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Asda, Birdseye, British Retail Consortium, Co-op, Direct Seafoods, Joseph Robertson, Lidl Uk, Lyons Seafoods, M&s, Morrisons, New England Seafood, Sainsbury’s, Seachill, Tesco, Uk Seafood Industry Alliance, Waitrose And Young’s dign Seafood Industry Statement with Conservation Group WWF

Robust fisheries regulations must be adopted and implemented effectively after leaving the European Union say a coalition of 17 supermarkets, processors and industry groups as the Government prepares new fisheries legislation.

The current regulations and new Fisheries Bill must deliver confidence that UK seafood is sustainably and legally sourced. The group also called on UK and devolved Governments to include strong monitoring measures in the new Fisheries Bill to ensure that there is more visibility of what is happening on our fishing boats. Currently, around only 1% of UK fishing activities are comprehensively monitored at sea.*

The UK Government recently reasserted its commitment to eliminating the wasteful practice of discarding dead or dying fish at sea in the 25 Year Environment Plan. The ‘Landing Obligation’ or ‘discard ban’ comes into full effect next January. However, the 17 signatories to the statement say UK Governments can do more to ensure the fishing industry is prepared to properly implement this regulation.

Further efforts are required to achieve effective uptake of currently available technology and behaviour that can improve selectivity which will allow fishing vessels to avoid species for which they have no or limited quota. In addition improved measures are needed to provide better access to quota for such species. The alternative is to have vessels stop fishing when they exhaust their quota for so called “choke” species and that is economically unacceptable.

The supermarkets, processors and industry groups call for:

• Changes in fishing methods and gear to ensure more selective targeting of commercial fish species
• Improved monitoring of fishing boats, for example through technologies such as remote electronic monitoring, leading to fully documented fisheries
• Reviewing how fishing quotas can be better managed to address the problem of discarding

In October WWF released a report that revealed UK and devolved governments are not comprehensively monitoring UK fishing activities at sea. It outlined a far more cost-effective alternative – Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) with cameras and sensors. REM could be adopted across UK fleets, building not only the confidence of the consumer in the UK fleet but providing vital information that will help improve the management of the fishery.

The Seafood Industry Alliance and British Retail Consortium will be asking for a meeting with the UK and devolved Fisheries Ministers to discuss how their concerns can be addressed.

Peter Andrews of British Retail Consortium said:

“The UK seafood industry has the potential to be world leading in both quality and sustainability. However, if it cannot meet the terms of the landing obligation and is unable to monitor what fish are being removed at sea then we will be jeopardising that potential.”

Helen McLachlan, WWF fisheries programme manager said:

“It’s vital that governments listen to the collective voice of some of the most influential businesses and organisations in the UK seafood industry. Without the Landing Obligation legislation being implemented and monitored effectively the result could be overfishing of stocks that we have spent years trying to rebuild and manage sustainably.”

Nigel Edwards the chair of the Seafood Industry Alliance said:

“As responsible buyers of seafood we work with fishermen and scientists to achieve sustainably managed fisheries. Fully documenting fisheries is an essential step to demonstrate robust fishing management. Our government is determined to lead in sustainable fishing, and has the tools at its disposal to make this happen. We urge them to take a bold lead in documenting our fisheries to ensure the reputation of UK fisheries as both exceptionally high quality and truly sustainable.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS

• 17 retailers, processors and organisations signed up to the statement: Asda, BirdsEye, British Retail Consortium, Co-op, Direct Seafoods, Joseph Robertson, Lidl UK, Lyons Seafoods, New England Seafood, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Seachill, Tesco, UK Seafood Industry Alliance, Waitrose and Young’s.
• Interviews are available

* Statistic taken from the WWF report “Remote Electronic Monitoring – why camera technology is a cost effective and robust solution to improving UK fisheries management”, available to download here.

ABOUT REMOTE ELECTRONIC MONITORING (REM)

REM describes an on-board system that monitors all fishing activity using GPS, CCTV cameras and sensors. Footage is then analysed by experts to assess the quantities of fish being caught and whether or not fish are being discarded. It is by far the most affordable and effective means of delivering fully documented fisheries, a key component in ensuring consumers have access to sustainable fish.