Where was the leadership?

The UK media’s focus on the urgent need for marine conservation measures has probably never been more intense. Channel 4’s Fish Fight season (see the ‘national news’ section of this newsletter) has set in motion a mushrooming of morbid interest in the drastically unsustainable exploitation of our seas. But it was a smaller news item on BBC Reporting Scotland ('Life after fishing in Mallaig') that has really exposed the sad folly of Scotland’s marine mismanagement.

Mallaig, on the remote Northwest shores of Lochaber, was founded in the 1840s when families were pressured by the local laird to leave their crofts and move to the coast to make a living from fishing. From these difficult, subsistence roots the village became a thriving port, a gateway to the islands and eventually synonymous with a bonanza of herring and prawn fishing. In the 1960s, it was not an exaggeration to call Mallaig the busiest herring port in Europe.

But 50 years later, the fishing which breathed life into that crofters' re-settlement has collapsed. BBC Scotland interviewed local skippers from Mallaig, who described with rare West coast emotion, the sadness at seeing their ships taken for decommissioning. Although there was some counter-balancing positivity about diversification, this was the harsh reality of a fishing policy gone wrong.

What seemed so incongruous was the absence of any comment by fishing leaders in the area, usually so quick to expound the views of the industry. It would seem to indicate that the decline of Mallaig's fishing economy is nothing but a shameful chapter for which no-one wants to be accountable. For years the mobile fishing leaders have had a cosy arrangement with government and this has served very well an explosively successful, but highly short-term fishery. The long-term, however, looks bleak. Fishermen have been let down.

It is a bright red herring to say we were dispossessed by Europe. Scotland manages her inshore fisheries up to six miles from land. If even just ten years ago, area control and effort control had been applied at the same time, we might not be in this sad mess, forced to diversify once again - like the crofting forefathers of Mallaig - from what should be a sustainable resource. As fishing communities adapt, perhaps fishermen will look to build new alliances and find fresh leadership to conserve and regenerate the resource that underpins the industry.

Many fishermen are skeptical of area control and are shy of change. But as this organisation’s chairman Howard Wood told a gathering of marine policy-makers at a recent conference in London, "I am the biggest supporter of the Scottish fishing industry." It was an intentionally bold statement and what he meant was this: our leaders in recent decades have sought short-term gain, but C.O.A.S.T.'s vision is for a viable Scottish fishing industry for the future.

In this month's newsletter....

C.O.A.S.T. delivers reality check at London conference
Lamlash Bay has it's own TV channel
Views on the 'lines of sight'
This must not be a flash in the pan
Pandas for farmed fish - are Scottish salmon being sold down the river?
Angling site lands great resource
Supermarkets accused of 'misleading' customers
MSC discusses strategy for future
Practicing what we preach
Seafood boss accused of obstructing inspection
Can you really grow fish anywhere without wider environmental damage?
Fish farm companies pin hopes on the Ballan Wrasse

LOCAL NEWS

C.O.A.S.T. delivers reality check at London conference

C.O.A.S.T. delivered a starkly urgent message at the Coastal Futures conference last month. The two day event held in London was attended by an impressive range of the many stakeholders involved in marine and coastal management, from the Crown Estate to WWF-UK. C.O.A.S.T. was invited to inject a ‘dose of on-the-ground reality’ into the wide-ranging policy discussions and chairman Howard Wood presented a strident account of the political inertia that has led to the dire state of the Clyde fishery. Describing the failure of successive governments to respond to any interests but the mobile fishing sector, Howard said: ‘The result of course is that, because there has been no effective fisheries policy for the Clyde, it has collapsed with the loss of untold numbers of jobs, and huge implications for biodiversity.’ C.O.A.S.T. called upon a new era of political will and long-overdue decision-making. To access presentations from the list of speakers at the conference click here.

Lamlash Bay has it's own TV channel



Folks wondering what the weather is like over on the east of the island, can now see for themselves. The Arran Outdoor Education Centre has installed a webcam which streams an online view out over Lamlash Bay to Holy Isle. It’s a great resource for any visitors missing their holiday spot and C.O.A.S.T. is obviously excited as it provides a constant view of the No Take Zone. Click here if you're cooped up in an office.

Views on the 'lines of sight'

C.O.A.S.T. are looking for feedback from locals and fishermen during the spring and the summer months about the effectiveness of the line of sight markers indicating the boundaries of the No Take Zone in Lamlash Bay. All line of sight poles are now in place after a week’s worth of hard graft and C.O.A.S.T. would like to give an extra thanks to Malcolm Whitmore and Ian Cook who helped install them on the boulder-strewn sloping shores of Holy Isle. Send any feedback about the line of sight markers to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .


NATIONAL NEWS

This must not be a flash in the pan

You would be hard-pressed not to have heard news of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's impressive 'Fish Fight' in recent weeks. The eco-minded self-suffiency campaigner has socked it to the likes of Marine Harvest and Tesco, by turning the spotlight on the aquaculture supply chain, the by-catch consequences of Europe's absurd Common Fisheries Policy and the impacts of tuna-fishing. Sales of cod alternatives are on the rise
and the campaign’s torch has been picked up by some high profile and some local industry supporters. It has demonstrated the extraordinary power of online campaigning and involved some brave and perhaps endearingly excited documentary work. However, it is imperative that supporters of the Fish Fight make sure the battle is no flash in the pan.

Currently the Fish Fight picks a relatively easy battle ground. Few people would disagree with a campaign to put a stop to throwing freshly caught fish back into the sea. C.O.A.S.T. is fully supportive of the cause, but for a genuine solution to conserving the many fish stocks on the brink, we need to tackle some of the destructive methods of catching fish, such as dredging and bottom trawling. This is not to mention the elephant in the room that global demand for fish is rising. Click here to read C.O.A.S.T.'s letter to the Fish Fight team.

Pandas for farmed fish - are Scottish salmon being sold down the river?

The Scottish First Minister's proud announcement of a trade deal with China that will boost farmed salmon production has been unquestioningly welcomed by most of the national media. C.O.A.S.T.'s Sally Campbell probes deeper into whether an expanded aquaculture industry is really a good idea or a nail in the coffin for one of our own iconic species... Click here to read the article in full

Angling site lands great resource

The Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network (SSACN) has published an impressive series of online papers to move the sad decline of sea angling up the agenda. With dozens of articles from well-informed writers, ranging from Jack Morrison of the Scottish Sub-Aqua Club to Richard Lochhead MSP, it is an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to get to grips with the problems facing on our coastal waters. C.O.A.S.T.'s own Dr Sally Campbell contributed a paper 'Why we need a healthy seabed' to SSACN's 2011 Think Again reading room.

Supermarkets accused of 'misleading' customers
A report published by Client Earth has found that nearly a third of sustainability labels on fish products are either ‘unverified or misleading.’ 32 of 100 labels at nine major supermarket chains, including Tesco, Asda, The Co-operative, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's and Waitrose, were revealed by the report to be making unverified or misleading claims on sustainability or protecting the marine environment. Whilst Sainsbury's had the decency to enter into correspondence with The Guardian on the issue, Marks and Spencer declined to comment to the newspaper, despite still boasting in a London store's in-house poster advertising that it was voted best UK retailer for sustainable fish in 2006.

MSC discusses strategy for future
Whilst being subject to sustained criticism following some controversial sustainability certifications, the Marine Stewardship Council has recently completed four days of governance meetings. Perhaps its decision not to review its principles and criteria for ‘sustainable fishing’ until 2013 will be seen as the ponderous response of an increasingly large and complex organisation, but it is a start. For an overview of the MSC’s planned activity for 2011 click here.

Practicing what we preach
It's genuinely heartening to hear that Scotland's scientists are spending time helping other countries how to sustainably manage their aquatic resource. But hopefully it does not distract from some of the mistakes we are making nearer to home. Stirling University's Institute of Aquaculture has helped to set up the Bangladesh Fish Museum and Biodiversity Centre to draw attention to the importance of conserving native aquatic species in a country where fish is an essential source of protein. Meanwhile, the debate over current aquaculture policy in Scotland is far from settled.

Seafood boss accused of obstructing inspection
Boss of seafood company Fresh Catch, Christopher Anderson has gone on trial after being accused of obstructing fisheries officers in their inspection of his Peterhead factory in 2010.


OVERSEAS NEWS

Can you really grow fish anywhere without wider environmental damage?
An Israeli company claims to have found a solution to clean up the environmental problems of fish farming by developing a closed containment system in which fish waste is neutralised by biofilters. A heartening development in theory, but even if the science is sound in practice GFA Advanced Systems Ltd (Grow Fish Anywhere) does not mention what the fish will be fed on. The currently practice of hoovering up small fish such as anchovies and krill on an industrial scale to feed farmed fish has knock-on impacts well beyond a fish farm site.

Fish farm companies pin hopes on the Ballan Wrasse

Ballan wrasse are now being touted as an environmentally friendly way of combating sea lice on commercially farmed salmon. Norwegian researchers Nofima have found that they are good at nibbling the lice from the bodies of salmon when placed in the same fish farm cage. However up until now only wild Ballan Wrasse have been used in the research, so the Norwegian Fishery and Aquaculture Research Fund has found £2.27m to learn how to farm Ballan Wrasse in industrial quantities to add to salmon cages. More fish farming to prevent the problems of fish farming? Time to adopt some healthy skepticism.

Other news....
...from around our global shores includes the escalation of the mackerel war as Scotland blocks a Faroese bid to get MSC certification for its fishery, fears that hydroelectric developers are threatening China’s wild fish resource, a United Nations-backed mapping initiative to help Ghana develop its aquaculture industry, and indications that commercial production of genetically engineered salmon – or Frankenfish – is likely to get government authorisation in Canada.


FISH OF THE MONTH

The Greater Pipefish is a lesser-spotted inhabitant of Scottish waters. It is long and slender, looking like a cross between a seahorse and an eel, with a long thin snout, an upturned mouth and a crest above the head. Its angular body has distinctive body rings, coloured a sandy brown with darker bars lining the body. This excellent camouflage compensates for its slow swimming style and the Greater Pipefish is able to hide amongst seaweed to evade larger predators. The one pictured below was snapped whilst diving around the seagrass beds of Whiting Bay.



Latin name: Syngnathus acus
Normal size: 30-35cm (up to 45cm)
Diet: a voracious consumer of mysids (such as the tiny shrimps you see in rockpools). In fact the adult Greater Pipefish needs to eat several hundred of them each day.
Habitat: The Greater Pipefish can be encountered anywhere between intertidal rockpools to quite deep waters of 90m.


THANKS
If you have enjoyed reading this newsletter and feel supportive of C.O.A.S.T.’s work, please get in touch. Like all community organisations, we are run by a small group of dedicated volunteers. If you would like to offer any financial support, you can donate via the website. Alternatively feel free to contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Thank you for reading COAST’s 10th newsletter. We hope you are looking forward to the next month’s edition already.

Coming in the next newsletter:
- An update on the 3 mile campaign
- What will be Lochhead's legacy for the Clyde?