Cod

To farm or not to farm?

Posted by jossc — 16 May 2007 at 2:51pm - Comments

50 percent of fresh supermarket fish comes from farms

50 per cent of fresh fish sold in supermarkets comes from farms

One obvious response to the disappearance of wild fish from our seas is "Why don’t we replace them with farmed varieties. We do it with land animals, so why not fish?" Of course this is already happening – over 40 per cent of the world's fish production already comes from aquaculture, and 50 per cent of fish sold in UK supermarkets comes from farms. These pen-reared fish grow at a phenomenal rate. For example, wild cod double in size every year, but hatchery cod quadruple in the same period. Given that size determines reproductive rate, at first glance this could be a solution to repopulating wild stocks.

Article tagged as: cod, fish farming, north sea, oceans, salmon, shrimp farms

Tackling trawlers, take two

Posted by jossc — 14 May 2007 at 4:20pm - Comments

Follow the crew of the Arctic Sunrise on their campaign for Marine Reserves in our North Sea Tour blog

A Greenpeace activist floats in the North Sea with a banner saying 'Stop Battering Cod'Two pair trawlers we encountered yesterday admitted they were fishing for cod and told us confusingly fishy stories. One boat said it was catching lots of big cod, while the other reckoned they'd trawled loads of young fish. Either way they shouldn't be taking any – cod stocks are now only a fraction of what they were a decade or two ago.

Article tagged as: arctic sunrise, cod, direct action, marine reserves, north sea, oceans, scotland, shetland

Little birds and big fish

Posted by Willie — 13 May 2007 at 11:00am - Comments

Follow the crew of the Arctic Sunrise on their campaign for Marine Reserves in our North Sea Tour blog

We have a hitch-hiker on board: a small bird, which - from my frantic bird handbook thumbing - appears to be a juvenile stonechat or whinchat. Anyway, everyone's happy to have the tiny stowaway with us for a while although it may leave us when we get closer to land. For now, however, it's proving to be camera-shy and getting fed on breadcrumbs.

Article tagged as: arctic sunrise, cod, marine reserves, north sea, oceans, scotland, shetland, whales

Stopping cod trawlers fishing the hard way

Posted by jossc — 12 May 2007 at 11:30am - Comments

A Greenpeace swimmer attempts to prevent a North Sea cod trawler from fishing

We're still out here in the North Sea talking to trawlermen to convince them to stop fishing cod to extinction, and taking action against those who just won't listen.

For a few days now, we've had no luck locating cod fishing vessels, but that finally changed last night when we came across a Scottish trawler fishing for cod 40 miles east of Unst, the most northerly point of the Shetland Isles. They were reluctant to talk to us, so we decided to wait until morning and pay them a visit.

Article tagged as: arctic sunrise, cod, direct actions, marine reserves, north sea, oceans, scotland, shetland, videos

Jellyfish risotto, anyone?

Posted by jossc — 8 May 2007 at 10:57am - Comments

Follow the crew of the Arctic Sunrise on their campaign for Marine Reserves in our North Sea Tour blog

Marlin, swordfish, tuna, snapper, sea bass and cod. What have they all got in common, apart from the obvious? Well, they are all large predatory species which occupy the top spot (or close to it) in the food chain in their respective neigbourhoods. Or at least they used to. Last November, an international group of ecologists and economists, led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University, published a study that made headlines around the world.

Article tagged as: arctic sunrise, cod, marine reserves, north sea, oceans, overfishing, scotland, tuna

Passing pigeons

Posted by Willie — 6 May 2007 at 9:00am - Comments

Follow the crew of the Arctic Sunrise on their campaign for Marine Reserves in our North Sea Tour blog

A couple of rock doves passed over the Arctic Sunrise this morning, heading for nearby cliffs on Fetlar. These birds are typically found on cliffs like those around Shetland, but are probably better known as the feral pigeons that have colonised the artificial cliffs we have built in our towns and cities.

Article tagged as: arctic sunrise, cod, extinction, marine reserves, north sea, oceans, passenger pigeons, scotland, shetland

Tall tales from the fishing fleet

Posted by Willie — 4 May 2007 at 3:00pm - Comments

Follow the crew of the Arctic Sunrise on their campaign for Marine Reserves in our North Sea Tour blog

Since we left Fetlar we have engaged with a lot of fishing vessels north of Shetland, mostly Scottish boats but also German and Norwegian. Where possible we have tried to communicate with them, particularly those involved in catching cod, either as a target species or as bycatch. And we have had some interesting conversations with them.

Article tagged as: cod, marine reserves, north sea, oceans, overfishing, scotland, shetland

Deconstructing destruction

Posted by Willie — 4 May 2007 at 12:00pm - Comments

Follow the crew of the Arctic Sunrise on their campaign for Marine Reserves in our North Sea Tour blog

We often talk about 'destructive' fisheries on the oceans campaign - so I thought it was maybe time I explained what that means when we talk about cod. A purist could say that all fishing is destructive, in that it destroys the fishes' life at least, I guess.

Article tagged as: arctic sunrise, beam trawling, bycatch, cod, destructive fishing, north sea, oceans, overfishing
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