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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.

Responsible Sourcing Guide - Nephrops.

The aim of the project was to demonstrate an alternative fishing method commonly known as Outrigger trawling. This involved replacing the heavy beam trawls which are normally towed by the vessel with two demersal trawls, each trawl spread with its own set of trawl doors and towed from the derricks. This change alone will have a significant impact on bottom and gear drag. The steady increase in fuel prices was another driver for the fleet to look at alternatives to beam trawling. By adopting the outrigger fishing method vessels can reduce their fuel consumption enabling increased profitability and a reduction in environmental impact.

Final minutes of the Common Language Group meeting held at Billingsgate on Thusday 27 February 2014.

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.

Due to the recent tightening of regulations surrounding the disposal of seafood processing waste to landfill, fish and shellfish processors are now facing a rise in the cost and difficulty of waste disposal. This is of particular concern in remote areas where alternative uses (e.g. fishmeal) are neither accessible nor economically viable and therefore, cost effective and environmentally-sound solutions to the disposal of this waste need to be found. This report examines the potential for disposal at sea, together with the likely impacts and advice on the selection of appropriate sites for disposal.

Minutes of the eighth meeting of the Seafish Domestic and Export Sector Panel. Held at The Wesley Hotel, 81-103 Euston Street, London on Monday 19 October 2015.

Final minutes of the Common Language Group meeting held at Billingsgate market, London on Wednesday 5 November 2014.

This Responsible Sourcing Guide to Nephrops contains information on sustainability issues, stock assessment, conservation measures and management worldwide for the individual stocks of this species updated to 2013. There is a short section on the product characteristics of the species. The information was obtained from scientific, industry and governmental sources and appropriate references are given

This report describes work carried out under contract to MAFF. It examines the implications of the impending ban on high seas drift netting on that sector of the Cornish fleet that is currently licensed to fish for albacore tuna. More specifically, it covers investigations in the UK, Ireland and northern Spain into alternative fishing methods, the potential for converting the vessels in question and some of the market aspects of these changes. It is concluded that conversion to the trolling system of towed lines is the most appropriate option for the Cornish vessels, that this conversion could be carried out at a realistic cost, that crews could adapt to the necessary changes quite readily and that market opportunities would be open to re-equipped vessels. Given the current volatility of the global market for albacore tuna it is not possible to predict whether the converted vessels would be commercially viable. Indications are that, in the long term, conditions in Europe could be favourable to vessels that converted to trolling.

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 and sardine.

The feasibility and costs of alternative fishing methods.