Fishing ban proposed near Rockall after rare scientific finds

[knocker]

A frilled shark head. The ancient 'living fossil' species of shark that dates back at least 90m years was caught during the survey around Rockall. Photograph: Francis Neat

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jun/14/fishing-banned-rockall-new-species-found?CMP=twt_gu

[mike Meehan]

This proposed fishing ban is a step in the right direction - it's amazing what is turning up in the oceans and it supports the view that we know more about space than what we do in our own oceans.

 

Personally I would like to see significant portions of the sea blocked off for decades at a time to give chance for fish stocks to improve, though this is a bit more complicated than it appears at face value because many species migrate with the seasons.

 

I would also like to see the current system of deep sea trawling changed altogether - the trawl nets cause a lot of damage to the sea bed and are indiscriminate about what ends up in the net.

 

In the period between the wars, my step-father was a fisherman out of Grimsby and then they would sail as far as Newfoundland and catch the cod by line fishing - this involved  members of the crew being set off in small boats from the parent ship and dropping a multitude of baited hooks over the side to catch the fish but at least it was sustainable.

 

It was labour intensive but in those days the cod were big, so I am sure that if some R & D were to be put into this it could be a system brought up to date - meanwhile the cod and other fish in the protected areas could grow to become large again.

 

We owe it to future generations to develop sustainable fishing rather than the wholesale rape of the sea we get today and there is little doubt that if we treat the sea right it will treat us right.

[mike Meehan]

To add to my post above, on Monday night on Beeb 1 there was a program relating to food and part of it consisted of a system by the Norwegians of line fishing - it consisted of baiting thousands of hooks on a line with herring, then chucking it over the side for a few hours, then dragging it in.

 

This system, though partly mechanised to an extent, was labour intensive to an extent but it is surely an improvement over the trawling method since it is more selective - it was mostly cod which took the bait - and it does not disturb the sea bed.

[Mountain Snow]

I was impressed with the way these guys fish tuna. Great documentary series, worth watching if they repeat it again.