Managing fisheries in Marine Protected Areas – Management to meet Article 6 of the Habitats Directive   Defra / MMO  ‘To bring fisheries in line with other activities, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced on the 14 August 2012 a revised approach to managing fishing activities within European marine sites (EMS). […]

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This important report extends and tests the idea of societal choice by providing an economic analysis of fishing activities and the coastal economy.  Marine Scotland – Executive summary   ‘It is generally accepted that fish stocks in Scottish waters are a national resource [1] and should be managed on behalf of all stakeholders. Despite the inherent […]

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Sardines, anchovies and mackerels play a crucial role in marine ecosystems, as well as having a high commercial value. However, the warming of waters makes them vanish from their usual seas and migrate north, as confirmed by a pioneering study analysing 57,000 fish censuses from 40 years. The researchers warn that coastal towns dependent on […]

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In NEFs working paper on bass we recommend seven key steps to recovery: http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/entry/seven-key-steps-to-bass-stock-recovery Chris Williams  NEF ‘Before Christmas I wrote about the need for urgent action to protect dwindling numbers of bass in European seas. Some good news came last week – the European Commission has agreed Emergency Measures to prevent a total collapse […]

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Defra: ‘A consultation to prepare for the demersal discard ban in January 2016 has now launched. Ensuring our fishermen can financially benefit from the second phase of the discard ban, which will end the wasteful practice that sees good fish thrown overboard, is the subject of a consultation launched today by Fisheries Minister George Eustice. […]

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This significant step has been widely welcomed among the angling community; time will tell how the French fishermen react. European Commission  26/01/2015  ‘The European Commission has announced measures to avert the collapse of the declining sea bass stock. Immediately effective measures will place a ban on targeting the fish stock by trawling while it is […]

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An issue of electric pulse trawling was raised by Jason Hall-Spencer and caused considerable debate at the Coastal Futures conference. If you have any insights, links or particular knowledge of this fishery and recent European decisions could you please send them to me ASAP  bob.earll@coastms.co.uk An SEA? Clearly research has been done to prove the […]

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This paper looks at the detailed relationship between trawling, fish and invertebrate populations in the Irish Sea ‘The effects of bottom trawling on benthic invertebrates include reductions of biomass, diversity and body size. These changes may negatively affect prey availability for demersal fishes, potentially leading to reduced food intake, body condition and yield of fishes […]

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