24 Mar 2016
What a drag: The Global Impact of Bottom Trawling
Recent scientific work outlines the severe consequences the practice of bottom trawling has on loose sediment on the ocean floor. Bottom trawling is a widespread industrial fishing practice that involves dragging heavy nets, large metal doors and chains over the seafloor to catch fish. Although previous studies documented the direct impacts of bottom trawling on […]
04 Jan 2016
Discards ban comes into force for demersal fisheries – Defra
Defra: ‘New rules from 1 January mean fishermen targeting certain demersal species such as haddock, sole and plaice must land all their catch. Fishermen targeting certain demersal species such as haddock, sole and plaice must land all their catch, Fisheries Minister George Eustice has announced. The demersal discard ban taking effect 1 January is the […]
14 Dec 2015
Moves to Low Impact Fishing Could Benefit Coastal Economy – report
MCS: Placing proportionate limits on bottom-towed fishing could help boost long-term jobs in fragile rural communities, as well as protect the environment, contend a coalition of Scottish charities. The Scottish Government is due to announce measures for managing fishing in several Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) later this month. Scottish Environment LINK’s Marine Taskforce has written […]
07 Dec 2015
IoW Fisherman receives another fine just 24 hours after appearing in court for a similar offence
At the Portsmouth Magistrates Court, on Tuesday 1st December 2015, Paul Lambert, 40, of East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £4300 for retaining whelks below the minimum legal size on board his fishing vessel Katie P176, contrary to European Fisheries Technical Conservation Measures […]
16 Nov 2015
Rogue Fisherman sent to prison for safety and food hygiene offences
The owner/skipper of a fishing vessel, who pleaded guilty to not showing navigation lights, employing crew who’d not completed safety training and to using it while it was unregistered, has been sent to prison. At a hearing (10th November) at Southampton Crown Court, the owner/skipper Michael Roy Stimson received a custodial sentence totalling four months. He […]
04 Sep 2015
Fishing down the food chain re-visited – Science Article
You need not look far to find the world’s “super predator,” a term used by UVic scientists to describe how human dominance has bred an unrelenting predacious global culture that threatens nature’s balance. Research published in the 21 August 2015 edition of the journal Science by a team led by Dr. Chris Darimont, the Hakai-Raincoast […]
30 Jul 2015