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Sky News
27-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Boom or bust for fishing industry as octopuses swarm in UK waters?
Regulators are due to meet fishing industry representatives on Wednesday as the sector grapples with an "explosion" of octopus in British waters. Fishers along England's southwest coast have noticed a boom in the numbers and size of common octopus in the last few months. "As of February this year, there was just a massive explosion in the population of octopus," said Alan Steer, a crab fisher based in Devon. "We went from catching nothing to catching 1,000 kilograms a day," with each cephalopod weighing between 2.5-3.5kg, he told Sky News. The octopus is a valuable catch, fetching more at the fish market than the crab that many local fleets are designed to fish for. And it's just as well, because the eight-limbed creatures are also devouring local crab and lobster species, leaving some fishers empty-handed. "Since the octopus have turned up now, we are seeing massive devastation to the crab and lobster and scallop stocks in the pots," he said, with just empty crab and lobster shells rattling around inside. He reckons his crab and lobster catches are down by about 70%. More research needed The common octopus has long been present in British waters, but scientists say more research is needed to understand the causes of the recent bloom. It could be due to warmer waters or that there are fewer predators like tuna, cod, and sharks. The octopus can creep in and out of the pots through small openings designed to allow small crabs and lobsters to escape, a conservation measure to maintain the populations. But the boon for those cashing in on the octopus may be short-lived. Previous "blooms" of octopus, recorded in 1899, 1950 and 2022, saw the animals stick around for a season or two, before disappearing in cold winters. It can then take crab and lobster stocks three or four years to recover, Mr Steer told Sky News. "It's good at the minute... but our real concern is this is another cycle that we've seen in the past and they will disappear along with any crab fishery that was already there." In the meantime, the conservation body that enforces the escape hatch rule has come with a workaround. The Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) said the escape holes can be closed off if fishers were trying to catch octopus only, in which case they'd have to throw any other catch back into the sea. Sarah Clark, its deputy chief officer, told Sky News the influx was a "concern". She said: "We're going to be trying to gather as much information about octopus and what we do in the next coming months, years, if the octopus fishery remains within the South West. And that's obviously a big 'if', because we don't know if the octopus will be here again next year." On Wednesday, they will meet government regulator the Marine Management Organisation and the fishing industry, to find out what support fishers need. A series of meetings are focussing on collecting data, the impact on other species and how to determine whether the octopus are here to stay. Dr Zoe Jacobs, from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), said the recent "marine heatwave", which has seen water temperatures 2.3C higher than average, might be behind the reported early sightings of barrel jellyfish, increased numbers of seabass and pods of dolphins spotted in shallow inshore regions.
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Invading hoard of octopuses from the Mediterranean devour shellfish caught by British fishing crews - leaving shortages at restaurants
An invading horde of hungry octopuses from the Mediterranean is decimating crab fisheries in British waters. Shellfish wholesalers say the huge influx has resulted in swingeing cuts to restaurant orders, leaving chefs scrambling to keep their kitchens stocked. The canny octopuses, thought to have been lured north in their thousands by unusually warm UK waters, have learned to raid fishermen's pots through a small 'escape hatch' – designed to allow juvenile crabs and lobsters to crawl free. And while they will dine on all shellfish, crab is considered their favourite prey. The owner of one Devon boat, Brian Tapper, of Plymouth, said: 'The octopuses are ruining us. They're coming in the side hatch – it's like McDonald's for them. They are just sitting in there until they're full. They'll go through 50 pots eating lobsters, crabs and even scallops. By the time we come along, there's nothing left.' Barry Young, of Brixham Trawler Agents, said the octopuses were 'decimating the crab fishery', although boats targeting them were enjoying a bonanza, with more than 27,000kg of the cephalopods landed at Brixham on a single morning last week. 'We'd normally be lucky to get 500 kilos,' said Mr Young. 'Long-term, it will be a massive problem for restaurateurs who are trying to source shellfish.' He added that the last time Brixham saw octopus catches on a similar scale was more than 70 years ago, when spring sea temperatures were also high. The current 'marine heatwave' has meant southern UK waters are around 2.5C higher than normal. At The Winking Prawn restaurant in Salcombe, manager Andrew Hartle said his Brixham crab order had been cut by a quarter. He added: 'We're lucky because we also work directly with three or four Salcombe boats and can ring around to get what we need. But it's clear that crab is in very short supply. 'Restaurants with a single supplier are going to have problems.' Pot escape hatches are mandatory under a by-law imposed by the Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (D&SIFCA). It will consider next month whether permit rules can be eased. In a statement, the authority said it was aware of 'significant difficulties being experienced by the fishing industry… in respect of predation by octopus'. It added: 'Fishers are reporting that the entry and exit to pots may be through escape gaps fitted in pots. D&SIFCA is aware that this is having an impact on fishers' catches of shellfish and their livelihoods.'
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
EU and UK both gave and got on reset deal
Fish can get pretty political. A deal on fishing waters was one of the last things to be sorted out during the original Brexit negotiations, and may prove to be the most contentious aspect of the 'reset' agreement struck this week. [ Explainer: what is Keir Starmer's Brexit reset deal? Opens in new window ] 'We always get somewhat concerned when fisheries becomes political,' says Kenn Skau Fischer, head of the industry body representing Danish fishermen. EU boats will be allowed to fish in British waters for an additional 12 years, until at least mid-2038, under the terms of the new deal agreed between the UK and European Union. The reset smooths some of the rougher edges left after Britain's exit five years ago. A shorter-term deal negotiated during Britain's departure, maintaining fishing access for EU vessels, was due to expire next year. At that point an annual haggling over access and quotas would have begun. READ MORE EU fishermen were 'positively surprised' when they heard the details of the new arrangement, Skau Fischer says. Nearly half of the 550 Danish vessels his organisation represents catch fish in UK waters. 'We like to know we have stability, we have been concerned about what would happen,' he says. In the early stages of recent negotiations a four-year extension of EU access to fish in British waters was on the table, according to one EU official briefed on the talks. There was a suggestion to link fisheries directly to a similar time-limited deal on energy supply, or an agreement to remove border checks on agri-food products, two things the UK negotiators were keen on. Ultimately the fisheries issue was kept separate, with an offer to extend EU boats' access to British waters for 10 years later being pushed to 12 years. The French government made a big fuss about getting decent terms on fishing rights. 'France played hard ball on fish,' the EU official said. The EU side were very happy with the result, particularly Ireland and other states with fishing industries. '12 years was really good,' the official said. Reflecting on the deal, both sides can feel they got and they gave on different fronts. The UK will in effect be allowed back into the EU's single market when it comes to electricity supply. The European Commission , the EU's executive, which led the negotiations, was not thrilled about this initially. 'It's the definition of cherry picking,' the official said, a reference to the EU's previous absolute red line, that the UK could not be allowed to enjoy the benefits of union membership from outside the bloc. 'Back in 2020 that wouldn't have happened.' The fact Ursula von der Leyen 's commission was flexible here signals a significant shift from a stiffer approach during the early Brexit years. 'There was an acceptance that both sides had to gain from this, in order to have a sustainable relationship,' the EU official said. Politically UK prime minister Keir Starmer was going to be under much more pressure to sell the deal back home. Predictably, the Labour leader faced criticism from right-wing Brexiteers, who accused him of selling out UK fishermen and 'surrendering' to the EU. One of the big winners was Northern Ireland. A veterinary deal will remove a lot of the checks on agricultural, food and animal products sold from the UK to the EU, and from Britain to Northern Ireland. The finer details still have to be worked out, but it will certainly be beneficial to British producers and businesses, who had been buried by red tape when selling into the EU. In the talks UK negotiators stressed that such a deal would also benefit EU agri-producers selling into Britain. The reset deal does not restore many freedoms that were lost after Brexit, says Gavin Quinney, who moved from London to Bordeaux to open a French vineyard in 1999. Extra customs charges and paperwork has made selling to the UK harder, but still manageable for bigger suppliers. 'It sort of wiped out the little guy,' he says. The 'emotional impact' of Britain cutting itself off from the rest of Europe was much worse than any of the annoying bureaucratic hurdles thrown up in the aftermath, he says. Future British generations will hopefully reverse the decision, Quinney says, as he believes younger people won't want to be 'trapped' on an island. 'It was such a regressive step that eventually it will be put right,' he says. Ireland's EU commissioner Michael McGrath described the deal as a 'very positive development' that had followed some 'difficult' years. 'We are now nine years on from the Brexit vote and the tortuous negotiations for many years following that,' he told The Irish Times. 'There is much more work to be done on the detail of some of what was set out.' Commission officials and their UK counterparts will get going on all that now.
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
‘No downside' for fishing industry in EU deal, insists Environment Secretary
Environment Secretary Steve Reed has claimed there is 'no downside' for the fishing industry in the UK-EU trade deal. The wide-ranging deal will allow farmers to get swifter, easier access to trade on the continent as a result of an agreement on animal and plant product standards. But the Government has also received swift condemnation for agreeing to grant European fishing trawlers a further 12 years of access to British waters. Speaking to the Environment Committee on Tuesday, Mr Reed described the deal as a 'huge boost for the UK agri-food and food and drink sectors'. But he was quickly forced to defend the agreement as MPs quizzed him about the concerns and anger from fishing sector leaders, who have described it as a 'horror show' and a 'betrayal'. Mr Reed said: 'I think this is a reasonably good deal for the UK fishing sector. 'Compared to what some of the speculation was, and indeed some of the pressures on our negotiating team, the EU was interested in more quota, more access to (UK) territorial waters. 'They were looking for a deal on fishing in perpetuity, and they were trying to achieve that by making what I felt was a spurious link between fishing and an SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) deal.' The Environment secretary said the UK's negotiating team 'held strong', resulting in an agreement that has seen 'no loss at all' in terms of quota and access to territorial waters. He argued that instead the sector will benefit as exporting British produce across the border becomes 'much easier, simpler, much less costly'. He added: 'There is no downside to this for fishers. There's a big upside in what they can export.' However, the Environment Secretary was challenged about making 'no progress' on major asks from the UK fishing sector. These included exclusive access to certain waters, regulatory autonomy relating to the management of fisheries and improving collaboration over the equitable and sustainable management of non-quota species. Continuing to defend the deal, Mr Reed said: 'This was a negotiation so we of course pushed for more, but it's a negotiation. 'I have to say I would've liked if we got more for them. We did push hard,' he said, adding that he engaged with industry bodies, ensuring their position was fed through during talks. Mr Reed went on to argue the UK retained regulatory autonomy with no return to the EU's common fishing policy as well its position on sand eels. 'This is a good deal standing on its own for fish but if you look at the wider impact on the economy, it's a huge boost,' he said. The Environment Secretary also denied claims fisheries were 'traded off' for other areas in the negotiations after Environment Committee chairman Alistair Carmichael suggested the Government had invited that compromise by allowing them to be part of these negotiations. 'I do want to really emphasise this point, because you said fishing was 'traded out' in this deal,' Mr Reed said. 'It wasn't. They've lost absolutely nothing and they've gained things, particularly (market) access that they did not have before,' he said.
Sky News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Politics latest: Minister claims UK-EU deal could add £90bn to British economy; Tories drop to fourth place according to poll
The prime minister has said his new deal with the European Union means "Britain is back on the world stage", but the Conservatives and Reform have criticised the agreement which extends EU fishing rights in British waters.
