Pity no EIA approach exists for fisheries – the ultimate disruptive business    

In Silicon Valley they call this the disruptive business model. Your change the world first, think Uber and Airbnb, then let the regulators play catch-up. The fishing industry have been doing this for years destroying the environment and species populations first and then leaving it to regulators to play catch-up. I wonder who will show the leadership to change this model for fisheries.

How about an EIA for every fishery deemed to be ‘new’ before it destroys the environment? The wrasse fishery is a perfect example (see ‘wrasse’ search Tag)– where the IFCAs at public expense – not the fishermen or highly profitable fish farming industry – are having to divert time and resources to this. Cost recovery should be high on the list of any new fisheries bill for exactly this sort of new fishery.

Electro-fishing in the North sea is another example of exactly this approach – the so-called ‘experiment’ now involves huge number of Dutch fishing boats as this BBC film illustrates.

What size does a mussel farm need to be for an EIA to be undertaken?

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