09 Apr 2024

Climate change is causing persistent, widespread, and significant impacts on marine ecosystems which are predicted to interact and intensify. Overfishing and associated habitat degradation have put many fish populations and marine ecosystems at risk and is making the ocean more vulnerable to climate change and less capable of buffering against its effects. In this paper […]

12 Mar 2024

The Danish fishing industry has raised concerns over the UK’s decision to close sandeel fishing in its waters, particularly in the Dogger Bank region. England and Scotland announced a prohibition on commercial sandeel fishing in UK waters of the North Sea (Area 4) from 2024, a move conservationists say will be a “game changer” for […]

27 Feb 2024

On behalf of Defra, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) are administrating the final round of the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS). Projects developing England’s catching, processing and aquaculture sectors, and those enhancing the marine environment can now apply to access the FaSS pot of £6 million match funding. The funding is available for both new […]

27 Feb 2024

English fishers impacted by the recent closure of the UK pollack fisheries will now be eligible for fast tracked financial grants through the re-opened £6m Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS). Following EU fishery negotiations, the UK government set the pollack Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for 2024 to zero following concerns about the population stocks, permitting […]

17 Jan 2024

The Environment Agency has announced that £730,000 has been made available to support local projects to protect and enhance fishing in local communities through the Fisheries Improvement Programme (FIP). 2024 will be the 10th year of the Fisheries Improvement Programme, investing in English rivers by funding projects to protect and improve fish stocks and habitats, […]

09 Jan 2024

Every year, around 70,000 turtles and 200,000 seabirds die as a result of being caught as bycatch in EU fishing fleets.   Bycatch is when other marine species are unintentionally trapped by commercial fishing gear. This can account for up to 40% of total fishing catches, globally reaching as much as 38 million tonnes discarded per […]

09 Jan 2024

A species of ray, so rare it has only ever been recorded once back in the late 1800s, has been declared extinct. The loss of the Java Stingaree, a small relative of stingrays, is the first marine fish extinction as a result of human activity. The Java Stingaree (Urolophus javanicus) was known only from a […]

09 Jan 2024

The article was originally published by Jennifer Raynor, Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Humans are racing to harness the ocean’s vast potential to power global economic growth. Worldwide, ocean-based industries such as fishing, shipping and energy production generate at least US$1.5 trillion in economic activity each year and support 31 million jobs. This value […]