- Over-fishing in the north Atlantic is seriously damaging
fish stocks, which are being "mined" at over twice the
recommended
rate, say conservationists.
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- Fishing vessels currently catch stocks of blue whiting
to feed farmed salmon.
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- The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, which fixed
the last quota for blue whiting at 650,000 tonnes, says fishermen caught
2.3m t in 2003.
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- Stocks of the fish will cease to be sustainable if
current
practices continue, says conservation body WWF.
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- Blue whiting, a deep sea relative of cod, tend to be
caught in international waters, from north Africa to the Barents
Sea.
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- Urgent need
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- The majority of fish caught are used as fishmeal, with
a small number being caught for human consumption.
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- A precautionary fishing quota of 650,000 tonnes was set
in 1994, but the system broke down in 2000.
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- Since then a diplomatic dispute between the EU, Norway
and Iceland has prevented a new limit being set.
-
- In the absence of a regulatory system, the number of
blue whiting caught in a year swelled to over two million in 2003,
according
to figures from the commission.
-
- Experts say current practices will cause the stock to
become unsustainable as there will soon be too few fish left for fisherman
to catch.
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- Kjartan Hoydal, secretary of the East Atlantic Fisheries
Commission, told BBC News Online: "A quota needs to be agreed so that
the current system comes to an end.
-
- "Stocks are being reduced at such a rate that it
will soon cease to be commercially viable to try to catch the
fish."
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- Slow growth
-
- And WWF - formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund -
is calling for the sale of blue whiting as fishmeal to stop.
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- Louise Heaps, of WWF, said: "At the moment stocks
are being 'mined' in a way that is tantamount to a free-for-all and it
is having a significant impact.
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- "We feel very strongly that blue whiting should
not be used as fish food at all until it is properly managed."
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- The countries involved in the diplomatic row will meet
in Brussels in July in a bid to establish a quota. Current practices have
also been condemned by Greenpeace.
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- A spokesman for the conservation group said:
"Destructive
and unsustainable fishing represents the greatest threat to our ocean
ecosystems.
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- "Deep sea ecosystems are particularly vulnerable
because they are often made up of slow-growing species which cannot
withstand
commercial fishing pressure."
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- © BBC MMIV
- http://NEWS.BBC.CO.UK/2/hi/uk_news/3856573.stm
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