BBC 1 PANORAMA Monday 30th 8.30pm

Jeremy Vine presents Britain's Disappearing Wildlife
Watch it Online

Reporter Richard Bilton, discovers Ecosystem meltdown in the Clyde.

The future of our food supply could be under threat.

Are the majority of politicians and fishery managers completely out of touch with reality?  For over 7 years the Clyde has seen virtually no commercial white fish landings.

Gaining a Fisherman's Perspective
Firth of Clyde marine survey will guide policy
A few fishy facts folk should know
AST's sea lice policy
Intervention demanded to end mackerel war
Ecological meltdown in the Firth of Clyde - two centuries of change in a coastal marine ecosystem.
Sign the petition to reinstate the 3 mile limit on the Clyde.
Cornish sardine fishery one of six new MSC certifications
Do marine reserves = votes?
Fish of the month Known by many different names such as Dublin Bay Prawn, Langoustine and scampi.
Book Review Four Fish by Paul Greenberg

PANORAMA So far in 2010 the UK has missed two international targets aimed at halting the decline in some of our best-loved native species. As Panorama finds, there's more at stake than simply protecting the beauty of nature - the future of our food supply could be under threat.

Howard Wood, Callum Roberts,Richard Bilton and Hector Stewart during filming for Panorama.

Are the majority of politicians and fishery managers  completely out of touch with reality?

For over 7 years the Clyde has seen virtually no commercial white fish landings. Sea Anglers have struggled to catch a fish at all. The commercial mobile fishermen left in the Clyde rely on dragging and dredging the seabed for the last remaining invertebrates.  Read COASTs views,
asking Richard Lochhead just when he intends to act.

LOCAL NEWS

Gaining a Fisherman's Perspective





Visiting marine biology student Leigh Howarth joined Arran’s last commercial fisherman Charlie Weir for a day’s fishing this summer. Leigh's experience gives a topical insight into the working rhythm on board a creel boat in the Clyde.

Ecological meltdown in the Firth of Clyde - two centuries of change in a coastal marine ecosystem.

A report by the Environment department, University of York.  We compiled detailed fisheries landings data for this area and combined them with historical accounts to build a picture of change due to fishing activity over the last 200 years. Read full report

Download the petition and get your friends to sign  to reinstate  the 3 mile limit in the Clyde.

NATIONAL NEWS

AST's sea lice policy



The Atlantic Salmon Trust (AST) has drafted a new sea lice policy, urging the government to implement a ‘bay-by-bay’ regulatory approach to the problem of sea lice. The proposed move away from fixed one-size-fits-all rules is due to the many locally-specific factors which spread the threat of sea lice to wild fish populations.
The AST says a recent scientific review “clearly shows that there is compelling scientific evidence that sea lice emanating from salmon farms can pose a very serious and dangerous risk to wild migratory salmonid populations.” The statement is pretty unambiguous, but the AST has remained pragmatically diplomatic with the aquaculture industry by describing the sea louse as their "common enemy." To read the full policy click here.


Intervention demanded to end mackerel war


The ‘mackerel war’ has escalated considerably in recent weeks, prompting calls by the WWF and the Scottish First Minister and the Faroese government for political intervention. Two blockades  (one at Peterhead and one at Buchan) were mounted by protesting fishermen to prevent landings of mackerel by Faroese fishing boats.

After the EU and Norway struck a bilateral deal on mackerel stock management, Icelandic and Faroese governments were forced to set their own mackerel quotas. The fall-out has been fractious ever since. Scottish fishermen either feel frustrated by the constraints of their own quotas or annoyed that the sustainability of the mackerel stock could be at risk due to the the additional landings. Both Iceland and the Faroes are highly fishery-dependent economies and have defended their actions as their only route after being excluded from negotiations by the EU and Norway.

In any case, the strength of feeling on Scottish soil is evident and the recent blockades have not been undertaken lightly. The industry knows it is likely to damage the prospects of Scottish-based processing factories, as Icelandic boats take their large and lucrative catches to other ports on the continent. With a Faroese skipper claiming the Peterhead blockade cost him £400,000, the stakes are high. Again we find politicians and fishermen trying to control ecosystems outwith their own
national boundaries.

Linked to this story last week is a Court case. Leaders of the above story were found guilty of £15 million pounds of illegal fish landings.



OVERSEAS NEWS
Cornish sardine fishery one of six new MSC certifications

Earlier this month the Marine Stewardship Council awarded the Cornish sardine fishery a certification of sustainability. The 16-boat fleet fishes within 6 miles of the coast and is currently landing about 1,800 tonnes of sardines a year up from 700 tonnes in 1997. C.O.A.S.T. newsletters over recent months have explored the issues surrounding the growth of Marine Stewardship Council certifications around the world. There are now 94 fisheries certified as sustainable by the MSC and this looks set to expand. Over the past two months alone, the MSC has awarded six new certifications


Certifications in July and August 2010:

1. Cornish sardine fishery
2. British Columbia Sockeye Salmon
3. Canada Sablefish
4. Irish Pelagic Sustainability Association (IPSA) Western mackerel
5. Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Association Atlanto-Scandian herring pelagic trawl
6. South Brittany sardine purse seine


Do marine reserves = votes?

Support and enthusiasm for marine reserves is growing around the world if the media can be used as any sort of yardstick. And nowhere is the issue getting more attention than in Australia. The pledge to roll-out marine reserves to one third of Government-owned waters is steadily becoming a firm election issue. And the proposal is a distinct possibility if the Greens gain bargaining power in a coalition situation. Unfortunately the conservation measures are being tarred as anti-fishing after the Australian Fishing Trade Association spent $500,000 slating the policy in a political attempt to rally the substantial vote of recreational anglers.


As always it boils down to confusion over what is quite uncontroversial science. Marine reserves are working in many places around the world, certainly for the population health of non-migratory species. And recently The Economist published an interesting piece about the effect on migratory stocks caused by the enforced fisheries closures during the Second World War. The article concludes: “...one lesson is clear. Laying off, even for just six years, has as big an effect on migratory fish as it does on sedentary ones.”

It remains to be seen whether Scottish politicians will start recognising the long-term conservation of our fishing resource as a worthwhile election issue.




A FEW FISHY FACTS FOLKS SHOULD KNOW


- In the Buchan region, the number of ten-year-old haddock increased nearly twelvefold during the six years of World War II due to closure of the North Sea to fishing

- 18 common and grey seals have been found with severe, corkscrew-like flesh injuries in St Andrews Bay and in the Firth of Forth

- One estimate puts the current global catch of wild fish at 170 billion pounds a year - the equivalent in weight to the entire human population of China

- 80 per cent of marine parks in New South Wales (Australia) remain open to recreational fishing


FISH OF THE MONTH

This issue’s fish of the month is not actually a fish, but it currently forms one of the most profitable fisheries in Scotland. Known by many different names such as Dublin Bay Prawn, Langoustine and scampi (it is amazing how few people actually know what scampi is!), Nephrops Norvegicus is a mud-dwelling crustacean. The largest Nephrops fishery is the Fladen Ground in the North Sea, a huge sandy bank. But the Clyde Nephrops fishery has also boomed in recent years in a situation which resembles that of the collapse of the Newfoundland cod fishery. Cod stocks plummeted due to overfishing and lobsters thrived due to reduced predation. Many scientists believe this is what is happening in the Clyde.
It has been reported from many sources this summer, that what was once thought to be an in-exhaustable supply of Prawns in the Clyde now seems to be struggling, with fishermen reporting poor catches of smaller Prawns



Latin name: Nephrops norvegicus
Normal size: up to 24cm long
Diet: Nephrops are scavengers and will usually come out of their burrows in the marine gloaming for a feed on worms and fish.
Habitat: found in the north-eastern Atlantic ocean and the North Sea, Nephrops build semi-permanent burrows in the sand about 8-10 inches deep. They grow at different rates depending on the sand content of mud on the seabed, but female Nephrops generally mature at 3 years of age after which they reproduce each year, mating in summer and spawning in September. The females will carry eggs under their tails until they hatch in April or May.


For a video about the Scottish Nephrops fishery from the Fisheries Research services click here.

Book review

Described as “enlightening without being preachy,” Paul Greenberg has tackled many of the major issues facing the global fishing industry in his much-anticipated book Four Fish. Read a couple of promising reviews by The Guardian and The New York Times or visit www.fourfish.org


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 sixth newsletter. We hope you are looking forward to the next month’s edition already.

Coming in the next newsletter:
- German TV cover Lamlash Bay dive surveys.
- David Cameron's "Big Society". Can COAST show the way?