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Scientists call for complete ban on fishing for cod after stocks fail to rebound

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... 8/ucod.xml

The root of the problem goes back to the time of that stinker, Edward Heath,

who gave away fishing rights in our waters to the EEC countries, without any

proper consultation. Since then, crackpot schemes, some[1] in the name of

"conservation" have led to a major fishing disaster, especially in the North

Sea. A ban on fishing for sand eels is proposed, too - also long overdue.

At first sight, this appears to be a Very Good Thing. I wonder whether "EU

Ministers" will take notice this time?

[1] e.g. the Quota system, which leads to large quantities of non-quarry fish

being thrown back into the sea (dead).

Hamster wrote: Will they listen though Bill? The never do..it makes them too much money at the moment..


The quota allocation last year was approximately half the cod remaining in

the North Sea. I do not know whether it was landed or not. A large problem

is in the fishing of sand eels (for industrial purposes, and for feeding to

farmed fish, a problem in its own right) and the stupid, stupid, stupid

policy of dumping dead fish back in the sea, just because they were not

what the fisherman intended to catch, and if landed would result in fines.

There's also the issue that fishing techniques can be environmentally

destructive, as technology is employed to catch dwindling stocks.

Bill Sikes wrote: Scientists call for complete ban on fishing for cod after stocks fail to rebound

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... 8/ucod.xml

The root of the problem goes back to the time of that stinker, Edward Heath,

who gave away fishing rights in our waters to the EEC countries, without any

proper consultation. Since then, crackpot schemes, some[1] in the name of

"conservation" have led to a major fishing disaster, especially in the North

Sea. A ban on fishing for sand eels is proposed, too - also long overdue.

At first sight, this appears to be a Very Good Thing. I wonder whether "EU

Ministers" will take notice this time?

[1] e.g. the Quota system, which leads to large quantities of non-quarry fish

being thrown back into the sea (dead).


Don't buy it and they won't catch it but it's way too late for the North Sea Cod - the scientific community have been calling last chance saloon for ten years now and no-one has listened.

When the density of cod in an area falls below a critical mass they do not appear to be able to regenerate even if you stop harvesting completely and the North Sea stocks have fallen below that level.

Bryn Mawr wrote: Don't buy it and they won't catch it but it's way too late for the North Sea Cod - the scientific community have been calling last chance saloon for ten years now and no-one has listened.


It's tempting to say that there should be a ban on all beam trawling in the North

Sea; and absolute quotas for "fish caught", regardless of what sort.

Bryn Mawr wrote: When the density of cod in an area falls below a critical mass they do not appear to be able to regenerate even if you stop harvesting completely and the North Sea stocks have fallen below that level.


Off Norway, it seems a different matter. They never, AFAIK, revoked control

of their fishing rights, and are able to manage their affairs satisfactorarily.

Given a chance, cod would return to previous levels - however, it would take

a little while!

Edit: Not sure of the situation WRT Norway. However, ISTR they've been at

least somewhat successful in managing their stocks.

Bill Sikes wrote: It's tempting to say that there should be a ban on all beam trawling in the North

Sea; and absolute quotas for "fish caught", regardless of what sort.



Off Norway, it seems a different matter. They never, AFAIK, revoked control

of their fishing rights, and are able to manage their affairs satisfactorarily.

Given a chance, cod would return to previous levels - however, it would take

a little while!

Edit: Not sure of the situation WRT Norway. However, ISTR they've been at

least somewhat successful in managing their stocks.


I believe that they are doing a lot by way of fish farming by netting off fjords - that would be an ideal way of increasing the stocks if people are prepared to fund it.

What never ceases to amaze me is that these fishermen seem incapable of understanding the meaning of the word extinction and that they will put themselves out of work forever.

Theyt should accept it and move on.

Lemonhead;445043 wrote: What never ceases to amaze me is that these fishermen seem incapable of understanding the meaning of the word extinction and that they will put themselves out of work forever.

Theyt should accept it and move on.


It is not so much the fisherman as the system, as far as I can see.

Lemonhead;445043 wrote: What never ceases to amaze me is that these fishermen seem incapable of understanding the meaning of the word extinction and that they will put themselves out of work forever.

Theyt should accept it and move on.


they are trying to make a living like everybody else. i imagine alot of them came into the business by their fathers and it is the only thing they know.

guppy;445060 wrote: they are trying to make a living like everybody else. i imagine alot of them came into the business by their fathers and it is the only thing they know.


and, for them, it will be forever. The North Sea Cod stocks won't come back in their working lifetime.

well, there goes all the fishsticks and fish sandwiches.................

guppy;445294 wrote: well, there goes all the fishsticks and fish sandwiches.................


A large part of the problem is that the enormous bye-catch, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fish, has simply been thrown back into the sea,

dead. That's a hell of a lot of fishsticks.

what a waste. and a catastrophie. sigh, i reckon i will just learn to be a vegeterian.

And now a headline in the paper like this:

All seafood will run out in 2050, say scientists

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... fish03.xml

Edit:



And, to balance the above (view in conjunction with the recommended fishing

ban mentioned earlier):

"UK 'must shield fishing industry' "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6112352.stm

I read that last night too. what a shock. we are detroying our ecosystem.

Bill Sikes;433157 wrote: Scientists call for complete ban on fishing for cod after stocks fail to rebound

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... 8/ucod.xml

The root of the problem goes back to the time of that stinker, Edward Heath,

who gave away fishing rights in our waters to the EEC countries, without any

proper consultation. Since then, crackpot schemes, some[1] in the name of

"conservation" have led to a major fishing disaster, especially in the North

Sea. A ban on fishing for sand eels is proposed, too - also long overdue.

At first sight, this appears to be a Very Good Thing. I wonder whether "EU

Ministers" will take notice this time?

[1] e.g. the Quota system, which leads to large quantities of non-quarry fish

being thrown back into the sea (dead).


Because we had left it so long to get involved in the EEC instead of being there at the beginning our fishing rights were the bribe we paid to get in. It's an industry with little politiocal clout. Don't forget there was a referendum on membership so it is not a csae that we were just taken in against our will. The vote was 2 to 1 in favour of entry.



Our politicians have been too spineless with them. We had a ludicrous situation where our contributions were being used to build up the Spanish fleet while we weebusy decommissioning ours. For an island nation to have no fishing fleet is stupidity in the extreme.

There has been overfishing the past. Most notably with herring being overfished

on several occasions and fishing communities losing out as a consequence.

the last time i went scuba diving in the keys i noticed there are no fish for miles close in to the land. Even the locals down there will tell you we are destroying the fishing population everywhere. it is a shock to go underwater there and be able to see for miles and miles and see absolutely nothing. no sea life at all. all the sport fishing that is done is destroying the fish population as well. i wonder what it will take before something is done, if anything at all.

gmc;448620 wrote: Because we had left it so long to get involved in the EEC instead of being there at the beginning our fishing rights were the bribe we paid to get in. It's an industry with little politiocal clout. Don't forget there was a referendum on membership so it is not a csae that we were just taken in against our will. The vote was 2 to 1 in favour of entry.


It was rather a "blind" referendum. Things like giving up our fishing didn't even

come up. That *stinker* Heath should've been hanged, drawn & quartered.



gmc;448620 wrote: Our politicians have been too spineless with them. We had a ludicrous situation where our contributions were being used to build up the Spanish fleet while we weebusy decommissioning ours. For an island nation to have no fishing fleet is stupidity in the extreme.

There has been overfishing the past. Most notably with herring being overfished

on several occasions and fishing communities losing out as a consequence.


To continue fishing in the way it is being done now is stupidity in the extreme.

Ban certain *types* of fishing outright. Land all by-catches. Eliminate "industrial

fishing" completely. The problem is, even if there was political will to do this

here, there would be a conflict in the "EU" - so nothing will be done.

Are you familiar with the area off Newfoundland called the Grand Banks? There's

lots of information available about what happened there, and a valuable lesson

to be learned.

posted by Bill Sikes

It was rather a "blind" referendum. Things like giving up our fishing didn't even

come up. That *stinker* Heath should've been hanged, drawn & quartered.


Actually it did. At least up here in Scotland where it was clear what was going to happen. Most of the fioshing constituencuies voted against it I think.

gmc;450295 wrote: posted by Bill Sikes



Actually it did. At least up here in Scotland where it was clear what was going to happen. Most of the fioshing constituencuies voted against it I think.


What of the proposed fishing ban/effects, though?

Bill Sikes;451157 wrote: What of the proposed fishing ban/effects, though?


The Scottish fishing industry is almost wiped out anyway-as is much of the english. Both the main parties have been very poor at defending their own country's fishing industry. On the other hand scotland did very well out of the eec regional development fund otherwise things would have been rather dire.

Thank you Bill.

The problem here, as I see it, is the taking of species which are an integral part of the underwater food chain. If we lived on plankton nothing else would survive, for example.

I recommend a mass captive breeding and release program for whales and smaller aquatic mammals in parallel with a total Eastern Atlantic twenty-year fishing ban, to include the Baltic and North Seas. After that we could concentrate entirely on catching, processing and eating whale, dolphin, seal and sea lion instead of fish and the supply would be guaranteed and self-balancing.

spot;503113 wrote: Thank you Bill.

The problem here, as I see it, is the taking of species which are an integral part of the underwater food chain. If we lived on plankton nothing else would survive, for example.


Are you referring to industrial fishing for sand-eels, or the problem of bye-catch

wastage and destruction of habitat (beams) (or something else)?

Bill Sikes;503116 wrote: Are you referring to industrial fishing for sand-eels, or the problem of bye-catch

wastage and destruction of habitat (beams) (or something else)?The unsustainable killing and removal from the food-chain of anything that lives beneath the waves, Bill. To the extent that the bye-catch returns dead protein to be eaten by the survivors of the trawl I suspect that I object more to the profitable catch itself.