Memorandum by the Sir Alistair Hardy Foundation
for Ocean Science
1. The Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for
Ocean Science (SAHFOS) welcomes the opportunity to contribute
to the House of Lords Call for Evidence on the above policy. Our
Foundation is a charity that operates the Continuous Plankton
Recorder (CPR) survey so that the comments below will focus more
on environmental rather than technical issues.
CONSERVATION/MANAGEMENT
2. I do not have the latest information
available to advise on the effectiveness of the new regulations
and can only respond on the basis of a general background view
that the measures in general, in general have not been as successful
as might be hoped, but that there are some positive signs eg for
cod. This is an issue that I wish to draw to your attention. In
researching the background to my reply I found it difficult to
locate a good summary of the current status of the stocks in relation
to improvements from the new measures. I draw your attention to
the SAHFOS Ecological Status Report http://www.sahfos.ac.uk/annual_reports/ecological%
20status%20report%20(ebook)%202006.pdf. This document is produced
each year by a small charity and I am sure that it would not be
impossible for the EU to produce a similar document for each RAC
outlining progress in relation to the new measures and the current
status of stocks.
3. To improve the management of coastal
stocks and in particular in relation to proposed protected areas,
an extension of the 12 mile national limit to further offshore
with similar restrictions as for the present coastal zone would
be a positive step forward. It would likely improve the livelihood
and sustainability of small coastal fishing communities as well
as the state of the coastal stocks.
4. There is a need for a more rapid establishment
of marine conservation areas where fishing is not allowed. Some
of these should be seasonal and some should be permanent. There
has been a considerable scientific debate on this issue both nationally
and within the EU, it is now time to act and implement without
delay.
5. Research based on the results of the
CPR survey has shown highly significant correlations between stock
biomass, landings and recruitment of commercial fish species,
including salmon, and long-term changes in the plankton and hydrographic
variables eg sea surface temperature of the North Sea and Northeast
Atlantic. Large changes have occurred, at times step-wise in the
environment and appear to be ongoing. Other research indicates
that the changes appear to be linked to climate change. An important
part of the changes has been a northerly movement of subtropical
species and retreat towards the pole of boreal species of plankton.
This pattern is seen also in fish species with new fisheries starting
up in the North Sea on warmer water species. Evidence that this
pattern is continuing and possibly accelerating is seen in the
now regular occurrence of new fish species off Portugal that have
migrated to the north from off the coast of Africa. These changes
must be having a large impact on the multispecies interactions
of current stocks.
6. As a consequence of global warming future
predicted changes in NW European seas are likely to be substantial
and will have a big impact on fisheries and the biodiversity of
fish and other biota. The information from the CPR and other environmental
data is currently not taken into account in the modelling used
to assess stock size and allowable catches. Because of the speed
of expected change the management systems for stocks will need
to adapt more rapidly than has occurred in the past and environmental
factors need to be included in the models. The potential for the
incorporation of environmental data was shown in the REGNS project
that is now no longer operational. A follow on to this research
should be put in place asap.
7. The need to link assessments to environmental
factors and take into account potential changes due to climate
change also applies to distant water fisheries especially in developing
countries. Unfortunately, there is often very little environmental
data available in these areas to link to the fisheries. The EU
should encourage the development of appropriate monitoring systems
in these areas.
8. The same situation arises outside the
200 nm area that applies to the EU. We are fortunate to have information
on changes in the plankton over large areas of the northern North
Atlantic from the CPR survey. Equivalent information is not available
for most other oceanic areas of the world.
9. SAHFOS would be pleased to provide further
advice to the inquiry should we be requested.
22 February 2008
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