15 Oct 2024

Five new draft Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of UK fish stocks have opened for public consultation. The plans, developed with input from the fishing industry, focus on specific species and regions, including North Sea and Channel sprat, cockle, queen scallop, Southern North Sea skates and rays, and non-quota species. […]

15 Oct 2024

Over the past seven years, a collaborative project supported by the Marine Stewardship Council called Project UK to improve UK fisheries has been summarised in a recent report. The report describes Project UK as “the overarching banner under which many stakeholders deliver fishery improvement work through robust Fishery Improvement Plans (FIPs) … through collaboration, the […]

01 Oct 2024

A group of leading ocean experts say the prevailing definition of ‘sustainable fishing’ is dangerously flawed and have set out 11 ‘golden rules’ to redefine sustainable fishing. In a paper published in Ocean Sustainability, researchers have called on companies, governments, and legislators to implement these actions to end the ongoing destruction of oceans caused by […]

17 Sep 2024

A trial on electrofishing for razor clams, launched in February 2018, is delivering promising results as it continues through January 2025. Led by the Science, Evidence, Data and Digital portfolio of the Marine Directorate, the trial aims to gather local level data on razor clam populations, assess sustainable harvesting methods, and evaluate the impact of […]

17 Sep 2024

On the 13th September, the European Commission proposed a revision of the EU tools designed to address unsustainable fishing practices by non-EU countries on fish stocks of common interest. The announcement stated the revision will “make the current tools more effective and reinforce the good governance and sustainability of our ocean”. The Commission’s proposal is […]

10 Sep 2024

The EU Court of Justice has ruled that key information on how EU fisheries rules are implemented by Member States can remain confidential.  This ruling is the last stage of a case ClientEarth brought against the Commission for refusing to grant the NGO access to audit reports detailing failures by France and Denmark to control illegal fishing – […]

10 Sep 2024

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is encouraging sea anglers and commercial fishers to share their views on the future management of wrasses, black seabream and gilthead bream.  Credit: MMO Potential Management Measures  MMO is leading development of new Fisheries Management Plans (FMP) for the species in English waters.  It has launched a short online survey […]

27 Aug 2024

Conservation and animal protection groups have sued U.S. federal agencies in the U.S. Court of International Trade for failing to enforce import provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). Ban seafood imports The provisions aim to protect marine mammals from bycatch in foreign fishing gear by holding countries exporting seafood to the U.S. to […]