DAVID CONOVER from Stony Brook University, New York, claims that fishing only for large fish and rejecting the small fry creates a selection pressure which forces down the size of individual fish (快猫短视频, 13 July, p 21). If trawlers took some of the smaller ones, the biomass of the fish population would actually go up, rather than down, he says. For some time European policy has been to throw the smaller fish back, so if Conover says is right, fish populations must be severely depleted.
I raised this suggestion with fisheries minister Elliot Morley. His response was rather cool. From a European standpoint, Conover鈥檚 work and his recommendations need some qualification. It was a lab study of a comparatively short-lived captive species and much more heavily harvested than commercial stocks in Europe.
The recommendation for a maximum size limit would not have much effect in European waters, where fishing has already eliminated most of the large ones. Certainly, concern in Europe is that many of the fish caught have not reached maturity, so a minimum size limit is still valuable. And the advantage of using a closed area to restrict and maintain genetic diversity must be viewed case by case. Many European commercial species migrate in a way that negates the benefits of a closed area.
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Morley added that fisheries scientists accept how widespread concerns are about the genetic effects of fishing. He intends to bring the matter to the attention of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
WEST AFRICAN fisheries, once among the richest in the world, are on the brink of collapse. 快猫短视频 recently reported the crisis in the African fisheries (13 July, p 5). Livelihoods in various African countries are being threatened by severe overfishing.
But I gather the problem is a complex mix of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing exacerbated by ever-growing pressures to expand existing fishing agreements and establish new ones before any attempt is made to ensure they are environmentally sustainable and good value for money.
The European Union is a major player in African waters having recently struck new deals to fish off the coasts of Angola, Senegal and Mauritania. I gather that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had quite a row with Spain and Portugal in the European Commission to ensure that sustainability play a major concern in the new negotiations with Mauritania.
THE marine environment has for far too long been low down on the political agenda. So it was a shame that John Randall was forced to withdraw his private members鈥� Marine Wildlife Conservation Bill (快猫短视频, 9 February, p 49) last session because a handful of peers 鈥� Lords Caithness and Geddes in particular 鈥� tabled late amendments to the bill, leaving insufficient time to complete it in the parliamentary session.
But I now hear that the cause is not dead. Heavyweight peers, such as environment experts Lady Wendy Nicol and the Earl of Selborne are embarrassed at what the Upper House has done to a bill passed by the Commons. So they are liaising with DEFRA, which devoted time and trouble to the Randall bill, to see that it is on the agenda for their chamber at the beginning of the next session.
