The decision by the Isle of Man government to close three fishing sites in its waters by banning bottom trawling has raised concerns across the Irish Sea. The closed areas are located within the Western Irish Sea Mud-belt, a vital habitat for various marine species, notably langoustines. Despite decades of extensive trawling, the area is […]
A new byelaw protecting an area of almost 4000 square km of seas from damaging fishing activity is now in force in English waters. The byelaw prohibits the use of bottom towed gear in specific areas within 13 English offshore MPAs that contain valuable reef and rocky habitats. The implementation of the byelaw comes days […]
The UK’s marine protected areas (MPAs) were exposed to over 33,000 hours of suspected bottom trawling in 2023, according to new analysis from Oceana UK. The environment group used analysis of satellite data from Global Fishing Watch to show that over 100,000 hours of apparent industrial fishing took place within the UK’s offshore MPAs in 2023 […]
Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D, has launched a public consultation on fishing with trawls inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines and is seeking the public’s opinion on the matter. Minister McConalogue said: “Five years ago, in December 2018, a transition to a ban on vessels over […]
A new study has revealed how much carbon bottom trawling releases into the atmosphere. Much of the damage done by dragging across the bottom of the sea to catch fish has been known for many years. However, new research shows that it is also an unaccounted source of carbon emissions that is “too big to […]
A report published by the Marine Conservation Society has calculated the cost-benefit of banning bottom-contact fishing from the UK’s offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) designated to protect seabed features. The analysis shows that initially, costs outweigh the economic gains of banning bottom-contact fishing gear. Costs include the loss of earnings by fishers, and the setting […]
An underwater robotic sorting device which helps fishing trawlers prevent bycatch by identifying and sizing fish and other marine life in real-time is being developed by researchers from Heriot-Watt University in partnership with Fisheries Innovation & Sustainability (FIS) and funded by the UK Seafood Innovation Fund. Smartrawl uses AI-technology to determine the individual […]
Large trawlers fishing in English waters will soon have to install cameras that will monitor their catch, the Government has said. Known as remote electronic monitoring (REM), the cameras, along with gear sensors and GPS trackers, will collect data on the size of catches as well as types of species caught and will be introduced in stages over the […]