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WARM waters in the Atlantic could be forcing stocks of cod and other
cold-water white fish away from the coasts of Europe to northern waters.
European fishermen have cut their catches by a third in the past two years, but
the young fish continue to disappear from a wide area of the North Sea
(¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ, 20 November 1999, p 14).

Each autumn, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
advises the European Commission on key fish stocks. With this information, the
Commission can propose appropriate quotas for European Union member nations.
Elliot Morley, the junior minister with responsibilities for fisheries in the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has told me that according to the
latest ICES advice, the spawning stock—the number of mature fish producing
eggs—for cod in the North Sea is now growing, but it is still at, or
below, the specified safe level of 150 000 tonnes.

Morley went on to say that the size of the spawning stock over the next few
years will depend on the numbers of fish that were spawned in 1997 and 1998, and
on how many of them are killed through fishing in the meantime. Unfortunately,
the 1997 spawning resulted in the lowest number of year-old cod ever recorded in
the North Sea, and the 1998 spawning produced the second lowest. For this
reason, the ICES has recommended a significant reduction in quotas for 2000 to
help rebuild the stock.

The minister added that Britain has persuaded other member states of the
European Union to close certain areas for part of the year to protect juvenile
and spawning cod. It seems that the restrictions will be in place for this
year’s spawning season.

SPARROWHAWKS are on the move. Ever greater numbers of the birds are settling
near housing estates around Britain, where they obviously find plenty of food.
As a consequence, their numbers are growing. Sadly, Britain’s songbirds are
suffering. I know of one area at least where there were once 22 blackbirds, but
now there are only two. A ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ reader recently wrote to me
about the plight of British songbirds because the BBC used one of my
parliamentary questions to introduce its film Silent Spring Two. He is
concerned that the hawks have now descended upon his Cheshire estate.

But he is most concerned at the slant on the Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions’ Report of the UK Raptor Working Group,
published in February. He claims that its authors are more interested in the
preservation of these birds of prey than their effects on other species. The
report dedicates 10 pages—and the first section of its conclusions and
recommendations—to the illegal killing of raptors.

Although the report acknowledges the decline in songbird numbers, it rejects
any causal link between this and the growing number of birds of prey. It
attributes the decline of the songbirds solely to changes in farming practices.
It notes that sparrowhawks hunt more in woods than in open country. But what
about the breeding season, when they prey on garden birds? As my Cheshire
correspondent notes, the death of an adult songbird at this time of year
invariably means the death of its young, who cannot feed without the parent.

A number of MPs are determined to champion the songbirds. But to what effect,
I am less than certain. The DETR report was based on a five-year study into the
effects of raptors on grouse, other game birds and racing pigeons. However, it
is the songbird issue that has generated most press coverage in recent weeks.