a n s a r e e v e n r e s o r t i n g t o i l l e g a l measures, such as using spotting airplanes to search for tuna outside of the fi shing season.

Fisheries management

By Poirot Poissonpoirotpoisson@econofi sh.com

FISH rights groups have expressed outrage over human fishing practices that see half of the plaice caught in the North Sea thrown away dead. Worse, they say, is that the vast majority of plaice caught by humans have never even had the chance to spawn.

This needless loss of life is often the result of mistaken identity. Plaice are caught a longs ide sole in mixed fisheries. But while the minimum landing size for plaice in European waters is 27cm, the minimum landing size for sole is only 24cm.

The use of smaller net meshes to catch sole results in up to 80% of the co-caught plaice being pointlessly caught and then discarded, either because they are too small or in favour of the more profi table sole.

This fi shocide affected around 175 million fi sh in 2002 alone (about 70,000 tonnes) and accounted for half of the total plaice catch. Once discarded, these innocent fish have little chance of survival.

They also never had the chance to replenish the popu la tion before being caught: female plaice don’t spawn until they are 31cm long.

“Humans es t imate plaice spawning stocks to be near the lowest level observed in their history,” said Peter Plaice from welfare group Fry for the Future. “Small wonder when they are taking all the youngsters.”

He pointed out that such fi shing methods are “clearly not sustainable” and that these “two-legged predators” face losing an “important fishery” if they don’t improve their management practices.

Some humans do see the folly in this. Conservation group WWF believes the fi shery should not continue unless discards are reduced, and is urging the EU Fisheries Council meeting this week to develop a long-term management plan for plaice and sole in the North Sea. Key demands include a reduction in fi shing time of 30% and an increased minimum landing size and mesh size to reduce bycatch and discards.

No plaice to hide

Growing appetite for sustainable seafoodBy Martin Marlinmartinmarlin@econofi sh.com

THE VAST majority of human seafood indulgers, r e t a i l e r s , c h e f s , a n d restaurateurs in Europe are concerned by the environmental impact of seafood.

A new study commis-sioned by the Seafood Choices Alliance, a non-profi t trade association for people, shows that 79% of those surveyed think the environmental impact of seafood is an important fac tor in purchas ing decisions. For indulgers, it is even more important than price.

The study also found an emerging act ivism for protecting the ocean through the choices seafood b u y e r s m a k e . F o r t y -four percent of seafood

professionals and 30% of indulgers indicated they have previously made a decision to not buy seafood that harms the ocean.

H u m a n a w a r e n e s s of specific threats to the ocean is high, with 71% of seafood professionals aware of overfishing and more than half of indulgers conscious of environmental concerns such as bycatch and overfi shing.

“Humans clearly do care about the marine env i ronment and the consequences of their actions,” said Angel Fish, Professor of Humanoid Behaviour at the Piscatorial University.

“Unfortunately the short-sightedness and greed of just a few has nearly destroyed things for everyone, human and fi sh alike.”

EUROPEAN Fisheries

Ministers are meeting

this week in Brussels,

Belgium, to decide on

fishing quotas for EU

fi shing fl eets in 2006.

The human ministers

will establish Total

A l l o w a b l e C a t c h e s

(TACs) per species per

area. Their decisions will

be based on a proposal

p r e s e n t e d b y t h e

European Commission,

the human equivalent in

Europe of the Piscatorial

Commission.

T h e o u t c o m e o f

the meeting is vitally

important for almost all

marine species living in

areas where EU vessels

operate.

“Humans eat fi sh, we

accept that,” said Henry

Halibut from the fish

activist group Save Our

Scales.

People meet to decide new fi shing quotas

“But they are threatening

our very existence by

killing far more of us

than they need, including

young females that have

never even had the

chance to breed.”

Many other forms

of marine life are also

“at severe risk” he said,

including corals, starfi sh,

seabirds, dolphins, and

marine turtles which are

caught in nets and then

dumped dead or dying

back into the ocean.

However, i f past

decisions are anything

to go by, the human

pressures facing many

of these species are not

likely to be relieved.

“With tragic regularity,

EU Fisheries Ministers

have repeatedly ignored

scientific advice,” said

Halibut.

Public awareness Human politics

20 - 21 DECEMBER 2005

WEEK

Fish Voice

CFP legacy: swimmers and sinkers in EU watersWith EU Fisheries Ministers meeting once again to decide how many fi sh European humans will be allowed to catch, Raymond Ray profi les a few of the swimmers and sinkers under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

COD

Portrait-style drawing of a cod

Cod have supported Europe’s humans for over

a thousand years and played a key role in their

history. Millions of these magnifi cent fi sh once

thrived in the North Atlantic Ocean. But as

humans grew ever more effi cient at catching

fi sh, cod began a slow decline.

In 1970, when Europe’s humans introduced

the precursor to the CFP, cod stocks in the

North Sea, Irish Sea, and west of Scotland were

still large enough to be sustainable. However,

continued overfi shing has seen the number of

breeding fi sh fall below that needed to maintain

these stocks.

All are now at their lowest ever recorded

level. And this level is very low: as little as 20%

of that needed for stocks to be sustainable.

So how has the EU Fisheries Council

responded? Sadly, this can only be described

as “predictably”.

The International Council for the Exploration

of the Sea (ICES) has recommended a complete

ban on cod fi shing in the North Sea, Irish Sea, and

west of Scotland for the last four years.

EU Fisheries Ministers have consistently

ignored this advice and allowed fishing to

continue.

The ministers did fi nally introduce a long-

overdue recovery plan for North Sea cod in

2004, but many fear it is too little, too late. One

ongoing problem is that juvenile cod continue

to be caught, and discarded dead, in many other

fi sheries.

The sad thing is, each cod female only needs

to produce two surviving off spring in her entire

lifetime for the population to remain stable. Two

baby fi sh reaching adulthood is not very many,

but for the past 30 years humans have not even

allowed this.

The question is, will EU Fisheries Ministers

this year fi nally follow scientifi c advice and take

action to save Europe’s cod stocks from commercial

extinction? Or are they set to join their Canadian

cousins as SINKERS?

JELLYFISHRepresenting the peak of animal complexity 650

million years ago, jellyfi sh ruled the oceans for some

200 million years before the fi rst fi sh came along.

They could have their day again. Some

believe that as fi sh populations collapse from

overfishing, jellyf ish will move in to take

their place. This reversal in fortunes could be

further aided by other human alterations to

the oceans, such as eutrophication and warmer

temperatures due to climate change.

Jellyfi sh populations are already exploding

in some parts of the world. One prominent

human fi sheries scientist, Victor Vis from the

University of Medusa, has even predicted that

if overfi shing continues in the North Atlantic

Ocean, human fi shers could soon be chasing

jellyfi sh instead of fi sh.

While such a development could see

these creatures became SINKERS, in the

medium-term they could be one of the few

SWIMMERS.

FISHERSFishing is an important economic activity for

humans living in the EU. Although the EU fi shing

industry generally contributes to less than 1%

of gross national product, it employs around

260,000 fishers, often in areas where other

employment opportunities are limited.

The future of these people clearly depends

on the future of the fi sh. And if the status quo

continues, the future of the fi sh doesn’t look

that good.

It’s not just European fishers who are

aff ected, either. The EU has fi shing agreements

with some 15 developing countries in Africa, the

Indian Ocean, and the Pacifi c.

Some, if not all, of the agreements made prior

to 2003 contributed to overfi shing and represented

unfair competition to local fi shermen in these

countries. This put the livelihoods and food supply

of hundreds of thousands of people at risk.

A new framework for negotiating fairer fi shing

access agreements between the EU and other

countries was developed as part of the 2003 CFP

reform. However, many believe there is still room for

improvement. And without improvement, fi shers

could join the fi sh as SINKERS.NORTH SEA HERRINGLike cod, the North Sea herring fi sheries have

supported humans for centuries. Also like cod,

herring catches declined under heavy pressure

from human fi shers but in this case the stock

crashed completely in the mid 1970s.

In response, the fi shery was closed from

1978 to 1982. Stocks recovered, but declined

again 10 years later. However, thanks to further

action by EU Fisheries Ministers, the stocks once

again recovered and in 2004 were at the highest

level recorded for 40 years.

The situation is currently so good that one

North Sea herring fi shery looks set to receive

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certifi cation

as a sustainable fi shery.

ICES is warning that careful management is

still needed with low recruitment over the past

three years, but the herring have proved that good

management produces SWIMMERS.

PLAICE, SPURDOG, RAYS, SOUTHERN HAKE...North Sea herring may be a bright light, but

unfortunately cod are more representative of what

has happened to most fi sh stocks under the CFP.

The European Commission itself has warned

that the biomass of mature fi sh for many stocks

in EU waters is currently just 10% of the level

of the early 1970s. Two-thirds of the 60 main

commercial fi sh stocks in the Northeast Atlantic

are classifi ed as heavily overfi shed.

The situation is so bad that this year ICES is

recommending zero quotas for nine fi sheries,

including spurdog, Nephros, Southern hake, and

skates and rays.

ICES also considers many other stocks to be

very low, at risk of reduced reproductive capacity,

and/or being harvested unsustainably. The

council has recommended lower quotas for these

stocks, which include North Sea whiting and North

Sea plaice. Unless this advice is heeded, cod won’t

be the only SINKERS.

Portrait-style drawing of a one of these - maybe a shark, ray, or Nephros?

By Gadus Cloverus

It’s getting lonely out here in the

North Sea, where our species is close

to annihilation. Where vast armies of

Gadus morhua ranged over the great

underwater plains and canyons, there

are now just a few scattered platoons.

The great fecund granddaddy

and grandmother cod are gone. We

youngsters are lucky to breed before

we get trawled. There’s about 50,000

tonnes of us left (by humans’ rather

grisly way of describing it), out of

a population which probably once

weighed in at 4 million tonnes.

There’s a lot of haddock about,

though. It may be unkind to point this

out, but there are 450,000 tonnes of

our gadoid cousins, Melanogrammus

aeglefi nus, in the North Sea, more

than there has been for a generation.

Enough, you would have thought,

for humans to give us cod a break.

Except that most of them don’t

appear to know how to catch haddock

and not cod. Only some do.

Our friends at Marks and Spencer,

which gets all fi shes’ vote as top

retailer, have decided they don’t want

to catch us North Sea cod because we

are endangered. A clever fi sher has

designed a net which passes over our

heads while it scoops up haddocks

by the thousand. It’s based on the

simple fact that we swim down when

threatened and haddock swim up. The

nets still catch 5% cod, but it gives

the rest of us a break.

What we ask EU politicians is, if M&S

can fi x it, why can’t you?

Charles Clover’s The End of the Line:

how overfi shing is changing the world

and what we eat, is available on Amazon.

Cod be with you

Analysis20 - 21 DECEMBER 2005 3Fish Voice

Entre Fish Special European edition

Like fi sh citizens

everywhere, Entre Fish

is shocked by reports

that European humans

are catching young

female plaice that

have not yet reached

spawning size

(see page 2).

Even more shocking

is that despite

apparently knowing

that female plaice only

reach maturity once they

have reached a length

of 31cm, politicians

have established laws

allowing fi shers to catch

immature plaice only

27cm long.

In case the problem

stems from humans

simply forgetting in

which order numbers

run on a ruler, Entre

Fish has made a simple

diagram (right).

We hope that any

politicians reading this

will cut out the diagram

and keep it in their

pockets... and maybe even

refer to it from time to time.

They should

remember, however, that

this ruler is not to scale!

The shape of fi ns to come?A browse through the Guinness Book of Records, an encyclopedia of the amazing achievements of the human race, gives many opportunities to be thankful for being lower down the evolutionary scale. Awards are given for truly marvellous feats, such as smashing watermelons with the head, spitting dead crickets, and blowing spaghetti out of a nostril.

It would be a good giggle, if not for the fact that an award has recently been given to a bowl of shark fi n soup a dish whose popularity is causing tremendous cruelty to sharks and seriously threatening several species. On sale at a London restaurant, the dish has earned the title of Most Expensive Bowl of Soup Commercially Available.

Even more alarming is the human penchant for beating previous records. No doubt someone somewhere is trying to create an even more expensive soup, and in the process contributing to the extinction of one species or another.

Millions of sharks are finned worldwide each year.

What can be made of rumours that a seal is to head DG Pelagic Environment in the Piscatorial Commission? Surely there’s a confl ict of interest between looking after the upper waters of the oceans and a member of a species that habitually preys on fi sh living in these same waters?

Although no formal announcement has been made, one could argue that the Commission is trying to forestall any possible objections.

In a press conference last week, the Commission

admitted it was having diffi culty recruiting staff from several minority fi sh groups. It seems that from senior management through to administration, recruitment is well below the Commission’s stated goal of one species per directorate.

Apparently, applications from some species are not even being received. “It’s like they’ve disappeared completely,” said a Commission spokesfi sh.

The Commission also said that even when applications are being

received, most applicants are simply too young.

“In recent years we’ve lost most of the older, more experienced members of the diverse communities that make up the Piscatorial Union,” added the spokesfi sh.

With so many senior posts still vacant, we can only presume the Commission is considering further unusual appointments. Perhaps a seagull for DG Fish Culture? And a human for DG Fish Youth?

© WWF-Canon / Jürgen Freund

Spare a thought for

Anchellonia this holiday

season. A thriving

fi shtropolis a few years

ago, the city is now in

much need of investment.

“Chov” culture has

taken over this once

highly cultured and

prosperous society, which

is now occupied only by

the meanest of anchovy

youth.

One youth, “Cutter”,

who wishes to remain

anonymous, was brought

up as an orphan. As most

adults in the town had

already been killed, there

were no teachers to have a

school. Now he spends his

days with his small gang of

friends, looking for food

and trying to avoid being

caught.

Fish welfare groups

are trying to help these

disadvantaged youth, but

their existence is also

under threat.

“What we really need

is for predators to realise

that their total disregard

for fi sh not only impacts

the fully grown members

of the community but also

the children,” said one

concerned fi sh. “In the

end, whole villages, towns,

and cities are simply

destroyed.”

An Anchovy

Appeal will begin on 20

December.

Plaice image © Andrey V. Dolgov

Designed for human fi sheries ministers, a series of seminars will be run this December explaining basic concepts of marine biology.

Topics include:

• Only adult fi sh spawn• Net size matters• Different fi sh species swim together• Extinction is forever• Fish stocks can recover if adequate action

is taken

Marine biology workshop

Refresher for politicians

Contact the WWF European Policy Offi ce for further information36, Avenue de Tervuren - B12 • 1040 Brussels, Belgium

Telephone: +32 2 743 88 00 • Fax: +32 2 743 88 19www.panda.org/epo

4 20 - 21 DECEMBER 2005 Fish Voice

Stop eating our babies!

Editors: Claudia Delpero, Suzanne NatelsonProduction Editor: Justin Woolford

Writers: Emma Duncan, Charles CloverCartoonist: Vincent Dubois

© 1986 Panda symbol WWF World Wide Fund for Nature (Formerly World Wildlife Fund)® “WWF” & “living planet” are Registered Trademarks

Printed by: beëlzePub • Lakensestr. 82/84 rue de Laeken • 1000 Brussels.Fish Voice is printed on recycled paper

Sources:DEEPNET report: http://www.bim.ie/templates/text_content.asp?node_id=789ICCAT and bluefi n tuna: http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=50600Status of Northeast Atlantic fi sheries: http://www.ices.dk/Seafood Choices Alliance: http://www.seafoodchoices.com/Guinness World Record: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi le=/2005/11/18/nation/12630816&sec=nation

Press Centre • 36, Avenue de Tervuren - B12 • 1040 Brussels, Belgium • Telephone: +32 2 740 09 25 • Fax: +32 2 743 88 19

Fish Voice Promoting informed debate, transparency and sustainability in fi sh matters

Eurofi shy staffi ng deals

Anchovy ghost town appeal