Sandeels OrSea Lance

SCOTTISH DIVER SPECIAL

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Lawson Wood is a founding member of the Marine Conservation Society and founder of the St.Abbs & Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve in Scotland. In this heart-felt contribution Lawson takes aim at the Danes, the Spaniards, Jamie Oliver, BBC’s Countryfile and one or two others ...

guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and puffins all delved into this thriving fishery to feed their young. I had just returned from the Farne Islands off the north coast of Northumberland where the 100,000 resident puffins are having a bumper year! Their crops full of sandeels, adult puffins were streaming into their burrows on Staple Island to feed the voracious appetites of the single chick in each nest. On Inner Farne Island, the Arctic terns were also enjoying this harvest of the sea and their numbers were so prolific that they were even nesting on the footpaths and any spare area of beach not reached by the high tide.

Very soon the ‘noise’, created by this feeding frenzy around the sandeel bait balls of this area of the Northumberland and Berwickshire coasts, will bring in the dolphins; Harbour porpoises and other larger cetaceans such as Minke whales and Humpbacks up the North Sea’s east coast.

In previous years there had been very real concern over the plight of our seabird populations due to our government’s fishery murder policy which encouraged a sandeel fishery for foreign boats, yet prevented our fishing fleet from fishing our own waters – decommissioning fishing fleets – putting fishermen out of work – yet paying, with our taxpayer’s money, for the Spanish to build a fleet to fish in our waters and also to allow the Danish fishing fleet to harvest over one million tonnes of sandeels each year just to feed farmed salmon and – believe it or not – they actaully use the sandeel catch as a fuel source for their power stations!

Cruelly, it has since been discovered that the newly hatched salmon and sea trout smolts actively prey on sandeels as their primary food source. The Danish, in their wisdom, not only caught the sandeels, they also caught the small juvenile salmon and sea trout which were also processed into fish meal to feed salmon and sea trout in fish farms!

It takes 10 tonnes of live fish caught to make one tonne of fish meal! No wonder the salmon industry was at such a critical level thoughout all the nations bordering the North Sea. The Lesser Sandeel (Ammodytes tobianus) is the main species at the heart of this controversy. They are small eel-like fish around 5-20cm long with a long dorsal fin and an anal fin approximately half the length of the dorsal fin, protruding

lower jaw and a forked tail. They appear yellowish/green on their sides and have a silvery belly, giving them an overall silvery appearance. They swim in large shoals and will dive into the sand and gravel to escape predators. Like many small fish species they appear to think that the best way of survival is to swim in large ever-moving shoals or bait balls (which ultimately makes it easier for the larger predators to decimate their numbers) - bring in the fisherman at this juncture!

Spawning in December and January on the surface of the seabed, they will spend the rest of the winter months under the surface, from 20-45cm until the young and adults emerge from May to September. Living to at least 10 years old, they reach sexual maturity between one and three years and lay a single batch of eggs on the surface of the gravelly seabed from December to January.

The larvae hatch after a few weeks and spend the first three months of their errant lives swimming in the planktonic soup with all the other new born sea critters, before settling down onto the seabed once more when they reach around 4-5cm in length. They are deemed comparatively short-lived as they only have a life span of around ten years (if they get to live that long!). They will double their size in the next three months feeding largely on other smaller fish fry, ghost shrimps and other slow-moving invertebrates.

Sandeels are under threat from many different quarters, not least of all from us, as some celebrity chefs, including Jamie Oliver, have whitebait on their menu. Yep, you guessed it; whitebait is just another name for juvenile white fish species, it also includes cooked sandeels. Indeed a recent programme (ostensibly an eco-conscious programme called ‘Countryfile’ on the BBC) had their presenter promoting the use of sandeels in restaurants because they were so cheap. Their role in the marine ecosystem should not be underestimated or overlooked by commercial fishermen as they are the predominant prey species for most marine predators such as seabirds; other fish; marine mammals and cetaceans.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) on evidence submitted that the breeding success of continued on Page 34

Back on the surface, gannets from the rookery on the Bass Rock were diving into the water, whilst shags, cormorants, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and puffins all delved into this thriving fishery to feed their young.

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WHAT STARTED out as an amazing wildlife experience swimming with kazillions of sandeels led me along a research path through the internet, highlighting betrayal of our fishing policies; rape of our seabeds; decimation of seabird colonies; policies steeped in political bargaining; violent action by fishermen over fishing quotas and EU Governments apparently subsidising foreign fishing fleets to bring our own waters’ fish stocks to decline and to cap it all Climate Change will be the scape goat!

Ok, let’s backtrack a little here. I picked up a thread on the internet which announced: ‘Fishing Report - Sand eels have arrived’. Updated 10:31pm., Thursday, June 9, 2011. If you were waiting for the sand eels to arrive, wait no more.

From the Housatonic River to Norwalk and points west, huge balls of 3-to-5-inch eels are causing bait and tackle shop proprietors to run out of descriptive superlatives. Finding fish feeding on them is another question entirely, however.

Coincidence? On either side of the Atlantic Ocean we are now reporting massive shoals of sand eels, the lifeblood of more marine orientated species than I have ever come across. Could it be that the international governments have finally woken up to the fact that sandeels are one of the most important fish species in our area of the planet? My encounter had to be akin to the mass sardine run off the east coast of South Africa.

Just recently, I spent over two hours underwater amidst the densest shoals of sandeels I have even encountered.

Not only that, I was also surrounded by flocks or should I say schools of guillemots and razorbills flying underwater to catch these tiny fish. St.Abbs Head National Nature Reserve is handily encapsulated within the St.Abbs & Eyemouth Marine Reserve, the oldest voluntary marine reserve in the UK and one of the most popular scuba diving locations to be found anywhere.

We were dropped off the boat inside Skelly Hole where literally hundreds of juvenile guillemots were diving around us. On entering the water it very quickly became evident why the seabirds were so excitable, the entire seabed was covered in a moving carpet of sandeels. Numbering in the millions, I hazarded a guess; these tiny, elongated silvery fish were moving as one giant super shoal.

Venturing out into the anemone covered canyons, there were sandeels everywhere, wherever there was a sand or gravel substrate between the rocky ridges, the sandeels would dive under the surface wriggling their way out of sight against this big cumbersome sea beast (us divers!). Working close to the shoreline, we came across massive shoals of pollock, whiting and mackerel also feeding on the sandeels.

Back on the surface, gannets from the rookery on the Bass Rock were diving into the water, whilst shags, cormorants,

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seabird colonies of tern; kittiwake; puffin; guillemot and razorbill were entirely dependent on the sandeel population, recommended that sandeel fisheries should be closed wherever there were large congregations of predators.

Historically the small fisheries operated in the Shetland Islands off Scotland’s north coast started in the 1970’s and reached record catches of some 52,000 tonnes annually by 1982. This fishery was unrestricted up until 1988 when it was discovered that not only had the sandeel stock fallen to dramatic low levels, the seabirds of Shetland failed to produce any chicks as there was literally nothing for them to eat. Thankfully the fishery was closed in 1989, but was then reopened in 1995 amidst consternation by the RSPB over the plight of the sandeels and the seabirds, offset against the commercial exploitation of the fish in question.

In September 1996, government advisors again recommended that the fishery was closed following an incident off the ‘Wee Bankie’ fishing grounds off the east coast of Scotland when a Danish vessel threatened to sink the Greenpeace protest ship Sirius. The timely intervention of the Royal Navy only underlined the fact that more legislation was urgently required to protect our own fish stocks which have such a drastic effect on all other marine fishes, mammals and seabirds.

The government letter states: “We suggest that sand eel fisheries be restricted

in the area with the largest overlap of fisheries and seabird/cetacean usage the Wee Bankie, Marr Bank and Scalp Bank.”

It then calls for complete prohibition in the Wee Bankie. Many species of rare birds on the nearby Isle of May and other wildlife, like dolphins, use the Wee Bankie as a feeding ground. A Greenpeace spokesman said that the committee’s recommendations were a vindication of the stance they took against the 15 Danish fishing trawlers. The pressure group’s scientific advisor on the issue, Dr Malcolm McGarvin, said: “It is vital that the government heeds its own advisors and protects such sensitive areas as the Wee Bankie. It can no longer ignore the calls for political action.”

It was found that the Danish fishery of over 250 boats were taking over a million tonnes of sandeels each year, compare that to the annual amount of cod landed from all of the North Sea’s bordering countries - only 50,000 tonnes. When environmentalists and leaders from all of the interested societies including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds tried to intervene and support the ban, Neils Wichmann, the leader of the 4,500 Danish fishermen at the time stated: “It is complete and utter nonsense. We will oppose this vigorously, as we will oppose anything that is just a political stunt.”

It should also be pointed out that the Danish fishery was solely for commercial use to process fish meal and was not for human consumption. I forgot to point out that the income from the sandeel fishery was worth over DKr 2.9 billion.

This is enough to be ranked among the leading fishery nations in the EU. But the turnover of the industry is DKr 20 billion, ranking it as the sixth largest exporter of seafood in the world. Today, Danish aquaculture produces 40,000 tonnes.

However, within just 10 years, this is expected to triple to some 120,000 tonnes, based on growth in trout farming at sea and in ponds, farming of eel and even new species like turbot, halibut, sole, cod and perch. The processing industry hopes that this will also create more stable deliveries. On the other hand the farm fish have to eat, so taking care of the sandeel stock has never been more important.

The Danes, in their search for even smaller sandeels and ancillary juvenile species to support the fish meal industry resorted to using mesh sizes of 5mm.

With a catch of nearly a million tonnes of

Why do we not see the great catches of cod that we used to see when I was a boy? The answer is that, apart from fishing them out, we have starved them out by destroying their food supplies.

sand eels for industrial use in the North Sea each year, the fishing for sand eels has been relatively free from regulation because scientists do not know enough about their life cycle to say that fishing for them can be damaging to other fish stocks.

However, the discovery by Danish inspectors of a trawler with almost 40% of its catch made up of juvenile fish, principally haddock but also cod, has alarmed British fishermen and environmentalists who want a total ban on the industrial fishing of sand eels. The inspectors found 114 tonnes of juvenile haddock, equivalent to 1,140,000 individual fish, on the Benny Dorthe of Thyboron. The vessel’s licence was suspended for a month for landing the undersized fish.

British fishermen say the case is unlikely to be isolated and that the likelihood is that thousands of tons of immature fish are being swept up by industrial vessels this year.

Lord Kimberley stated in the House of Lords back in 1994: “Why do we not see the great catches of cod that we used to see when I was a boy? The answer is that, apart from fishing them out, we have starved them out by destroying their food supplies. We have destroyed their food supplies in a number of ways.

But the most sure way of doing so is by attacking the very fishes which are at the base of the food chain, which are the sand eel, the pout and the capelin. Those fishes which never appear on our tables and which we never fished for in the old days as a food for man, but which have now become a source of supply for food for farmed trout in Denmark, for farmed salmon in various parts of the European Union, for pet food, for over 817 type of cosmetics and for oil for firing power stations. There are power stations in Denmark which are being run on squashed sand eels!”

Lord Howe stated at the same time: “It is thoroughly reprehensible that our money should be being used to encourage this fishery by foreign fishermen and for Danish fishermen to come in to use our money, our land and our traditional fisheries to destroy the basis of our fish stocks along our coasts. That is most reprehensible. I hope that the government will see what damage is being done not only to the fish stocks themselves but to the confidence of all those connected with fisheries in this country.”

In a speech delivered by Tom Hay, chair of the Fisherman’s Assocation Ltd. to a Save Britain’s Fish fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference on October 3, 2001 it was stated that the European Commission enforced what they called ‘The cod recovery plan’. This plan involved the closure of 40,000 square miles of prime fishing grounds in the North Sea for 12 weeks. The alleged purpose of this closure was to allow the cod to spawn uninterruptedly. But at the same time they quietly introduced legislation

Farne Islands’ Puffin

Lesser Sand Eels (Ammodytes tobianus)

Guillimot underwater

which allowed Danish fishermen to fish within the closed area providing they used a mesh size of less than 16mm to fish for sand eels.

Surely no sensible fisheries management system, genuinely concerned for the sustainability of fish stocks, would legislate for the wholesale slaughter of the major food supply upon which those stocks depend. But this is what has been happening for years, and continues to happen in the industrial fishery for sandeels. The total allocated catch has been set year after year at over 1 million tonnes despite the fact that fishermen, due to the scarcity of sandeels, have only been able to catch half that amount.

Sadly our own government appear to have never been forceful enough in trying to change the fishing laws when it comes to protecting our own species and our own fishing industry, this was underlined once more when they asked for more research and scientific proof that the massive catches of sandeels had a direct effect on all other fish and seabird populations.

New Scientist magazine announced in July 1989: ‘not enough fish in the sea: Sandeel fisheries around the Shetland Isles are in decline, and young seabirds are dying.’ Why did the British government ignore the warnings, while demanding ‘proof’ of the connection?

To compound all of the statistics it would also appear that sandeels also prefer cooler water, subsequently less numbers are found in southern regions of the North Sea, yet just recently, commercial fisheries on the south coast of England were enjoying another bumper year in catching these tiny fish.

Scientists are concerned that global warming may also have a dire effect on the sandeel. As the sea temperature rises, the shoals will move further north and away from the major fishing grounds and seabird colonies. In warmer waters different species of zooplankton have been found to move into the inshore regions – which sandeels do not eat. Undoubtedly though, it is the overfishing and gross exploitation of the sandeel resource that will ultimately decimate all of the fish stock and our native seabird colonies.

This view was further reinforced

by Eric Meek the Orkney Islands area manager of the RSPB who stated that warmer waters coming into Orkney through the Fair Isle Gap between Orkney & Shetland had altered the plankton regime. Sandeels now had much less food species and their numbers drastically declined in inshore waters as the species either died off, were unable to produce their own young, or moved into cooler, northern Arctic waters. continued on Page 36

Recognise this character?

Lesser Sand Eel on the shore (Ammodytes tobianus)

Lesser Sand Eel on the shore (Ammodytes tobianus)

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COMMUNICATING WITH THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT CONTACTING THE Scottish Parliament over this very sensitive issue I was informed by the minister that the Danish quota for sandeels in 2011 is 334,324 tonnes. Gillian Cross, the Policy Officer – Stock Conservation & Negotiations, Marine Scotland sent me this reply to my concerns:Our ref: 2011/1008331 1 August 2011 Dear Mr Wood

Eric said “The summer of 2007 was disastrous for the kittiwake and guillemot populations which had already been halved in previous years due to the unrestricted fishing policies.”

Sandeels are rich in oil and also highly nutritious, without them, adult birds do not reach breeding condition and may fail to nest. When sandeels are in short supply, there is not enough food for young birds and they fail to survive. The parents have to forage harder to try and make ends meet. They may try to switch to other prey, if available, but this may be less suitable for breeding and survival.

Seabirds are perhaps one of the more obvious indicators of this massive sea change, being at the top of the marine web, along with the larger cetaceans, their numbers are incontrovertibly linked to the supply of their major diet - sandeels. The temperature has risen 1oC in the last 25 years, maybe good news for us divers who are now seeing red mullet, sea bass, sardines and even seahorses around our northern shores, but this small rise may just be enough to tip the scale of the ecosystem once more.

If our sandeels die or move away, what will become of our seabirds. No matter how much legislation or muck that you want to throw at governments in general and the fishing industry in particular, it is the climatic changes which may have the last word. In the meantime, let the sandeels proliferate whilst they can – ban their fishing entirely and let us all enjoy the natural phenomenon that is the lifeblood of our local seas. Oh, and when you can, take the chance to come diving in one of nature’s wonders, the fabulous sandeel shoals of the North Sea.

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Lawson Wood stated that in contributing this article that he has no personal political agenda.

Thank you for your email of 16 June 2011 regarding the sustainability of sandeels and the St. Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve.

The Scottish Government is committed to sustainable exploitation of fish stocks. There is currently no sandeel fishing in the West of Scotland. In the North Sea, Scottish Government policy on sandeels is informed by ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Seas) advice, which Marine Scotland Science contributes to. As of 2010, ICES has split the North Sea sandeel advice into seven areas to better reflect the stock structure and to enable management to direct action to avoid local depletions.

In the light of studies linking low sandeel availability to poor breeding success of kittiwake, all commercial fishing in the Firth of Forth has been prohibited since 2000 except for a limited fishery during May and June for stock monitoring purposes. This is a measure designed to protect the seabird colonies which have in the past been at risk. Local abundance subsequently increased, however other factors have also impacted the population, such as climate change.

We are currently funding research into the wider impacts of changes in the sandeel population through Marine Scotland Science, including a research post in conjunction with the University of Strathclyde.

I hope that this information is helpful to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Yours sincerely Gillain Cross.

UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY MANIFESTO FOOD FOR Thought (From the UK Independent Party’s Fishing Manifesto) “The British Isles are situated in the middle of a continental shelf and their shores are washed by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. The resulting nutrients from the shallow sea and the warm water mean that around our coasts we have the finest fishing grounds in Europe, if not in the world, which, managed correctly, will last forever.

Brussels now has control of how and when we fish and how much fish we can catch.

The UK provides the EU with 70% of its fishing but we are allowed only 13% by value of the quota species catch. This 13% equates to about 20% of the total catch in British waters and is still worth £500 million a year, which means that we are giving away to EU interests about £2 billion a year in fish, plus the value added costs of boat-building and repair, fish processing, employment and ancillary services, in total about £2.5 billion. On top of all this, the EU has allowed mainly Danish interests to take a million tons of sand eels and pout from the North Sea using ‘industrial’ fishing methods.

This particular fishery has been overfished to the point where the Danes have been unable to fill their quota for many years and last year took only about 300,000 tons. Sand eels are the basic food source for cod and certain seabirds, which explains the dramatic decline in the North Sea cod fishery and the virtual abandonment of many Scottish seabird colonies”.