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Microplastics is the term for a wide range of particles made from manmade polymers with an upper size limit of 5 mm. This is an update of the previous information sheet FS 92_04_19 produced in April 2016 and includes key findings from recent research studies. It contains a gap analysis, from the seafood industry’s perspective, of knowledge concerned with the consequences of microplastic pollution of the marine environment.

Final minutes of the Common Language Group meeting held in London on 2 March 2017.

Throughout much of the UK, the native oyster remains in a severely depleted state in the wild, having suffered for two centuries with over-exploitation, pests, disease, pollution and harsh winters. The native oyster is a Biodiversity Action Plan Species. Native oyster beds can form a flourishing part of the ecosystem, with many associated species. A significant driver for restoration of native oyster beds should therefore be re-creating and conserving an ecological resource in order to re-establish a biotope that was once common and covered wide areas of the UK inshore seabed.

'Off-bottom’ trawling techniques for the sustainable exploitation of non-pressure stocks in Cornish inshore waters.

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.

This report provides an in-depth review of brown crab issues as reported in the media. Issues covered include; ethics of production (clawing and harvesting); contamination; misrepresentation of pack messaging and stock status.

A transcript of the video recording of the Marketing Masterclass on Maximising Social Media business. This event was recorded in March 2021

Final minutes of the Common Language Group meeting held at Friends House, London on Tuesday 22 March 2016.

The mussel culture industry is one of the largest and most valuable fisheries in the UK representing almost 90% of total shellfish aquaculture production by weight in England and Wales with a value of around £14 million per year. Continuing productivity is significantly dependant on the movement of mussel seed from wild settlement areas to cultivation areas. Unfortunately, these shellfish movements can also spread pests such as the non-native slipper limpet (Crepidula fornicata) which has the potential to have a devastating effect on both fisheries and marine eco-systems as it out-competes other species for food and space as well as depositing pseudo-faeces that builds up to create cohesive ‘muds’. An accidental introduction of slipper limpets into the major UK mussel culture area of the Menai Straits, North Wales has recently occurred following a movement of mussel seed contaminated with slipper limpets from the English Channel. This led to urgent remedial action having to be taken by industry which involved removing the infested mussel seed and then smothering of any remaining slipper limpets with new slipper limpet free seed. There is a need therefore for the industry to self regulate and minimise risks in such transfers. Failure to do so will otherwise result in measures being imposed on industry in this respect. Positive action is now currently being undertaken in some regions as can be seen by the development of a Code of Good Practise by the Bangor Mussel Producers.

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.

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 .