UK

Newlyn, Cornwall’s biggest fish market, attracts some 1,000 tonnes of megrim, a flat fish, annually, reports the BBC, almost all of which is exported mostly to Spain. However, more bureaucracy for British traders and the introduction of border controls since Brexit have disrupted exports of fish to the continent including that of megrim. As a result, the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation (CFPO), in a bid to encourage British consumers to eat more megrim, is planning to rebrand the fish to Cornish sole. Another species, spider crab, that faces the same challenges, will be renamed Cornish king crab. The decision to rename the products was taken after consulting with chefs and consumers.

Icelandic shipping companies, Eimskip and Samskip, now transport fresh fish to Rotterdam rather than Immingham,…

An estimated 33% of the European fishing fleet catches are fished in British waters. The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists on Britain “maintaining control of these UK fishing waters” after it leaves the EU, he said in his first meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who took office in December. The two are discussing the negotiations after Brexit, on January 31, with Johnson wanting a trade deal with the EU completed by the end of 2020 without Britain aligning with EU rules. He said the UK wanted “a broad free-trade agreement covering goods and services and co-operation in other areas”. With regards to fishing rights the two sides have committed to negotiating a new framework in place by 1 July although EU spokespersons believe that talks will go deep into the year due to its complexities.

Should Brexit come to pass, Danish fishermen might find themselves in a tricky situation. If Britain leaves the EU and Denmark loses access to British waters the Danish fishing fleet will lose 30 percent, or about 1 billion Kroner, of total annual income, according to a report from the Department of food and Resource Economics at the University of Copenhagen.  Brexit could have the most negative impact on larger fishing corporations, which would end up losing 61 percent of total income. The Danish government is working towards a scenario in which the Danish fishing fleet will have access to British waters even if the UK leaves the EU. A recent deal between the Faroe Islands and the UK may set a positive president for trade relations between the UK and the rest of Europe in a post Brexit EU.

A new study claims that the EU will not reach its 2020 goal of sustainably caught fish, as EU ministers continue allowing catches higher than the recommended limits set by scientists. The New Economics Foundation (NEF), an NGO based in the UK, claims that the 2019 TACs for nearly half of EU commercial fish species were set higher than the scientific advice. They found that 55 TAC’s were set above recommended levels equating to approximately 312,000 tonnes in excess catch. The Northeast Atlantic TACs were on average set 16% above scientific advice, an increase of 9% from 2018. Early negotiations for the Baltic Sea and deep sea TACs are currently set higher than expert advice.

Sales of seafood products carrying the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainability logo amounted to approximately €6.8 billion for the financial year to March 2018,…

At this year’s London Marathon, runners were given small edible seaweed pods filled with sports drink. The use of seaweed pouches helped reduce more than 20% of plastic bottles used at the event. London Marathon organizers replaced 200 000 plastic bottles with these innovative seaweed pouches. The seaweed bags, produced by Skipping Rocks Lab, can be chewed to release the contained liquid and consumed entirely, or if preferred, the seaweed film can be discarded where it will break down naturally in 4-6 weeks.

Modern technological advances continue apace in the seafood industry. Recently, an unmanned, remote-controlled vessel carried a shipment of British oysters from the UK, to Belgium, in an international trade first. Carrying five kg of oysters, the 12-meter ship’s 22-hour trip across busy shipping lanes was directed from a control room in Maldon and was supported by the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Department for Transport, the Foreign Office, officials in Belgium and the European Space Agency.