Marine Life & Conservation
The Marine Conservation Society: More data and better management needed to fix our fisheries
The Marine Conservation Society, the UK’s leading ocean charity, has released its latest ratings, painting a picture of ocean health and the sustainability credentials of seafood available in the UK.
November will mark two years since the UK Fisheries Act (2020) passed into law, setting in motion a new legislative framework for managing UK fisheries. The next step in the process, the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS), is due to be finalised in November and has been identified by the charity as a key moment to fix our fisheries.
Kenneth Bodles, Head of Fisheries & Aquaculture at the Marine Conservation Society said: “With environmental laws recently under attack, we cannot afford to let the Joint Fisheries Statement be derailed. Early signs show some promising outcomes in the JFS, such as Fisheries Management Plans for bass and flatfish, but the devil will be in the detail.
“The UK Government and devolved administrations must underpin future fisheries policies and decision-making with strong scientific evidence and robust data. This is crucial for achieving sustainable fisheries and protecting and restoring our marine environment.”
The Marine Conservation Society is calling for all governments of the UK to hold strong on their promises in the JFS at a time when deregulation threatens to undermine existing marine conservation laws. The charity wants to see the JFS deliver an ‘ecosystem-based approach’ to fisheries management – taking a holistic view of how catching fish will affect the wider environment.
Fisheries management body, Natural Resources Wales, have shown the effectiveness of this approach, with Dee estuary cockles being green rated on the Good Fish Guide. The fishery adopts the principles of an ecosystem-based approach by protecting vulnerable habitats and ensuring enough cockles are left in the sea to keep local seabird populations healthy. The charity would like to see more of this best practice across the UK.
The Marine Conservation Society is currently working alongside WWF and RSPB, forming the Future Fisheries Alliance, to campaign for better data to be collected on boats at sea, using Remote Electronic Monitoring with cameras (REM). More data would allow scientists and governments to make informed decisions about how much seafood to catch, to reduce overfishing and put measures in place to reduce bycatch.
Charlotte Coombes, Good Fish Guide Manager, said: “Many of the ratings on the Good Fish Guide are negatively affected by a lack of data. If we knew more about what’s going on at sea, measures could be put in place to protect wildlife, and ensure we have a healthy ocean and a sustainable UK fishing industry.”
Around half of seafood produced in the UK is farmed. Farmed seafood has fared well in the latest Good Fish Guide update, with GLOBALG.A.P. certified Norwegian farmed halibut moving from an amber rating to green due to stricter requirements for sourcing fish feed. Meanwhile, wild halibut still appears on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) list of threatened species and is red rated on the Guide.
Dawn Purchase, Aquaculture Programme Manager, said: “It’s a common misconception that farmed seafood is not as responsible a choice as its wild-caught counterpart. However, this season’s update to the Good Fish Guide has shown that for some species it is often a more ocean-friendly option.”
Farmed shellfish, including oysters, are green rated on the Guide, while their wild alternatives are often red or amber rated.
Find the latest sustainable seafood advice for wild-caught and farmed seafood on the Good Fish Guide, downloadable to your phone from www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide.
The Good Fish Guide is constantly updating. Its latest tool, launched this month, is the ‘Seafood Checker’, a new tool to guide shoppers through to a sustainability rating. Asking questions such as ‘where was your fish caught’ and ‘does your fish have an ecolabel’, the step-by-step tool shows what to look out for on packaging to make sustainable choices easier. Try the new Seafood Checker at www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/seafood-checker/
After a two-year tour of UK art galleries, community spaces and aquariums, the Shark Trust’s acclaimed Oceanic31 exhibition takes its final bow at the Royal Geographical Society later this month. And the unique collection of artwork, depicting 31 species of oceanic sharks and rays, donated by 31 artists, is now open for bids from art lovers and shark enthusiasts. The online auction, launched today, will close on the 7th December at 8pm (BST). The money raised will support the Shark Trust Oceanics Programme.
People can now bid on 27 of the artworks by visiting this website:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
It is a chance to own a beautiful piece of original art and to support the Shark Trust. The timing of the auction also means that these would make a very special Christmas gift for any shark-lover.
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- Bigeye Thresher Shark by Janina Rossiter
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- Carcharodon carcharias by Jimmy Higgs
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- Croc VR 2030 by Tom Mead
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- Oceanic Whitetip by ATM
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- Silky Street by ScapaJoe
The diversity of pieces mirrors that of the sharks and rays they represent. You can bid on paintings, digital creations, sculptures, mixed media and more. You can pick your favourite artist or species of shark. Or you can select the perfect artwork to make a statement in your home or office. Whichever you choose, you will be supporting the work to protect these amazing animals.
One of the pieces of art has been selected to be auctioned live by Steve Backshall at the For the Love of Sharks event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 29th November. In addition to this, two further pieces will be raffled at this event, giving people a chance to win an incredible piece of shark art. For the Love of Sharks is the Shark Trust’s flagship evening. A night to celebrate sharks. Steve Backshall is the headline speaker at this event that will see other prominent shark advocates join him on stage.
Tickets for the event can be snapped up here:
https://thesharktrust.org.uk/Event/flos24
Those that would like to see the Oceanic 31 exhibition have one final chance. It is being displayed at the Pavilion at the Royal Geographic Society from 26th November until the 7th December. Entry is free.
Find out more here:
https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/oceanic-31
Paul Cox, Shark Trust CEO, Said “This exhibition has given us the opportunity to reach out to a new audience. And inspire more people with the wonderful sharks and rays on which our Big Shark Pledge campaign is based. We are immensely grateful to the 31 artists who have worked so hard to create these works.”
Bid for your favourite Oceanic 31 artwork here:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
Banner Image: Smooth Hammerhead by Alicia Hayden
Until 28 November, prizes worth a massive £10,000 – including experiences, products and tuition – feature in a line-up of items that can be won for £5 in an online prize draw to celebrate Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation’s 20th anniversary and help generate crucial funds for the future.
Top of the list of prizes is the chance to spend time with adventurer and wildlife expert Steve Backshall, a workout session with Nat Geo star Aldo Kane, a kayaking trip alongside white-water expert and diver Sal Montgomery and a Zoom call with ‘shark whisperer’ Cristina Zenato.
On top of that, some of the most admired companies in the diving and scuba industry have been quick to support the charity with fabulous prizes that make the £5 ticket price worth more than just a flutter.
Master Liveaboards, BSAC, Midlands Diving Chamber, Go Freediving and Blue Shark Snorkel have all generously donated experience prizes, while celebrated photographer Alex Mustard has donated a print and artists Scott Gleed and Olivier Leger have donated a sculpture and illustration to help boost the fundraising pot.
Fourth Element has donated Ocean Positive gear and LA watch company Nodus has gifted the charity a stunning dive watch. For land lovers, the charity has included a five star London hotel stay at Bankside Hotel plus a family visit to Longleat Safari Park in the roster of prizes.
Campaign director for Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed with support from companies and individuals that we truly admire and who have supported us on our 20 year journey and we’re truly grateful to them all. While we feel incredibly proud of our achievements over the past two decades – and we are super excited about the next chapter – this prize draw isn’t a vanity project. It represents a real lifeline to our work and important advancements in the global protection of sharks. So we hope divers, dive clubs and even bargain hunters grab some tickets to make this a massive success.”
The charity hopes that the prize draw will generate crucial funds to launch a brand new, ground-breaking, campaign to enrol the public and increase support for the protection of sharks around the world.
To enter the competition visit www.bite-back.com/prizedraw. The prize winners will be announced on 1 December 2024.
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