Latest news with #fishingindustry
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
‘It's an empty, lifeless sea': Overfishing blamed as whale-watching business closes in Cork
Whales have left Cork waters as sprat, their food source, is in short supply, a Cork-based businessman has said after abandoning tours of the waters. Colin Barnes, who ran a whale-watching boat tour company, has been put out of business after the departure of the cetaceans. Mr Barnes, who ran the company since 2001, said: 'There are only a few whales left - the water is overfished.' Previously, he worked in commercial fishing but gave that up when fishing stocks started to crash. 'It wasn't something I wanted to be a part of,' he said. READ MORE When he first started Cork Whale Watch, his was the only boat engaged in such tourism. 'People looked at me like I was mad,' he said. The business had been a 'raging success' but he says it can no longer offer 'world-class whale-watching'. He explained that the issue is that sprat, an important food source for larger fish, sea birds, seals, dolphins and whales, is being overfished by 'a few greedy morons on huge trawlers'. 'The issue has been going on for over 30 years.' Fishing for sprat was uncommon until the 1980s, he said, but it is now used to make pellets to feed farmed salmon or to add protein to animal feed. 'It's a very important fish, it feeds on plankton and fed the whole ocean,' he said. There is no protection for sprat as, he says, it is 'unimportant and sold for very low prices'. Mr Barnes used the example that sprat is sold for 15 cent per kilogram while rubbish makes 18 cent per kilogram. 'It's worth less than rubbish... It's low value so they have to catch loads for money.' He explained that trawlers only fish for sprat when they are spawning, usually in September and October. During this time, the sprat pack themselves together which allows trawlers to catch many of them at once. Often, two trawlers work together, which is known as pair trawling. 'An ecological disaster' is how Mr Barnes refers to the issue. He first figured out that sprat was being overfished and affecting the number of whales and other sealife in the water in 2008. He wrote a paper, which he published in his Skipper's Log on the Cork Whale Watch website. He says his findings 'fell on deaf ears', adding: 'It's a very sad state of affairs.' Soon, there will be lovely harbours but no fishing boats — Colin Barnes In 2022 and 2023, depletion of stocks was noticeable, while last year he says the waters were 'abysmal'. This year is 'no better'. He said: 'Dolphins and hump whales are gone. I've given it up in disgust. There is loads of plankton but the bird life is gone and the fish are gone. It's an empty, lifeless sea. 'It was probably one of the richest seas in the British Isles – that's why I came to Ireland 53 years ago.' Now, he claims, the whole fishing industry is 'crashing'. 'Soon, there will be lovely harbours but no fishing boats. There will be no fishing stock left.' In 2019, the government attempted to end pair trawling for sprat by large vessels, but the ban was struck down by a High Court appeal and was held up in the appeal court. This allowed large trawlers to resume trawling for sprat, with no requirement for authorisation, inside the six nautical mile zone. In 2024, then-Minister for the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, launched a public consultation to invite views on introducing the ban again. It attracted more than 5,500 submissions. A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said: 'The Programme for Government commits to maintaining support for our important inshore fishing sector and promoting the sustainability of fish stocks. [ Ireland must not follow England's example on maintaining waterways Opens in new window ] [ New think tank set up to focus on Irish energy policy Opens in new window ] 'In December 2018, a transition period to a ban on vessels over 18 metres trawling in inshore waters, inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines, was announced. A significant part of the objective of this measure was to manage the fishing effort on sprat stocks which are primarily targeted within inshore waters. This measure, however, was the subject of extended legal proceedings resulting in the measure being overturned in 2023. 'In February 2024, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine held a new public consultation on a review of trawling activity inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines. This consultation took place without prejudice. 'Over 5,500 submissions were received. These submissions, along with updated scientific and economic advice from the Marine Institute and Bord Iascaigh Mhara are being used to inform a review of trawling activity inside the six nautical mile zone and baselines. All relevant issues will be carefully considered before a decision is made.'
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Senegal fishing industry issues are complex
Your article covers the negative effect of fishmeal exports on local livelihoods in Senegal, where factories are increasingly buying up fish for export to Turkey, and have thus negatively affected the local fishing industry (The hidden cost of your supermarket sea bass, 22 May). This may all be true, and it is sad to see the loss of jobs in the Senegalese artisanal fishing industry. Yet it is a very one-sided picture. Rising fish prices in Senegal are part of a global trend, driven in part by rising consumption in rich countries as people shift their diets from beef to other sources of protein. Poorer countries, such as Senegal, that traditionally rely upon fish have also seen changes in diet, with fish being increasingly replaced by poultry and barbecued meat. Similarly, the recent increase in food insecurity in Senegal has less to do with an increase in fishmeal export and more to do with the Russia-Ukraine war, which has caused a huge disruption of Russian and Ukrainian exports of oil, wheat and fertilisers. The article frames fishmeal export from Senegal as not just bad for small-scale fishers but for the country as a whole. Yet fishmeal exports also generate badly needed employment, foreign currency and tax revenues in Senegal and neighbouring countries. None of the above is to suggest that the Senegalese fishing industry does not warrant serious attention in terms of its social and ecological impact. But it is not clear that calls for Turkish fisheries to source their fishmeal elsewhere would benefit the Senegalese economy. To quote the late economist Joan Robinson: 'The misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all.'Elliott GreenProfessor of development studies, London School of Economics Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Sky News
4 days ago
- 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.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Brexit deal: Carlisle biscuit boom or Tees fishing wipeout?
Reform UK's newest council leader has claimed the government's trade deal with the EU will see the "wipeout" of the British fishing industry. On Monday, the government announced a new agreement to reduce red tape in areas including food standards, passport control and defence, while in turn allowing EU fishing boats continued access to UK waters until 2038. Durham County councillor Andrew Husband said the government had "given away quite a lot to go through the airport a little bit quicker." However, Labour MP Julie Minns defended the policy on fishing, as did Conservative peer Lord Kirkhope, and proclaimed the new deal as "fantastic news for biscuits" manufactured in her Carlisle constituency. Speaking on BBC Politics North, Husband said: "What you've got now is an ageing population in the fishing industry, especially in the North East of England, who now are going to see a further 12 years of massive competition in the British waters."That is not going to encourage new fishermen to come through, in fact what will happen is you'll see a wipeout of the British fishing industry in the next 12 years unless there's a change of government in four years time."Minns retorted: "It's exactly the same Brexit freedoms deal that the last Conservative government negotiated, this is about actually future proofing it." Speaking on behalf of the Conservatives, Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate - who describes himself as "pro-EU" - said the deal was in fact good news for the fishing industry. He told presenter Helen Richardson: "Lobsters on every restaurant table in Paris and Brussels now will not cost as much and so will be sold in greater numbers. "Our inshore fishermen all round Yorkshire for instance are really going to benefit here from this deal."I'm reluctant to give too much to the government, but this deal is a good start." Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch had hit out at the deal, saying: "We're becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again,"When pushed, former MEP Lord Kirkhope accepted significant differences with the party leader. "I don't agree about some of the things that have been said by my leader, and others, on this particular theme."He added: "I am saying that it would be madness in the world in which we now live, with all the new international pressures, that we do not make the very best of the relationship with our biggest market and our closest neighbours." Julie Minns' Carlisle constituency is home to one of the UK's oldest biscuit factories, now owned by McVities, which first opened in 1831. On Tuesday she celebrated the impact of the new trade deal in the Commons, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer branding the deal "good for biscuits." Minns told the BBC: "He said it was good news for biscuits, good news for business."I'd also add it's good news for Britain as well."We live in a very very uncertain world. We need that closer tie with our nearest European neighbours. BBC Politics North airs at 10:00BST on BBC One. Catch up with latest episodes now on the BBC iPlayer. Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
We used to catch hundreds of cod a day. Last year it was just ONE: One fishing family reveal truth about EU monster trawlers that've decimated our waters as Starmer surrenders to foreign fleets
In Britain's fishing heyday, a sturdy red wooden boat called Royal Charlotte ploughed the English Channel to bring home enormous catches of cod for her owners, the Coker family. Forty years ago, the nation's favourite white fish was caught every day by Kent fishermen with a rod and line.
