Less than a year after its inception, the Vigo-based innovation hub Fishing Accelerator has demonstrated the results of projects developed with Pescapuerta, Orpagu, Mascato and Opromar, using the Conxemar exhibition to showcase its work. Between them, these partners are responsible for around a hundred fishing vessels, a processing capacity of around 35,000 tonnes and approximately 110,000 tonnes of seafood sold in more than 80 countries.
The AGM of Icelandic Independent Fish Producers’ Association SFÚ (Samtök Fiskframleiðenda og Útflytjenda) ended with a resolution demanding that all exported fresh fish should pass through the auction system before leaving the country.
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set out the findings of its analysis of possible consequences for Danish fisheries as a result of Britains EU withdrawal, confirming that it may have negative effects on fisheries and processing.
Iceland’s Ministry of Fisheries has re-opened four areas off the north and east of the country that had been closed to seine netters since a previous government imposed restrictions in May 2010.
The European Commission has announced its proposals for North Sea and Atlantic fisheries for 2018, in advance of the December Council, with a mixed bag consisting of proposals for increases to some quotas, others unchanged and some cut back.
According to Donegal independent TD Thomas Pringle, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed is to sign a new Statutory Instrument introducing a penalty points system for fishing offences to replace the existing system.
ICES has published its advice for the Barents Sea capelin quota for 2018, while the initial advice for the 2017-18 capelin fishery in Icelandic waters has also been made public. ICES has also corrected an error in its herring advice, revising downwards its recommendations for both this and next year.
Dutch and Belgian fishermen have hit back at a claim by WWF and CBS (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek – Statistics Netherlands) stating that there is 30% less marine life in the North Sea, which found its way to extensive coverage in national media.
Scotland’s fishing industry is urging both governments to support its plan for a nine-month bridge after March 2019 to smooth the UK’s exit from the Common Fisheries Policy.
The NFFO reports that there are deep concerns within the fishing industry that an impasse between the European member states and EU Parliament over technical conservation rules will place fishermen in the impossible position of having to abide by conflicting sets of rules – one requiring some fish to be discarded while another rule demands that it be landed.