FAO News and Events

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  • Video Managing Bycatch and Reducing Discards
    [released on: 14/07/2009]
    Every year tropical shrimp trawl fisheries generate millions of tonnes of bycatch. In some countries bycatch is an important source of income and contributes to food supply; in others, bycatch is discarded at sea. This FAO training video, filmed on location in Mexico, the Philippines and FAO Rome's headquarters, explores the issues and solutions to better manage bycatch and reduce discards in tropical shrimp fisheries.
  • Whale deal falls at last minute
    [released on: 15/10/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    A unique consensus between environment groups and whaling nations at the World Conservation Congress was derailed by a last-minute Australian intervention.
    Japan and Norway had agreed to back a motion saying there was not enough data to support the claim that culling whales could raise fisheries yields.
  • A rising tide
    [released on: 22/09/2008]
    Source: Economist.com
    Scientists find proof that privatising fishing stocks can avert a disaster
    For three years, from an office overlooking the Atlantic in Nova Scotia, Boris Worm, a marine scientist, studied what could prevent a fishery from collapsing. By 2006 Dr Worm and his team had worked out that although biodiversity might slow down an erosion of fish stocks, it could not prevent it. Their gloomy prediction was that by 2048 all the world’s commercial fisheries would have collapsed.
  • Ownership key to saving fisheries
    [released on: 22/09/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Giving fishermen long-term rights to catch fish is key to keeping stocks healthy, scientists conclude.
    A global survey found that fisheries managed using individual transferable quotas (ITQs) were half as likely to collapse as others.
    Long-term quotas give fishermen a stake in conserving fish stocks.
  • Superfood or Monster From the Deep?
    [released on: 17/09/2008]
    Source: New York Times
    OFF the coast of Peru swim billions of sardines and anchovies: oily, smelly little fish, rich in nutritious omega-3 fatty acids. Their spot on the food chain is low; many will be caught, ground up, and fed as fishmeal to bigger animals.
    But a few have a more exalted destiny: to be transported, purified and served at North American breakfast tables in the form of Tropicana Healthy Heart orange juice and Wonder Headstart bread. These new products promise to deliver the health benefits of fish oil without the smell and the taste — without, in fact, the fish.
  • EU to overhaul fisheries policy
    [released on: 22/09/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    The European Commission has announced a full review of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, saying the current regime fails to protect fish stocks.
    The commission says that fishermen who obey the fishing rules are being penalised by the irresponsible behaviour of others who flout them.
  • Greenland seeks whaling breakaway
    [released on: 15/09/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Greenland is attempting to remove its whale hunt from the jurisdiction of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), BBC News has learned.
    Its whalers are angry that the IWC has twice declined to permit the addition of humpback whales to its annual quota.
  • Young girls the new bait for fishermen in Kenya
    [released on: 15/09/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    Dunga Beach, along the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya's western city of Kisumu, erupts into activity when the boats bring in their catch. Female fishmongers scramble along the beach to buy fish, shouting themselves hoarse to get the attention of the fishermen and middlemen, who control whether or not the women will have anything to sell that day.
    Mingling with the jostling fishmongers is 19-year-old Lillian Onoka; stylishly dressed and with neatly plaited hair, she is easily noticed. "I do not sell fish but my aunt does, and she brings me along with her. I just help her get the fish without her having to scramble," Onoka told IRIN/PlusNews. Her aunt brings her as an inducement to the fishermen to hand over the best of their catch. Onoka says she is not tied to one fisherman, but will sleep with whoever offers the best deal on any given day.
  • Talkback: Getting to the bottom of the fish crisis
    [released on: 16/09/2008]
    Source: CNN.com
    It seemed like a bolt from the blue. At the beginning of September the Hong Kong government announced it was considering banning all bottom trawling activities in its waters, effectively putting around 600 local trawler operations out of business.
    The government says it wants to tackle the pressing issue of rapidly declining fish populations so that it can rejuvenate the local fishing industry and make it sustainable.
  • AFP Experts call for halt to bluefin tuna fishing in Mediterranean
    [released on: 15/09/2008]
    Source: Yahoo! News
    The continued overfishing of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean is a "disgrace" and all fishing of the species in the region must be suspended immediately, a panel said Thursday.
    A newly-published report from an independent panel reviewing the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) said countries are not respecting the fishing regulations they agreed to.
  • More freshwater fish in peril, study says
    [released on: 15/09/2008]
    Source: msnbc.com
    About four out of 10 freshwater fish species in North America are in peril, according to a major study by U.S., Canadian and Mexican scientists.
    And the number of subspecies of fish populations in trouble has nearly doubled since 1989, the new report says.
  • Wild Salmon Center makes front page news!
    [released on: 11/09/2008]
    Source: Wild Salmon Center
    The Oregonian highlighted Wild Salmon Center’s unique approach to salmon conservation. The article featured the North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership, describing our partner-based strategy to conserving the last, best wild salmon ecosystems in North America.
  • Web site on the Civil Society Preparatory Workshop, 11-13 October, 2008, Bangkok (prior to the FAO conference on small-scale fisheries)
    [released on: 09/09/2008]
    This website provides information on the preparatory workshop being organized by civil society prior to the FAO conference on small-scale fisheries.

    The preparatory workshop is organized by World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP), The Sustainable Development Foundation (SDF), Southern Fisherfolk Federation (SFF), The International NGO/CSO Planning Committee (IPC) and the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF).
  • Civil society preparatory workshop to be held prior to FAO World Conference on Small-scale Fisheries
    [released on: 08/09/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    A preparatory workshop is being organized by civil society groups at Bangkok during 11-13 October, 2008, prior to the World Conference on Small-scale Fisheries to be conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 13 - 17 October at Bangkok.
    The preparatory workshop is being organized by the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP), The Sustainable Development Foundation (SDF), Southern Fisherfolk Federation (SFF), The International NGO/CSO Planning Committee (IPC) and the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF).
  • Fish to Eat, Fish to Avoid: Seafish in Praise
    [released on: 08/09/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    Philip MacMullen, Seafish Head of Environmental Responsibility, said that he broadly welcomes the MCS “Fish to Eat and Fish to Avoid List”,
    According to Mr MacMullen, consumers need clear guidance to help them make responsible choices when buying seafood.
    Good, clear labelling will become a very important part of this process in the future but traceability is still far from perfect as far as consumers are concerned. In the meantime, it is genuinely difficult to be sure of all the details of any given fish supply line. "To this extent advice given via lists such as this one must match the reality of the available information. We should not be raising unrealistic expectations."
  • Study delivers good news about cod, haddock stocks
    [released on: 08/09/2008]
    Source: Gloucestertimes.com
    A pivotal scientific study of groundfish stocks off New England, introduced and discussed publicly for the first time yesterday, shattered some assumptions about the winners and losers in the quarter-century effort to rebuild fishing stocks since the federal government stepped in.
    According to the report by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, successes were fewer than failures, but cod and haddock surprisingly were among the stocks that seem to have launched successful comebacks.
  • UN announces guidelines to protect fragile sea species
    [released on: 08/09/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    After two years of consultations with concerned countries, the United Nations announced new international guidelines to limit the impact of fishing on fragile sea species.
    The guidelines details steps for improving information on the location and status of vulnerable marine ecosystems and deep sea fisheries. Few countries have so far developed policies and plans specifically related to managing deep sea fishing, even in their own waters, according to U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
  • New Guidelines to Protect Deep-sea Fish
    [released on: 08/09/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    Countries agree on guidelines for protecting deep-sea species and habitats.
    After two years of preparation and negotiation, FAO Members have adopted international guidelines aimed at limiting the impact of fishing on fragile deep sea fish species and habitats.
    The guidelines provide a framework that fishing nations should use when operating in high-seas areas outside of national jurisdictions, where many deep sea fisheries (DSF) are located.
  • Wolves prefer fishing to hunting
    [released on: 04/09/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Wolves in western Canada prefer to fish for salmon when it is in season rather than hunt deer or other wild game, researchers have found.
    Scientists studied the eating habits of wolf packs in British Columbia.
  • Local knowledge helps Fiji protect marine resources
    [released on: 08/09/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    Protecting and improving Fiji's marine resources is an issue often neglected except by conservationists who are eager to make a change. It's this change that has made it possible for Fiji to protect nearly half of its inshore fisheries which about 50 per cent of the population depend on.
    Fiji is lucky to have a handful of organisations who work hard so that Fiji could one day become a model for other countries on the state of its marine resources. While some countries in the world are looking for ways to protect their ocean and food security, Fiji seems to be doing well because it is already halfway there through its marine protected areas.
  • New giant clam species discovered
    [released on: 01/09/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    A new species of giant clam has been discovered in the Red Sea.
    Fossils suggest that, about 125,000 years ago, the species Tridacna costata accounted for more than 80% of the area's giant clams.
    The species may now be critically endangered, researchers report in Current Biology journal.
  • Vote in Alaska Puts Question: Gold or Fish?
    [released on: 27/08/2008]
    Source: New York Times
    By WILLIAM YARDLEY
    Published: August 22, 2008
    DILLINGHAM, Alaska - Just up the fish-rich rivers that surround this tiny bush town on Bristol Bay is a discovery of copper and gold so vast and valuable that no one seems able to measure it all. Then again, no one really knows the value of the rivers, either. They are the priceless headwaters of one of the world’s last great runs of Pacific salmon. The latest global assessment of cetaceans shows that the marine mammals throughout the world's oceans have experienced mixed fortunes.
    The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species reveals that some large species, like humpbacks, have seen numbers increase.
  • Bush eyes creating largest protected area ever
    [released on: 27/08/2008]
    Source: MSNBC
    CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush on Monday said he was considering creating two protected areas in the Pacific Ocean, including one that would be the world's largest - four-and-a-half-times larger than all the national parks and nearly the size of Alaska.
  • Wanted: Home for 6 million dead carp
    [released on: 27/08/2008]
    Source: MSNBC
    PROVO, Utah - Psst. Hey buddy, wanna buy 6 million carp? You'd be doing Utah a big favor. Ditto for a rare, funny-looking fish called the June sucker that's trying to mount a comeback in the state's largest natural freshwater lake.
  • Fish Tale Has DNA Hook: Students Find Bad Labels
    [released on: 01/09/2008]
    Source: The News York Times
    Many New York sushi restaurants and seafood markets are playing a game of bait and switch, say two high school students turned high-tech sleuths.
    In a tale of teenagers, sushi and science, Kate Stoeckle and Louisa Strauss, who graduated this year from the Trinity School in Manhattan, took on a freelance science project in which they checked 60 samples of seafood using a simplified genetic fingerprinting technique to see whether the fish New Yorkers buy is what they think they are getting.
  • Mixed fortunes for world's whales
    [released on: 13/08/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    The latest global assessment of cetaceans shows that the marine mammals throughout the world's oceans have experienced mixed fortunes.
    The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species reveals that some large species, like humpbacks, have seen numbers increase.
  • Overfishing in west Africa linked to food crisis, migration, says report
    [released on: 13/08/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    According to a recent report by the nongovernmental organisation ActionAid, West African seas are being devastated by legal and illegal overfishing, while local fishing industries decline. Moreover, the economic partnership agreements in their currently proposed form only exacerbate this problem.
    The overfishing of West African coastal waters, often by large European trawlers and sometimes by ‘‘fishing pirates’’ who trawl without any authorisation, has largely depleted local fish stocks. This has a direct impact on the rising rate of unemployment and on the ever-increasing flow of West Africans who embark on perilous journeys to Europe, in search of a better life.
  • Trawl-fishing threat to seabirds
    [released on: 08/08/2008]
    Source: AOL News
    Thousands of birds could be dying from trawl fishing each year in one seabird hotspot, according to a study which highlights the danger the industry poses to threatened species such as albatrosses.
    Research published in the journal Animal Conservation looked at the effect on birds of fishing with nets by 14 different vessels in the Benguela Current, off South Africa.
  • Aquaculture Production to Double by 2015
    [released on: 04/08/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    The Australian aquaculture industry's output could double by 2015, according to the chairman of the National Aquaculture Council Craig Foster.
    Speaking ahead of the forum on Asia Pacific aquaculture in Brisbane this week, Mr Foster said that the doubling of production follows a decade of investment in ensuring teat aquaculture also sustains the environment.
  • Appearance of Rare Fish Linked to Global Warming
    [released on: 04/08/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    Giant blue-fin tuna and other semitropical fish are increasingly being caught in South Korean waters it is believed because of global warming.
    At a fish market in Busan this week, three blue-fin tuna between 2.32-2.43 metres long and weighing between 250-300 kg were put up for auction.
  • Brazil Creates Ministry of Fisheries
    [released on: 31/07/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has signed a bill to create a Ministry of Fisheries and the government has announced it will invest $1 billion in the sector up to 2011.
    The signing took place during the launch of the National Fishery and Aquaculture Development Plan, converting the Special Secretariat of Aquaculture and Fishery (Seap) into a ministry.
  • Mozambique fishing industry near collapse
    [released on: 04/08/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    Mozambique's fishing industry is on the verge of collapse due to constant rises in global fuel costs, a top official said. The National Director of Fisheries Administration, Ivone Lichucha, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that about 51 engine boats of the 59 registered are no longer fishing due to their owners' inability to buy fuel.
    "The (fishing) industry is heading to a near collapse, many fishermen can no longer make it to the sea. Constant increase in fuel prices is having a heavy impact while most of their boats are obsolete," Lichucha said.
  • PNG Fisheries, Police In Partnership To Combat Illegal Fishing
    [released on: 31/07/2008]
    Source: Pacific Magazine
    Papua New Guinea’s National Fisheries Authority (NFA) has gone into partnership with the Royal Constabulary of Papua New Guinea (RCPNG) to step up major surveillance on illegal fishing activities in its territorial waters.
    This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) today between the two state institutions to collaborate in combating illegal fishing activities.
  • Millions could face untold disaster as fish stocks decline in Uganda
    [released on: 04/08/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    Up to 1.5 million people in Uganda who live off fishing as an economic activity face a real threat to their livelihoods as fish stocks continue to plummet to dangerous levels. Despite being the number two export-earning commodity for Uganda after coffee, fish stocks according to recent reports are projected to drop in value to $80 million this year from its peak of $148 million in 2005.
  • As Price of Grain Rises, Catfish Farms Dry Up
    [released on: 18/07/2008]
    Source: The New York Times
    Catfish farmers across the South, unable to cope with the soaring cost of corn and soybean feed, are draining their ponds.
    “It’s a dead business,” said John Dillard, who pioneered the commercial farming of catfish in the late 1960s. Last year Dillard & Company raised 11 million fish. Next year it will raise none. People can eat imported fish, Mr. Dillard said, just as they use imported oil.
  • EU adopts emergency aid package for fishing sector
    [released on: 16/07/2008]
    Soure: AFP
    EU fisheries ministers adopted late Tuesday an emergency aid package worth up to two billion euros to help fishermen cope with soaring fuel prices, the EU's French presidency said.
    "Political agreement was reached by a qualified majority on urgent measures for the fishing sector," the presidency said, as the ministers met into the evening in Brussels.
  • Japanese Fishermen Go on Strike Over Fuel Prices
    [released on: 15/07/2008]
    Source: The New York Times
    Fishermen across Japan went on a massive one-day strike Tuesday to protest skyrocketing fuel prices, the latest blow to the country's foundering fishing industry.
    The strike was the largest ever for the industry, involving 200,000 boats and 400,000 workers, organizers said. More than 3,000 fishermen from across the country gathered in central Tokyo and marched around the fisheries ministry in protest.
  • Kenya loses 10,000 tonnes of fish annually
    [released on: 16/07/2008]
    Source: The Standard
    Submarine criminals from European and Asian countries are stealing more than 10,000 metric tonnes of fish worth Sh300 million per year from the Kenyan side of the Indian Ocean.
    In the process, they are fleecing the country of millions of shillings, Fisheries Minister Paul Otuoma has said.
  • 'Alarming' plight of coral reefs
    [released on: 11/07/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    A third of the world's reef-building coral species are facing extinction.
    That is the stark conclusion from the first global study to assess the extinction risks of corals.
    Writing in the journal Science, researchers say climate change, coastal development, overfishing, and pollution are the major threats.
  • FAO statistics don't take into account small scale fisheries catches
    [released on: 11/07/2008]
    July 9th. A new study estimates that for more than 50 years the FAO statistics have failed to show the huge volumes of fish being caught by small-scale fisheries. For example, the official catch reported by the Mozambique government to FAO suggests that each citizen is eating about 3kg of fish per year. However, when the scientists looked at the catches being made by subsistence fishing, that consumption rate rose to 9kg per capita per year. Despite this, the Mozambique government was using its reported catch to justify selling off fishing permits to European boats coming into Mozambique waters to fish for high-value shrimp, which often leads to substantial bycatch that is thrown overboard as waste fish – further depleting stocks for the local community. One of the study authors calls the situation a reverse Robin Hood story. "Instead of stealing from the rich to give to the poor, it's stealing from the poor to give to the rich." The underreporting also means that estimates of how long fish stocks can support a given country's populations may also be deeply flawed. The authors are calling on the FAO to take immediate steps to begin gathering more complete statistics. "It is far better to support small-scale fisheries to survive and protect local reefs because that brings real economic development where it is needed", said the lead author. Moreover, "Small-scale fishers are more fuel efficient and can be sustainable if reefs are protected" he concluded.
    Sources
    Scientific article, Nature, July 9
    http://www.nature.com:80/news/2008/080709/full/news.2008.942.html?s=news_rss
    Press articles
  • Corals, Already in Danger, Are Facing New Threat From Farmed Algae
    [released on: 09/07/2008]
    Source: The New York Times
    BUTARITARI, Kiribati — Off the palm-fringed white beach of this remote Pacific atoll, the view underwater is downright scary.
    Corals are being covered and smothered to death by a bushy seaweed that is so tough even algae-grazing fish avoid it. It settles in the reef’s crevices that fish once called home, driving them away.
  • US fishermen oppose lifting offshore oil drilling moratorium
    [released on: 09/07/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    The largest commercial fishermen’s organization in the United States' West Coast took aim on the Bush Administration proposal to lift the 28-year old moratorium on offshore oil drilling, saying it will put the nation’s seafood resources at risk for a small amount of oil that won’t be available for a decade.
    “New offshore drilling, such as the President proposes, won’t make a dent in the price at the pump, but it sure as hell could damage our fisheries,” said Zeke Grader, Executive Director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA). “Our members have experienced first hand drilling in the Santa Barbara Channel and this is not something we want expanded into pristine ocean waters and some of our nation’s best fishing grounds.”
  • Cod Farming Advantages?
    [released on: 03/07/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    Cod farming is in demand like never before. Production is growing and prices are good. But will they succeed or will cod farming follow a host of other unsuccessful attempts to farm new species?
    Cod farmers want long-term contracts to supply supermarket chains year-round.
    "The extent to which cod farmers succeed will to a large degree depend on their ability to utilise their most important advantage in competitive markets, namely good control of quality and freshness and the possibility of supplying what the customer wants," says Senior Scientist Geir Sogn-Grundvåg.
  • Fisherman survives tiger attack
    [released on: 07/07/2008]
    Source; BBC News
    An Indian fisherman whose father was killed by a tiger 20 years ago has dramatically survived a similar attack in the state of West Bengal.
    The Bengal tiger struck on Tuesday as Fatik Halder was crab fishing in the Sunderbans mangrove forest.
  • Pirate fishing boats target Africa
    [released on: 03/07/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    There is a kind of theft that happens every day in a majority of the world's poor countries - and in many of the richer ones too.
    It usually happens out of sight, and most perpetrators get away with it.
    The monetary value of this theft is about $15bn per year; the ecological cost can only be guessed at.
  • Can compromise save the whale?
    [released on: 30/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    So it's official - both sides want peace. Or do they? As the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting came to a close, not everyone was convinced by the rhetoric of reason and good faith.
    Heard in the corridor: "We've been down this road before", "They're not serious", "It's just a ploy to eat up time".
    IWC history is bloody with betrayal. It will take more than an agreement to link arms and waltz off into the sunset to convince seasoned observers on both sides that anything more than a crock of frustration and heartache lies at the end of the path.
  • Whale meet ends with peace agenda
    [released on: 30/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    The annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has ended with member governments agreeing to try and resolve their differences.
    The next year will see intensive dialogue between pro- and anti-whaling countries, and could lead to a package deal next year.
    But there is still significant water between the camps on key issues.
  • The 'value' of protecting whales
    [released on: 27/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    As opponents of whaling agree to seek an arrangement with countries who still hunt, Richard Black at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Chile reflects on our relationship with whales and with nature in general.
  • Greenland denied on whale catch
    [released on: 27/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    The first vote at this year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting has resulted in defeat for Greenland's request to expand its hunt.
    Many countries were unconvinced that Greenlanders need the extra meat that catching 10 humpbacks would provide, and believe the hunt is too commercial.
  • Landmark Florida Everglades deal
    [released on: 25/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    US conservationists are hailing a landmark agreement under which the state of Florida will buy a huge tract of land from a major sugar company.
    The US Sugar Corp has tentatively agreed to close down and sell the 800sq km of land it owns in the Everglades to Florida for $1.75bn (£890m).
  • East Africa: Saving the 'Fish Basket' From Drying Up
    [released on: 07/07/2008]
    Source: all.Africa.com
    While Lake Victoria remains the most productive fishery in Africa, with annual fishery yields fluctuating around 600,000 tonnes, valued at $350 - 400m, catches of Nile perch are steadily declining. In 2001, boats caught an average 160 kilos of Nile perch each trip, today they catch less than 20. At the same time, catches of lower valued species, such as the silver-coloured mukene are steady, if not increasing.
    According to fishermen and fishery managers alike, the causes of the Nile perch fishery crisis are complex and there will be no single silver bullet solution. Additionally, the future unknown and variable impacts of climate change require that the basin is strong enough to cope with future change.
  • Anger at calm in whaling waters
    [released on: 24/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    The annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has opened in Santiago without the usual war of words between pro- and anti-whaling nations.
    Some campaigners in Chile's capital complain dissent is being suppressed.
    But Japan says anti-whaling countries will be able to pursue conservation goals more effectively if they accept that whaling can be sustainable.
  • Whaling body agrees path to peace
    [released on: 25/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    The global body responsible for whales and whaling has opened the door to the eventual partial lifting of the commercial whaling ban.
    The International Whaling Commission (IWC) adopted a reform path aimed at finding compromise between pro- and anti-hunting countries.
    Delegates at the Commission's annual meeting in Chile agreed the current impasse should not continue.
  • New Kenyan law targets foreign vessels
    [released on: 23/06/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    Foreign vessels fishing within 200 nautical miles of Kenyan waters will from September be required to declare their catch and pay tax to the Kenya Revenue Authority.
    Fisheries minister Paul Otuoma announced in Malindi at the end of his four-day tour of Coast Province that a law to compel all foreign ships to call in at Kenyan ports for verification of the quantity, quality and types of fish was being crafted. He said that for a long time, the country's marine Exclusive Economic Zone had been a reaping ground for foreigners who make "billions of shillings" each year at the expense of the country's economy.
  • SalmonAid Festival Puts Spotlight on Urgent Need for Fish Restoration
    [released on: 26/06/2008]
    Source: truthout
    A unique coalition of recreational anglers, commercial fisherman, members of Indian Tribes and conservationists came together from throughout California and the West Coast to sponsor the SalmonAid Festival on May 31 and June 1 in Jack London Square in Oakland.
    The event aimed to draw attention to the ongoing salmon fisheries disaster on the Klamath, Sacramento, Columbia and other West Coast rivers. This year, due to record low numbers of salmon expected to return to the Central Valley Rivers because of increases in California Delta water exports and other factors, all commercial and recreational ocean fishing is banned off California and most of Oregon.
  • Peace pledges as whale meet opens
    [released on: 23/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Countries on both sides of the whaling divide are pledging a new spirit of co-operation as the International Whaling Commission (IWC) convenes.
    There is general agreement that the global body charged with conserving whales and regulating whaling does neither task very effectively.
  • Norwegian saithe fisheries celebrate sustainability
    [released on: 24/06/2008]
    Source: FISHupdate
    TWO of Europe's largest fisheries were today certified as sustainable.
    The Norwegian North Sea saithe and Norwegian North East Arctic saithe fisheries were the first Norwegian fisheries to enter the MSC assessment process.
    Subject to MSC Chain of Custody certification, saithe from the fisheries is now eligible to carry the MSC eco-label on fish and products marking it out as fish from a sustainable and well-managed source.
  • Greenland whale hunt 'commercial'
    [released on: 18/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Animal welfare campaigners say Greenland's whaling, held under rules permitting subsistence hunting, has become too commercial in character.
    The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) found that a quarter of last year's catch was traded for profit through a private food company.
  • Farmed Fish Breathe New Life into Lake
    [released on: 16/06/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    A Siberian lake that had been hit by overfishing has been rescued through fish farming.
    It was thought Lake Chagatay in Siberia would never recover from the overfishing that almost stripped every living thing from its waters. But fish farming has come to the rescue, promising to return the lake to its former glory.
  • Food Summit Calls Out for Food Investment
    [released on: 09/06/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    The Summit on soaring food prices, convened by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has concluded with the adoption by acclamation of a declaration calling on the international community to increase assistance for developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and those that are most negatively affected by high food prices.
    “There is an urgent need to help developing countries and countries in transition expand agriculture and food production, and to increase investment in agriculture, agribusiness and rural development, from both public and private sources,” according to the declaration.
  • Sardines With Your Bagel?
    [released on: 09/06/2008]
    Source: The New York Times
    THE first chinook salmon from Alaska’s Copper River arrived in Seattle last month, for shipment to fish counters throughout the country. With the commercial chinook season in California and most of Oregon canceled for the first time in 160 years, Alaska chinook were going for record prices: $40 a pound for fillet.
  • Researchers scramble to deal with dying oysters
    [released on: 10/06/2008]
    Source: OregonLive.com
    An invisible microbe that thrives in warm ocean water has undermined the Northwest's prized oyster supply, killing billions of young larvae that mature into the succulent shellfish known across the world.
    The bacterium, Vibrio tubiashii, is related to another species that can sicken people who eat raw shellfish. This one doesn't bother people -- it kills shellfish in their larval stage, before they latch onto rocks to grow.
  • Rogue River dams to come down
    [released on: 09/06/2008]
    Source: The Oregonian
    One of Oregon's iconic rivers is on the cusp of a major makeover.
    What's happening on the Rogue River isn't so much transformation as reversion. Dams built during the previous century will come down. Reservoirs will return to running water.
  • Fishermen clash with police at EU
    [released on: 06/06/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Police have clashed with hundreds of fishermen protesting against the high cost of fuel outside the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels.
    Several windows in EU buildings were broken and at least one car was overturned during the demonstration.
  • High food prices may add pressure for more fishing along coasts, says UN study
    [released on: 09/06/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    High food prices may add pressure for more fishing along coasts where the environment faces threats from pollution and climate change, a United Nations University report said on Wednesday. It said 40 percent of all people lived within 50 km (30 miles) of coasts and that governments needed to work out better policies to safeguard resources.
    "The decline is terminal, unless we introduce much more effective management immediately," said the study by the university's International Network on Water, Environment and Health (INWEH). "This is one more voice added to the chorus about how bad the situation for the world's coasts is," Peter Sale, INWEH assistant director, told Reuters. Fixing the problems "do not mean spending more money but spending it more wisely".
  • Nature loss 'to hurt global poor'
    [released on: 29/05/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Damage to forests, rivers, marine life and other aspects of nature could halve living standards for the world's poor, a major report is to conclude.
    Current rates of natural decline might reduce global GDP by about 7% by 2050.
  • Australia links organized crime to illegal fishing
    [released on: 26/05/2008]
    Source: International Herald Tribune
    Organized crime groups and even motorcycle gangs around the world are becoming involved in illegal fishing, lured mainly by demand from China for prized fish species, a study by Australian crime experts said.
    Groups from China, Australia, Russia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Japan have all been linked to illegal fishing, with fish stocks either sold illegally or used as a means of laundering money, the Australian Institute of Criminology said.
  • Japan to suspend some tuna fishing on fuel prices
    [released on: 29/05/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    Surging fuel prices will likely force Japanese fishermen to suspend some tuna fishing expeditions to the Pacific and Indian oceans, officials from the main nationwide tuna fishing union said on Tuesday. The tuna fishing cooperative union is considering stopping about 80 fishing boats from going to the Pacific and the India Ocean for three months or more to catch bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna, two common and reasonably priced fish at sushi bars, union officials said.
  • US and Canada Come Together to Save Salmon
    [released on: 26/05/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    The US and Canada have decided to cooperate in order to abate the situation looming around the Pacific Coast salmon fishery.
    Cuts in harvest and improvements in habitat are part of a proposed revision to the Pacific Salmon Treaty, which should quickly be approved by both governments. The new treaty would reduce the catch off southeast Alaska by 15 percent and Canada would cut its take off the West Coast by 30 percent. The changes would send an estimated one million more chinook to Puget Sound and the Columbia River. Chinook are the target, but the 10-year agreement also covers coho, chum, pink and sockeye salmon, reports the Seattle Times.
  • More than 80% of World’s Fisheries In Danger From Overfishing
    [released on: 27/05/2008]
    Source: Environmental News Network
    A new report released by Oceana today concludes that more than 80 percent of the world's fisheries cannot withstand increased fishing activity and only 17 percent of the world's fisheries should be considered capable of any growth in catch at all. Too Few Fish: A Regional Assessment of the World's Fisheries shows there is very little room for further expansion of global fishing efforts.
  • Call to settle ocean care dispute
    [released on: 23/05/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Governments are being urged to agree measures for protecting open ocean and sea floor habitats at a major United Nations conservation meeting in Bonn.
    Argentina and Brazil are among the countries objecting to proposals put forward at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting.
  • Sharks swim closer to extinction
    [released on: 23/05/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    More than half of the world's ocean-going sharks are at risk of extinction, a new analysis concludes.
    Specialists with IUCN (formerly the World Conservation Union) found that 11 species are on the high-risk list, with five more showing signs of decline.
  • Fast flying fish glides by ferry
    [released on: 21/05/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Some remarkable footage of a flying fish has been captured by a TV crew filming off the southern tip of Japan.
    It is claimed to be one of the longest recorded flights of this acrobatic animal.
    The fish was completely airborne for 45 seconds. This beats one previous, impressive report from an American researcher in the 1920s of 42 seconds.
  • US fisheries service to honour national leaders in sustainable fisheries
    [released on: 27/05/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    The Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States announced today that it will honor seven people and two organizations for their efforts to enhance the understanding, protection, and sustainable use of U.S. ocean resources. This recognition is part of the agency’s third annual Sustainable Fisheries Leadership Awards program.
    NOAA’s leaders will present the awards at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on June 2. “The health and sustainability of the planet’s ocean resources is of paramount importance for the world’s environmental, economic, and human wellbeing,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The contributions of our honorees inspire others and enhance NOAA’s work to conserve and manage our nation’s marine resources.”
  • Go-ahead for Iceland's whale hunt
    [released on: 21/05/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Iceland's commercial whale hunt is set to begin, after the government granted a small minke quota on Monday.
    Whalers had been seeking a quota of about 100, but ministers settled on 40, which they say is commercially viable.
  • Big ball of Columbia River sturgeon baffles experts
    [released on: 16/05/2008]
    Source: OregonLive.com
    When sonar surveys spotted a vast pile of rubble in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam late last winter, officials suddenly worried that part of the dam structure was eroding into the river.
    "Everybody said, 'Oh my gosh, we need to get divers out there right away,' " recalled Dennis Schwartz, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the dam.
    What they found below the spillways in February was not a giant pile of rock at all, but a humongous pile of thousands upon thousands of sturgeon -- some of them 14 feet long or longer -- lounging together in frigid water at the bottom of the river.
  • Greenpeace accuses Philippine ships of illegally transferring tuna at high seas
    [released on: 13/05/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    The international environmental organization Greenpeace Saturday said it spotted Philippines' fishing ships engaged in illegal transfer of tuna at the high seas in the Pacific near Papua New Guinea.
    The Greenpeace Southeast Asia office said in a news statement that its ship, the Esperanza, exposed an illegal tuna purse seiner, Philippine-flagged Queen Evelyn 168, in a pocket of international waters between Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia, on Friday. The purse seiner was at the site of a transfer of tuna between her sister vessel and a refrigerated mothership, both also registered to the Philippines.
  • Indonesian tropical prawns obtain certification
    [released on: 13/05/2008]
    Source: FISHupdate.com
    FRIEND of the Sea has today announced certification of the first prawn fishery in Indonesia and its products sold by company Seacold Seafoods and Panca Mitra Multi Perdana.
    The Indonesian artisanal trammel net fishery for Penaeus indicus and other Penaeus species, reported as not overexploited by FAO, has been found compliant with Friend of the Sea certification criteria. The fishery operates from West Borneo, in the Sukadan Gulf and Maya Island and is composed of 138 small boats.
  • How the world's oceans are running out of fish
    [released on: 13/05/2008]
    Source: The Observer
    The future of our seas has never been more precarious. Ninety years of industrial-scale overfishing has brought us to the brink of an ecological catastrophe and deprived millions of their livelihoods. As scientific guidelines are ignored and catches become ever bigger, Alex Renton tells why the international community has failed to act.
  • Salmon Gone, Fishermen Try to Adapt on a Changing Coast
    [released on: 13/05/2008]
    Source: The New York Times
    So long, salmon. Steve Wilson is refitting his 51-foot troller to fish for the future. No longer will he cast for the conflicted symbol of Northwest abundance and bitterness. No more fishing for a myth.
    Steve Wilson is converting his salmon boat to fish for prawns, which will be sold to high-end restaurants. Tourism is growing along the Oregon coast.
  • Cod fall may speed 'toxic tide'
    [released on: 08/05/2008]
    Source: BBC NEWS
    Declining fish stocks could be partly responsible for algal blooms in the oceans, researchers have found.
    Scientists found that the fall in cod stocks in the Baltic Sea in recent decades increased numbers of the tiny marine plants that produce the blooms.
  • The feds' latest plan to restore Columbia salmon leaves dam operations largely intact
    [released on: 08/05/2008]
    Source: OregonLive.com
    The third try for a blueprint on restoring fish runs will go before a federal judge who has threatened severe limits
    After two rejections in court, the U.S. government released its third plan Monday for pulling threatened Columbia River basin salmon from the brink of extinction -- again without dramatically altering hydropower generation from the system's dams.
  • Leaders agree plan to save Niger
    [released on: 05/05/2008]
    Source: BBC NEWS
    Nine West African countries have agreed an $8bn, 20-year plan to save Africa's third-largest river, the Niger.
    The programme, which aims to prevent the river silting up completely, was approved at a meeting in Niamey, Niger.
  • Sea lions apparently shot in Columbia River traps
    [released on: 05/05/2008]
    Source: OregonLive.com
    Columbia River - Six animals are discovered dead near Bonneville Dam, halting a program to capture the protected animals
    A controversial sea-lion trapping program along the Columbia River was suspended Sunday after authorities discovered six federally protected animals in floating traps dead, apparently from gunshot wounds.
  • Seattle fish-egg auctions lure hundreds of millions in bids
    [released on: 05/05/2008]
    Source: OregonLive.com
    Bidders walk deliberately among trays of small, lung-shaped sacs of fish eggs. The room is white from floor to ceiling, setting off the bright red roe sacs. Constantly humming air filters keep fishy odors at bay.
    Scanning each tray, Akiro Miura picked up a pair of sacs, studied their color and gently squeezed them to check their firmness. Hundreds of millions of dollars trade hands during the brief pollock roe auctions here, and Miura was accordingly judicious.
  • Buffett rebuffs Klamath dam protesters
    [released on: 05/05/2008]
    Source: OregonLive.com
    American Indians and salmon fishermen who had hoped to earn a private audience with billionaire Warren Buffett failed to win much support Saturday for removing four dams along the Klamath River.
    Buffett again told the protesters that his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., won't decide the fate of the dams its PacifiCorp utility owns. Instead, Berkshire will defer to regulators in California and Oregon, where the Klamath runs, and to federal officials.
  • Next decade 'may see no warming'
    [released on: 05/05/2008]
    Source: BBC NEWS
    The Earth's temperature may stay roughly the same for a decade, as natural climate cycles enter a cooling phase, scientists have predicted.
    A new computer model developed by German researchers, reported in the journal Nature, suggests the cooling will counter greenhouse warming.
  • Tullow Oil loses Congolese permit
    [released on: 05/05/2008]
    Source: BBC NEWS
    The Congolese government has given an oil permit claimed by Tullow Oil to a rival consortium.
    Tullow, Heritage Oil and Cohydro signed an agreement for two permits on Lake Albert, which borders Uganda, in 2006.
  • Coalition says it knows real reason for massive salmon collapse
    [released on: 28/04/2008]
    Source: t r u t h o u t
    Salmon fishing is closed in ocean waters off California's shore for the first time in state history, regulators are poised to extend the ban to Sacramento-area rivers and the region's fishing industry - which includes everything from commercial fishing fleets to mom-and-pop bait shops - is scrambling to deal with the loss.
    While state and federal regulators openly suspect poor ocean conditions as causing the dramatic and "mysterious" drop-off in the salmon population in California and Oregon waters, a coalition of recreational and commercial fishermen, Indian tribes, environmental groups and some prominent scientists don't see the collapse as a mystery at all. And they point to a different culprit: other state and federal regulators.
  • Abuse a Mainstay of Asia's Seafood Industry
    [released on: 28/04/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    Workers in Southeast Asia's expanding shrimp industry suffer tremendous abuse and sometimes live virtual slavery, says a report released this week.
    Sexual and physical abuse, debt bondage, child labour and dangerous working conditions are common place and western consumers must realise what they are supporting, says the report fro human rights campaigner the Solidarity Center.
  • Toothfish Farming Starts in Chile
    [released on: 28/04/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    La Araucana Education Corporation and four private Chilean companies have begun a Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) farming project.
    Officially launched this week, the aim of the project is to develop farming technologies for Patagonian toothfish from wild breeding fish that have adapted to captive systems. The four-year project is expected to produce a first batch of juveniles -weighing 5 grams each- from incubated ovas in controlled systems.
  • Self-Policing - Best Way to Protect Wild Salmon
    [released on: 18/04/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    "The answer is a production system that regulates itself," says John Volpe, a University of Victoria biologist.
    In an article for Ontario's Business Edge, he says that third-party policing strategies do not work. And, although the BC government recently issued an indefinite moratorium on applications and licences for open-net salmon farms in northern coastal waters, Volpe says it will not make a difference to the plight of wild salmon in more southern waters, nor benefit consumers.
  • Taking a Lead in Setting Standards
    [released on: 18/04/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    New Zealand is helping contribute to the development of international standards surrounding shellfish farming, says Minister of primary industries Jim Anderton. It is in negotiation with WWF to help it develop an international commitment to specific production criteria.
  • U.S. grocer restricts Chilean salmon
    [released on: 18/04/2008]
    Source: iht.com
    Safeway, among the largest supermarket chains in the United States, has restricted some purchases of farm-raised Chilean salmon over concerns about a virus that is killing millions of fish there.
    The supermarket chain decided late last month to stop buying from its supplier of Chilean salmon, Marine Harvest, because the virus for infectious salmon anemia, or ISA, was "impacting the quality of the product," Brian Dowling, a Safeway spokesman, said this week. Dowling said the virus, which does not pose a risk to humans, was nevertheless affecting the size of the salmon, "which impacts the quality and the taste."
  • Malta reiterates commitment to sustainable fishing
    [released on: 18/04/2008]
    Source: MaltaMedia News
    Malta has reiterated its commitment to fight against the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) activities. This was stated by the Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs, George Pullicino during of a seminar which discussed the theme ‘Preventing, Deterring and Eliminating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU)’.
    The European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Dr Joe Borg also attended and addressed the seminar.
  • Auckland Takes First Steps With Regulated Aquaculture
    [released on: 11/04/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) has taken an initial precautionary position on the future management of aquaculture (marine farming) in the region’s coastal marine area.
    The ARC, which will consult on this matter, will use the new legislative tools provided by the 2005 Aquaculture Law Reforms (Invited Private Plan Changes and Excluded Areas) to best determine where new Aquaculture Management Areas may be established and where they are inappropriate.
  • Venezuela Outlaws Trawl Fishing
    [released on: 11/04/2008]
    Source: OneWorld U.S.
    Trawl fishing is on its way out in Venezuela, amid demonstrations by artisanal fisherfolk who support the new law as amended by President Hugo Chavez.
    "Trawling is killing off fish species. In our case, we fish with hooks, catch a pargo (sea bream), try again, catch a mero (grouper), and clean them as we go. We used to fill the boats in a single night, but for years now that hasn't happened, and sometimes we come back empty-handed," Manuel Gonzalez told IPS.
  • Innovative Project Making way for Sustainable Haddock
    [released on: 04/04/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    Sustainably farmed haddock could soon be on the plates of UK consumers thanks to an award-winning project by Viking Fish Farms.
    The project to develop a suitable feed for farmed haddock using cereal proteins has been recognised by the Home-Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) Enterprise Awards, which encourage innovation with UK grain.
  • Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
    [released on: 04/04/2008]
    Source: FishCode News
    The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI), the official marketing organization for the State of Alaska, has notified us that the questionnaire approach has been used to assess CCRF compliance for Alaskan fisheries. ASMI, in the face of the proliferation of numerous certification schemes and eco-labels, has decided to focus on the FAO Code, with the aim to establish a “common denominator” that will facilitate understanding, and allow the seafood marketplace to procure and market responsible seafood.
  • Tuna talks look to cut down on overfishing
    [released on: 28/03/2008]
    Source: Yahoo! Asia News
    Leading tuna consumers and producers met Wednesday to look at how to stop countries breaching quotas as a global fad for Japanese food drives tuna stocks to dangerously low levels.
    Amid environmentalists' warnings that tuna would eventually go extinct at current fishing rates, a 2006 deal agreed to cut the annual catch of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic Ocean by one-fifth to 25,500 tonnes by 2010.
  • Salmon Virus Indicts Chile’s Fishing Methods
    [released on: 28/03/2008]
    Source: The New York Times
    Looking out over the low green mountains jutting through miles of placid waterways here in southern Chile, it is hard to imagine that anything could be amiss. But beneath the rows of neatly laid netting around the fish farms just off the shore, the salmon are dying.
    A virus called infectious salmon anemia, or I.S.A., is killing millions of salmon destined for export to Japan, Europe and the United States. The spreading plague has sent shivers through Chile’s third-largest export industry, which has left local people embittered by laying off more than 1,000 workers.
  • Findings Support Fish Consumption During Pregnancy
    [released on: 28/03/2008]
    Source: seafoodCURRENTS
    A study scheduled for April publication in the American Journal of Epidemiology finds that women who ate the most fish (more than 2 weekly servings) during the second trimester of their pregnancies delivered children with the highest scores on two cognitive tests when they reached 3 years of age.
  • British seas turning green, says watchdog
    [released on: 28/03/2008]
    Source: The Guardian
    Britain's fishing industry is in line to become one of the greenest in the world, with a record number of fleets to be awarded coveted "eco-labels" for their catches of haddock, dover sole, herring and prawns.
    The Marine Stewardship Council, which oversees the best-known environmental scheme for fisheries, said several of the UK's largest fleets were on course to join its labelling scheme, proving their environmental credentials.
  • An ocean's ripple effects
    [released on: 28/03/2008]
    Source: The Boston Globe
    HOME TO thriving coral reefs, some 500 species of fish, and bird breeding grounds, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) sits in the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and Australia. It is a living example of how marine resources can be preserved without harming the economies that depend on them.
    The size of California, PIPA is a place that Greg Stone calls "one of the last wilderness areas." The vice president of marine programs at the New England Aquarium, Stone has spent years working with the government of Kiribati, a nation of equatorial islands, to create the marine sanctuary.
  • Why fish prices are skyrocketing
    [released on: 25/03/2008]
    Source: New Vision Online
    Increased demand for fish, abusive exploitation of the lake and eutrofication have caused scarcity, making the prices skyrocket.
    Eutrofication is excessive mineral enrichment of rivers, lakes and their surroundings primarily with sewage, nitrates and phosphates from fertilisers used in agriculture.
  • Chinook Salmon Vanish Without a Trace
    [released on: 18/03/2008]
    Source: The News York Times
    The Chinook salmon that swim upstream to spawn in the fall, the most robust run in the Sacramento River, have disappeared. The almost complete collapse of the richest and most dependable source of Chinook salmon south of Alaska left gloomy fisheries experts struggling for reliable explanations — and coming up dry.
    Whatever the cause, there was widespread agreement among those attending a five-day meeting of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council here last week that the regional $150 million fishery, which usually opens for the four-month season on May 1, is almost certain to remain closed this year from northern Oregon to the Mexican border. A final decision on salmon fishing in the area is expected next month.
  • UGANDA: Fishing for self-reliance in the north
    [released on: 14/03/2008]
    Source: IRIN News
    Lilly Ogwang tucked in her long skirt and stepped into the water to join the other women from her village in northern Uganda’s Lira District harvesting fish from their jointly owned pond.
    Dragging their net from one end of the pond to the other, the women of Obanga Tek Itecere village soon emerged from the muddy water with a huge catch.
  • Iceland whaling go-ahead 'likely'
    [released on: 14/03/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Iceland is likely to approve the commercial hunting of whales for this summer, the BBC has learned.
    Its whaling industry is asking for a quota of about 100 minke whales and a number of fin whales too.
  • European Parliament approves new fisheries accord with Guinea-Bissau
    [released on: 14/03/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    The European Parliament approved on Tuesday a new fishing accord with Guinea-Bissau that was negotiated last month in Brussels by the Bissau government.
  • Satellite guidance enabling Sri Lankan fishermen to net larger catch
    [released on: 14/03/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    Fishermen in Sri Lanka will be able to harvest ocean resources without wasting their time and fuel. The National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) is fully equipped to provide information on locations of large fish populations. This has been made possible through satellite technology for the benefit of the fishing community, NARA Chairman K. Saputhanthri said.
  • Symposium "Science and challenge of managing small pelagics fisheries on shared stocks in Northwest Africa"
    [released on: 10/07/2008]

    Symposium Website
  • Alaska Predicts Largest Salmon Harvest for 58 Years
    [released on: 11/03/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its statewide forecast of 2008's Alaskan commercial salmon harvest. It is projected to be approximately 137 million for all salmon species, making the 2008 harvest the 18th largest harvest since 1960.
    The total harvest is expected to be comprised of an estimated contribution of 672,000 Chinook salmon, 47.1 million sockeye salmon, 4.4 million coho salmon, 66 million pink salmon, and 18.7 million chum salmon.
  • Oceans at Risk
    [released on: 11/03/2008]
    Source: The New York Times
    There is no shortage of scientific studies documenting the degradation of the world’s oceans, the decline of marine ecosystems and the collapse of important fish species. Several have appeared in the last month. What is in short supply is a sustained effort by world governments and other institutions to do something about it.
    Last month, a team of American, British and Canadian researchers concluded that not a single square foot of ocean had been left untouched by modern society, and that humans had fouled 41 percent of the seas with polluted runoff, overfishing and other abuses.
  • Tentative steps to whaling peace
    [released on: 11/03/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    Talks between pro- and anti-whaling countries on how to resolve their differences have ended with agreement to look for dialogue and common ground.
    Japan pledged not to seek commercial whaling quotas in the immediate future, and offered to discuss its current scientific hunt in the Antarctic.
  • Online bibliography on women in fisheries launched
    [released on: 06/03/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) has announced the publication of an online annotated bibliography on issues that deal with women in fisheries.
    ICSF is an international non-governmental organization that works towards the establishment of equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector.
  • Whaling body seeks path to peace
    [released on: 06/03/2008]
    Source: BBC News
    The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is due to open a meeting in London which aims to find common ground between pro- and anti-whaling nations.
    Some anti-whaling countries are keen to explore compromise with Japan, though others remain implacably opposed to any resumption of commercial hunting.
  • Clean Seas Claims Tuna Breeding Breakthrough
    [released on: 06/03/2008]
    Source: seafoodCURRENTS
    Australian aquaculture company Clean Seas Tuna Ltd. announced yesterday a breakthrough in creating an artificial breeding program for southern bluefin tuna.
    After collecting "significant quantities" of tuna sperm and eggs from captive fish at its land-based breeding facility in Arno Bay, Australia, the company plans to produce more than 10,000 metric tons of tuna annually within the next five years.
  • BRAZIL: Small Fishermen Trade in Nets for Oyster Farms
    [released on: 11/03/2008]
    Source: IPS
    In a modest restaurant on a beach at the southern tip of the Brazilian island of Florianópolis, a couple celebrates, with champagne and oysters, "one more year of vacations and love."
    The owner of the restaurant, former fisherman Antonio Amaral, has his own reasons to celebrate: nearly 20 years without economic upsets thanks to a successful development project carried out by the local university.
  • LIBERIA: Reviving fisheries could boost economy and health
    [released on: 06/03/2008]
    Source: IRIN
    Nine out of Liberia’s 15 counties lie along 570 km of the Atlantic Ocean and small scale fishing provides a major source of income and nutrition for coastal communities, but the sector has been neglected by the government and donors during and since the country’s ruinous civil war.
    “Donor support to the fisheries sector of Liberia has been minimal”, Winfred Hammond, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Country Director in Liberia told IRIN.
  • Reviving fisheries could boost economy and health in Liberia
    [released on: 18/03/2008]
    Source: ICSF
    Nine out of Liberia’s 15 counties lie along 570 km of the Atlantic Ocean and small scale fishing provides a major source of income and nutrition for coastal communities, but the sector has been neglected by the government and donors during and since the country’s ruinous civil war.
    “Donor support to the fisheries sector of Liberia has been minimal”, Winfred Hammond, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Country Director in Liberia told IRIN. “As a result the sector has been largely marginalised from most development and food security debates and is absent from national planning processes,” he said.
  • You Are What You Eat
    [released on: 28/02/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    When the diets of farmed fish are altered, the food we ingest also changes.
    For his doctorate, Sverre Ludvig Seierstad investigated the biological consequences of exchanging the fish oils commonly used in fish feed with vegetable oils.
    What consequences might this have on both fish and human health?
    The research project "Fjord til bord (Fjord to table)" has been a collaboration between the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, the National institute for Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), Nutreco ARC and Ullevål University Hospital.
  • FAO FishCode Review issue No. 21 has been published
    [released on: 28/02/2008]
    Source: FishCode
    Using questionnaires based on the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries as diagnostic tools in support of fisheries management
    The publication sets out a series of questionnaires corresponding as closely as possible to clauses from Articles 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which may be useful to managers and other sector stakeholders for the evaluation of compliance of national or local fisheries with CCRF provisions. Other assessment approaches used for related purposes are reviewed as well.
  • Non-Native Fish a Benefit Not a Burden
    [released on: 28/02/2008]
    Source: TheFishSite Latest News
    A major study authored by a leading conservation ecologist from Bournemouth University has found that the majority of non-native fish introduced to freshwater habitats around the world actually do more good than harm.
    Dr Rodolphe Gozlan from Bournemouth's Centre for Conservation Ecology and Environmental Change, believes that too much is made of the small risks associated with these introductions.
  • Human Shadows on the Seas
    [released on: 26/02/2008]
    Source: The New York Times
    In 1980, after college, I joined the crew of a sailboat partway through a circumnavigation of the globe. Becalmed and roasting one day during a 21-day crossing of the western Indian Ocean, several of us dived over the side. Within a few swimming strokes, the bobbing hull seemed a toy over my shoulder as I glanced back through my diving mask. Below me, my shadow and the boat’s dwindled to the vanishing point in the two-mile-deep water. Human activity seemed nothing when set against the sea itself.
    Just a few weeks later, on an uninhabited island in a remote part of the Red Sea, I was proved wrong. The shore above the tide line was covered with old light bulbs, apparently tossed from the endless parade of ships over the years.
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