Want to save our fish stocks around the UK?

[fishyrob]

Well, now you have the opportunity, to petition the prime minister directly, in an open petition that will remain open for one year. And if you guys think this is a good idea, (dont forget, No Take Zones as petitioned for will create fantastic diving opportunities, with no chains smashing the bottom up amongst other things. Look at the Lundy Island experiment) could your moderators sticky the thread in an appropriate place. And if you guys think it is a really really good idea, could you put the link in your publications. And if you think it is an incredibly good idea, could you push it on to any other associated groups or forums, as this could be massive if it gets the exposure it deserves. Here is the link, and I hope you receive the petition favourably.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Seafishstocks/

[fishyrob]

Well, now you have the opportunity, to petition the prime minister directly, in an open petition that will remain open for one year. And if you guys think this is a good idea, (dont forget, No Take Zones as petitioned for will create fantastic diving opportunities, with no chains smashing the bottom up amongst other things. Look at the Lundy Island experiment) could your moderators sticky the thread in an appropriate place. And if you guys think it is a really really good idea, could you put the link in your publications. And if you think it is an incredibly good idea, could you push it on to any other associated groups or forums, as this could be massive if it gets the exposure it deserves. Here is the link, and I hope you receive the petition favourably.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Seafishstocks/

Just a little bump for the cause......

[Eugene Farrell]

Nice one!

[Tellytubby]

sorry to spoil your day but theres a problem with easing up on he fish stocks research has shown that due to raised temps in the north sea the food chain being affected and therefore reproduction of cod to adult status its not entirely the fault of fishermen etc. If theres not food for the fish to use ergo mature theres aint no fish at all (cod). So anything we do wont help matters at this stage. We used to get two plankton blooms in the early and late summers of one kind of organism now we just get one bloom in the 0-25m range and its the plankton cod dont eat. Hence the real mcoy when fish cant mature.


What to do chaps

TB:( :( :( :( :(

[R.Burgess]

It's pretty obvious legislating limits and landing quotas on size and species doesn't preserve fish stocks, it just increases by-catch.

[IainC]

Two thoughts..

telytubby - it's not just about cod, giving anything that might survive a safe haven to breed is good in my book, even if our current/traditional species won't make it anyway.
maybe building enough offshore wind farms might achieve the same end :-)

and burgess - how about legislating for what is caught, not what is landed (the so called 'icelandic system') - no bycatch, what you net you have to land, if you don't have quota for it you buy the quota from someone else who has spare. When there's no quota left you stop going to to sea.
Combined with good enforcement (to prevent dumping & also areas of sea are closed for x years by the autorities when a certain %age of catch is undersized). Common sense really, but try getting the EU to adopt it..

Iain.

[Gary Sedgwick]

If anyone here doesn't happen to already know about it, the Marine Conservation Society (http://www.mcsuk.org) have a Marine Reserves Now (http://www.marinereservesnow.org.uk) campaign which BSAC fully endorses (http://www.bsac.org/news.58.htm).

Nice to see a mention in the latest Diver magazine's "First In" editor's page too :D

Oh, and after visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium a couple of weeks ago, I got this positive message that shows a similar campaign has been successful:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Central Coast Gets a Boost of Protection

We did it! Thanks to the tireless work of the Ocean Action Team and our conservation allies, on April 13th the California Fish and Game Commission gave final approval for a strong network of marine protected areas along the Central Coast.

To everyone who wrote postcards, sent emails and attended Commission meetings - California's ocean has unprecedented levels of protection because of you. Many, many thanks!

California has created 29 marine protected areas covering over 200 miles along the Central Coast. Critical waters such as Soquel Canyon, Point Sur, and Piedras Blancas are now safe havens for fish and other marine life to thrive.

The work of creating a network of marine protected areas along the coast of California is not yet over. Stay tuned as the state begins to develop more marine protected areas along the northern coast - an area that extends from Pigeon Point to Alder Creek (just south of Mendocino).

Learn More

For a detailed description and maps of the adopted Central Coast network of marine protected areas, visit the Department of Fish and Game's web
site (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qks785bab.0.e9w485bab.nz4lxrbab.15904&ts=S0241&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dfg.ca.gov%2Fmrd%2Fmlpa%2Findex .html). There you can also learn more about California's efforts to create marine protected areas.

Tell a friend

Spread the word! We want everyone to know about this historic day for California. Please forward this message to your friends and relatives, and encourage them to become Ocean Action Team members, too! Together we can ensure a healthier future for our oceans.

Thank you again for your support!

Sincerely,

Aimee David and Ken Peterson

Ocean Action Team

email: oceanaction2@mbayaq.org
web: http://www.oceanaction.org

------------------------------------------------------------

[Ding]

Well, now you have the opportunity, to petition the prime minister directly, in an open petition that will remain open for one year. And if you guys think this is a good idea, (dont forget, No Take Zones as petitioned for will create fantastic diving opportunities, with no chains smashing the bottom up amongst other things. Look at the Lundy Island experiment) could your moderators sticky the thread in an appropriate place. And if you guys think it is a really really good idea, could you put the link in your publications. And if you think it is an incredibly good idea, could you push it on to any other associated groups or forums, as this could be massive if it gets the exposure it deserves. Here is the link, and I hope you receive the petition favourably.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Seafishstocks/

Copied this post and put it on Finstrokes

[Finless]

Signed.

Whatever is happening it makes sense to have some reserves around to enable whatever can still survive in the prevailing conditions/climate to have some respite from human predation?

[Your Seas Your Voice]

I know the original post is quite old but for some of you who may still follow this thread.

The marine reserves now campaign got over 600,000 votes for better protection to our seas. Now a network of Marine Protected Areas will be in place by 2012. This is great news.

You can get involved with this marine reserves debate by going to www.yourseasyourvoice.com, where you can reccomend your own site for protection or vote for one of the MCS reccomended sites. If the future of the seas is important to you then check it out.