We continue our coverage of illicit practices in the fishing industry around our coastal waters with this report on 'Fly-shooting' by Olivia Rudgard in today's Telegraph.
'Fly-shooting' involves "dragging weighted ropes along the seabed with a long thin net in between, designed to capture entire shoals of fish."
In so doing they accidentally end up catching endangered species like sea bass which are then thrown back in the sea and die "through being caught in the net or because of damage to their swim bladder caused by being brought rapidly to the surface" according to Dr Ian Hendry from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Marine Sciences.
He said: “The impact to losses of genetic variability with spawning individuals is huge with such a vast capture in one swoop. This is by no means a reflection on inshore, artisanal fishermen. Big fishermen swoop in and don’t care about atrocities as long as they are making the big bucks.
“They’re continually doing these atrocities without reprimand. It happens a lot more frequently than people realise. It wipes out whole fisheries – it’s the equivalent of napalming the ocean.”
Another item for the Environment Secretary, George Eustice to investigate. The full article can be read here with a link to the original beneath it:
コメント