Search results

Annual Review of the feed grade fish stocks used to produce fishmeal and fish oil for the UK market This review focuses on recent independent documentary assessments of these stocks. These are predominantly published by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). It covers sandeel, sprat, capelin, herring, blue whiting, Norway pout, anchovy, jack mackerel, sardine and menhaden.

The native oyster (Ostrea edulis) is a European Biodiversity Action Plan species. The UK has a responsibility to enhance natural (and ultimately fishable) stocks under the Native Oyster Species Action Plan - NOSAP). In this FIFG-funded project, the extensive pond production of spat at a commercial oyster hatchery in Kent was investigated from summer 2006 to autumn 2008. Although disappointing in that no viable spat were produced, the project did deliver a low-cost technology that is transferrable to other areas, for example sites along the east coast of England where managed realignment is being considered. (The partners in the project were Seasalter Shellfish (Whitstable) Ltd. [FIFG applicant], SAGB & Seafish [in kind support]).

Our Annual Plan is taken from our 2015-18 Corporate Plan and details the programmes of work we will deliver in 2016/17 . The Plan sets out the costs associated with our work programmes as well as our Key Performance Indicators for the year.

The study covered fisheries from northwest Norway through the North Sea, English Channel/la Manche, Cantabrian Sea and Algarve to the French Mediterranean. It was carried out as a series of tasks. Task 1, preparation, involved reviewing each partner’s national fisheries and establishing liaison groups of fishermen and other industry members; Task 2, quantifying lost gear, required the partners to interview fishermen to establish their experiences of gear loss and then the survey the areas where losses were reported; Task 3, physical evolution, started with the retrieval of ‘naturally lost’ gears and then moved on to a series of exercises simulating gear loss and monitoring how the ‘lost’ gears changed over time; Task 4, ecosystem impacts, involved interpreting catch data from the experimental gears, raising the data to métier level and comparing the results to targeted commercial catches; Task 5, mitigating measures, established a sub-group to look at the ways in which gear loss is treated elsewhere, matched those approaches to the European fisheries and assessed the likely benefits of alternate strategies; Task 6, ran throughout the project and involved industry liaison, reporting and other dissemination. The work required a relatively high level of industry liaison. In practical terms this meant that each national partner set up a national advisory group (NAG) to guide the work and to ensure that the sea trials and recommendations were representative and realistic. The NAGs were mainly made up of experienced skippers but also included net riggers and other professionals as appropriate. This report, wherever possible, follows the sequence of tasks described above.

The benefits of sustainable fisheries and the need to mitigate the environmental impacts of fishing and aquaculture are increasingly in the public consciousness. Poorly implemented, government run, command and control management schemes have often failed to curb fishing effort, prevent overfishing and avoid environmental degradation. Alternative, market based approaches have shown promise and, among these, enabling informed consumer choice in seafood purchasing can generate strong motivation for improved catching and culture practices.

A report which analyses the economic contribution and value of the major aquaculture sub-sectors, and the most important farmed species in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The options for fish waste utilisation and disposal are becoming increasingly restricted, creating a significant problem for the UK fish industry. From capture through to processing, the industry generates a significant quantity of fish waste. This report estimates the types and quantities of fish waste generated in the different sectors, from catching to processing. It then describes many of the potentially higher value utilisation opportunities for fish waste and identifies some of those that may be most suitable for the UK industry.

This case is an in-depth review of brown crab products as seen from a consumer perspective. The case is produced as a specific output of the wider Acrunet Activity 5 which seeks to understand the wider system of brown crab practices from production to consumption. Topics covered include ethics of production (animal welfare - clawing, harvesting, storage and slaughter); food safety (biotoxins and cadmium); labelling; and stocks .

This report provides an assessment of the potential for open ocean, offshore finfish aquaculture in UK waters using candidate species which would have similar growth and performance characteristics to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and with due reference to other potential species candidates.