A furious Brexiteer MEP has lashed out at the EU for destroying UK fisheries, claiming that many British fishermen wouldn’t be able to even buy Christmas gifts this year. MEP June Mummery took issue with the controversial EU Common Fisheries Policy - a common target for British fishermen who claim it has ruined their livelihood. Speaking at a debate at the EU's Fisheries Committee, Ms Mummery asked when was the last time any of the EU elite had bothered to speak to any fishermen face-to-face.
The MEP challenged the Fisheries Committee members to get out and "speak to the people" for themselves to better understand the state of the fishing industry.
The question silenced the room, as the Brexit Party MEP went on to outline how British waters had been left “without any fish” because of EU rules.
Figures for October this year, the most recent month for which statistics are available, show that the export value of farmed products of all types totalled 3.1 billion kroner (ISK) or GBP 19.6 million.
While the figures are still a long way short of the total that rivals Norway and Scotland sell overseas in an average month – and are likely to remain so – they show the country is moving up the fish farming league at an impressive rate.
Aquaculture exports were just a fraction of that figure five or six years ago.
If the current trend continues for the final two months of 2019, Iceland’s aquaculture exports are expected to reel in more than ISK 24 billion – or around GBP 152 million.
The value of catch from Icelandic fishing vessels in September was 12.4 billion ISK, 13.6% more than in September last year. Demersal catch value increased by 26.5% and the total value was 8.2 billion ISK. All major demersal species increased in value compared to September last year, cod by 23.6%, haddock by 37% and saithe by 35.4%. Value of pelagic catch was 5.8% less than in September 2018, or about 3.4 billion ISK whereas it was nearly 3.6 billion in 2018. The dominant pelagic species was herring, with value of 2.2 billion ISK. Value of flatfish was 5.1% more than in September 2018 or 590 million ISK.
Total value of catch in the 12 month period from October 2018 to September 2019 was 144.2 million ISK which is a 15.4% increase compared with the same period a year earlier.
Fish production increased in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal, and came down in states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu during 2018-19.
In a written reply to Shobha Karandlaje, Member of Parliament from Udupi-Chikmagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, said fish production in the country increased from 10.26 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 13.34 million tonnes in 2018-19. The production stood at 12.59 mt and 11.43 mt in 2017-18 and 2016-17, respectively.
Andhra Pradesh topped the list in fish production with 3.99 mt (2018-19), 3.44 mt (2017-18), and 2.76 mt (2016-17). This was followed by West Bengal at 1.77 mt , 1.74 mt and 1.7 mtduring 2018-19, 2017-18 and 2016-17, respectively.
High on the Chilcotin plateau in British Columbia’s Interior, the chief of a local First Nation says the traditional diet of its members is threatened by a landslide more than 150 kilometre away.
Tl’etinqox Chief Joe Alphonse, who also represents five other local nations as tribal chairman of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, says Fraser River tributaries once teeming with salmon have shown paltry returns since the Big Bar landslide was discovered in June.
“On a good year, you can run across the river on the backs of sockeye, that’s how thick our rivers are. And bright, bright, bright almost fluorescent orange colour, it’s an awesome sight,” he said.
Norwegian fishing company Gerda Marie AS is about to take delivery of Peterhead pelagic vessel Kings Cross.
Kings Cross will replace the old Gerda Marie, which was built in 1986 and which the company acquired in 1989. Kings Cross is currently at the Karstensen yard in Skagen being prepared to join the Norwegian registry.
One of the few Scottish vessels rigged for both trawling and purse seining, Kings Cross was built at Karstensens Skibsværft in 2016 for Lunar Fishing Company and the Wiseman Fishing Company in Peterhead.
Built to the yard’s own design, Kings Cross has a 78.65 metre overall length and a 15.60 metre beam. It has a 5220kW Wärtsila 9L32E2 main engine driving a 4200mm diameter propeller, and a sophisticated energy management system. Tank capacity on board is 2500 cubic metres, chilled by a 2x1300kW RSW plant. The package of deck equipment is from Karmøy Winch.
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, has indicated that Ghana has recorded a bumper harvest of fish in 2019.
Cold stores, she said, are not even enough to hold the fish glut.
The minister said this when she accompanied President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to present some 6,336 outboard motors and other fishing equipment to fisherfolk along the coast on Tuesday, 3 December 2019.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — From the surface, these 22 square miles of water are unexceptional.
But dip beneath the surface — go down 60 or 70 feet — and you’ll find a spectacular seascape. Sponges, barnacles and tube worms cover rocky ledges on the ocean floor, forming a “live bottom.”
Gray’s Reef is little more than a drop in the ocean 19 miles off the Georgia coast, but don’t confuse size for significance. In one of his last official acts, President Jimmy Carter declared the reef a national marine sanctuary at the urging of conservationists who said its abundance of life was unique and worth saving for future generations.
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