In response to recent media reports regarding a boarding and inspection by the New Zealand Navy of a Taiwanese fishing vessel said to be in contravention of international regulations, the Taiwan Fisheries Agency (FA) has stated that Yi Rong No.6, which was inspected, did not fish in the New Zealand EEZ.
New sustainable blue projects have been pre-selected for funding by the European Commission under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). They will share €14.5 million. The grant agreements are currently being prepared for signature.
With 39% more fish in the sea than in 2003, stocks are stabilising at sustainable levels, according to figures presented by the scientific community and DG MARE Director General Aguiar Machado at Friday's Scientific Seminar on Fisheries Science organised by the European Commission.
The head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Fisheries Ilya Shestakov and Guinea’s Minister for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Industries Frederic Lois met that the International Fishery Forum and Exhibition in St Petersburg to sign a co-operation agreement on fisheries and aquaculture.
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and its international partners have wrapped up an operation focusing on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Pacific Ocean on the high seas outside Australian waters.
Dr Katie Brigden has been appointed as Fisheries Scientist to work on a pioneering fish industry ‘self-sampling’ scheme for pelagic stocks. Her new role is supported by the EU PANDORA project, under which the NAFC Marine Centre in Shetland is partnering with the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association (SPFA) and Marine Scotland Science (MSS).
Earlier this year, a group of researchers made the claim that fishing activities occurred in 55% of the world’s oceans. As a result, their study found that the area fished is four times bigger than the area occupied by agriculture in terms of square kilometres. At the time, Europêche argued that the study was based on scientifically unsound data, overestimating the proportion of the seabed where fishing occurs.
Recycling techniques for end-of-life tonnage developed by a LIFE project are now being used by shipyards in Spain to scrap fishing vessels and support ships. Reciclauto Navarra, the company behind the project has just signed an agreement to be involved in safer ship recycling in North and West Africa.
Quota increases are proposed for next year for some Baltic stocks, including both western and eastern plaice and western Baltic cod, but reductions are proposed for some stocks, including western herring. The EU Commission’s proposals also include increases in Gulf of Riga herring and Main Basin salmon quotas. Reductions are recommended for the remaining stocks covered by the proposal.
A new study shows that tackling sustainable fisheries management and climate change together can result in significant increases of food, fish and economic activity, but nations need to act quickly to realise these gains.