UK Fishermen Dump Catch Overboard to Make More Money
August 20, 2008 · Print This Article
The European Union put fishing quotas in place for a reason: to prevent the kind of overfishing that experts warn could lead to mass extinction of marine life in the coming decades. But, European fishermen aren’t pleased with the quotas because they limit profit possibilities. So to get around that, they’re doing something pretty horrifying: dumping tons of perfectly good dead fish back into the water. Fish that should never have been caught in the first place.
Recently, the Norwegian Coast Guard shot video of UK fishermen doing just this, and the sight of such wastefulness (a whopping 5 tons of dead fish) has shocked many people who didn’t realize the extent of what was going on. Check it out at The Guardian.
From The Guardian’s Environment blog:
The practice is legal, as the EU only sets quotas for fish landed at ports, not what is actually caught at sea. In this case, it appears the fishermen were discarding low-value small (but legal) fish in order to fill their quota with higher-value big fish.
But the wasteful consequences of Europe’s fisheries policies, though well-known, are rather abstract to most people – it all happens a long way out at sea. And that’s the power of the video. At the start, a stream of dead, silvery fish slip down a chute and into the water. It goes on. And on. Seagulls gather to snap up a free lunch.
But this is apparently not rapid enough. So the men start dumping whole boxfuls of their catch over the side. And then another load comes up from the hold, and so on.
What an incredible waste, and a slap in the face to conservationists who are working so hard to maintain sustainable numbers of fish in our oceans. WTF. This is incredible disrespect and disregard not just for the fish but the future of humanity. What’s going to happen when our oceans are overfished to the point of irreparably damaging the delicately balanced ocean ecosystems?
Learn more about the problem of overfishing by reading the article ‘More Species Considered Overfished’ at the Florida Museum of Natural History website.
Link [The Guardian]
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oh my gawd- that is really disturbing. I mean really disturbing- it makes me feel worse then the first time I saw a Freddy Kruger Film. Gag.
[...] EarthFirst talks about the darker side of fishing quotas. [...]
[...] Capitalism and Conservation Collide in the North SeaTagged with: capitalism • conservation • fisheries • video From: UK Fishermen Dump Catch Overboard to Make More Money [...]
Pretty much common I guess.
I was watching a news story on a new technology to “reduce the bycatch” of commercial fishing and make it more efficient. One small quote made me sit up though. Don’t have a reference to hand but they said the bycatch made up something like 80% of the trawl, and was discarded.
Wait, what? So for every 2 tons of prawns, 8 tons of other marine life are killed and thrown overboard? That sure sounds sustainable…
A quick google provides some actual numbers:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3089/is_3_61/ai_65344739
Up to 15 tons wasted for every ton kept. No wonder fish populations are disappearing…
[...] Business Never EndBusiness and Technology August 21, 2008 Capitalism and Conservation Collide in the North Sea Category: technology — Admin @ 1:09 pm — From: UK Fishermen Dump Catch Overboard to Make More Money [...]
Nothing seems to be easier than seeing someone whom you can help but not helping.
I suggest we start giving it a try. Give love to the ones that need it.
God will appreciate it.