Belgium: North Sea Advisory Council gives input to Commission on UN plastic pollution treaty

While about 80 of marine plastic pollution originates from land, the remaining, yet still significant, 20 comes from water-based human activity, including fishing, shipping, and tourism. It has been estimated that almost onethird of water-based plastic pollution consists of fishnets, traps and longlines, commonly known as ALDFGs (Abandoned, Lost, or otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear) or fishing gear components. The UN is pursuing a legally binding plastic treaty to curb this pollution threat.

UN Resolution 5/14, “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument,” was adopted on 2 March 2022, and further UN action continues, not to “end” plastic use but to further incorporate plastic in the circular economy through better product designs, waste management, and recycling systems.

Recently, the Commission received advice on the treaty from the North Sea Advisory Council, an assembly of fishing interests (60 of total assembly members) and other stakeholders (40). NSAC noted its motivation to offer advice is the fact that fishermen are the largest group of stakeholders that profit directly from a healthy sea. As an expression of its commitment NSAC explained initiatives it and its members have already undertaken to protect the North Sea, including, among others:

Plastic pollution is one of the great environmental challenges of the 21st century, causing wide-ranging damage to ecosystems and human health, while the fossil-fuel origins of most of the plastics produced have implications for climate change, reports the OECD.

— Fishing for Litter: An awardwinning project launched by OSPAR where fishers volunteer to bring back to land any marine litter collected in their daily activities.

— Port Reception Facilities (PRF) Directive: A fundamental infrastructure for initiatives such as Fishing for Litter which provides facilities on land to collect and sort the different materials collected offshore.

— TEFIBIO: The goal of the EMFFfunded project is to find an alternative for nylon on fishing nets, one that can be compostable and degradable without turning into microplastics.

NSAC stressed that much more is needed, because these efforts are either voluntary or funded by shortterm contracts. Further, the Treaty will need to recognize regional and species-specific differences within the broader fishing “industry” and to design its binding rules to be flexible enough to accommodate those differences, by setting minimum standards while ensuring a level playing field across the diverse array of vessels that ply the North Sea.

United States: Senate to examine proposed legislation on boosting offshore aquaculture

A bipartisan effort has been made to promote offshore aquaculture production in America via legislation reintroduced to the Senate in a bill craftily named “Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture” or AQUAA. The bill seeks to encourage sustainable seafood farming in federal waters (starting at state boundaries of 3 miles from shore for most states to the 12-mile federal territorial limit and beyond to the EEZ boundary) by standardising the permitting processes and the standards for production methods. Currently, U.S. fisheries and aquaculture in general fall under both major agencies’ purview, mainly according to whether the waters are inland (multiple agencies within the Department of Agriculture) or marine (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, part of the Department of Commerce), but there are significant complicating overlaps. The bill seeks to harmonise important rules and regulations and combine promotional and supportive efforts.

Among other provisions, the AQUAA Act would:

— Uphold existing environmental standards while providing regulatory clarity

— Include a set of national standards to guide development of offshore aquaculture

— Include a national plan to identify and establish areas particularly well-suited for aquaculture

— Establish an Office of Marine Aquaculture within NOAA to coordinate federal permits

The AQUAA Act will be accompanied by a companion bill in the House of Representatives soon.

Faroe Islands: Government to tighten controversial port access by Russian fishing vessels

Since 1977, a barter deal has allowed Russian vessels to transship their catch at Faroese ports in exchange for catch quotas for Faroese boats in Russian waters. The deal has allowed activity in blue whiting in or near Faroe waters and cod in the Barents Sea, as well as vessel repair and maintenance work in Faroe shipyards. With the invasion of Ukraine, however, many Faroese citizens and politicians of all political stripes favor restricting or ending altogether this system with Russia. The Faroe Government has proposed restricting the volume of Russian-harvested fish from 400,000 tonnes annually in recent years to 100,000 tonnes per year and ending nonemergency vessel repair work in Faroese shipyards. Recent developments have led to investigations of Russian fishing vessels, revealing that some do no fishing, or have equipment inconsistent with a fishing vessel, while in Faroese waters. Thus, proposed changes include specifying which individual Russian vessels can have continued access to Faroese waters and ports. A government decision on modifying or ending the longstanding agreement is expected in the autumn.

Japan: Climate change causes record low production of wild and farmed fish in 2022

Since records began in 1956, Japanese production of wild-caught and farmed fish and shellfish reached their lowest level in 2022, a decline attributed mainly to long-term warming waters as well as to overfishing, stated the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture,

Forestry and Fisheries in an annual report. The report, describing a second consecutive year of decline in major species output, said the poor performance of the fishery and aquaculture sectors is likely to continue for many years, due to rising sea temperatures.

Production dropped to record lows for saury, flying squid, and octopus in 2022. Other species which dropped included sardine, mackerel, and farmed eel. Not all species suffered falloffs in 2022—increases were registered for wild salmon and anchovy, and for farmed scallops. Fishery managers will work to tighten and improve regulations designed to prevent overfishing, and will raise the number of regulated species to around 200 from the recent 50 by the end of the current fiscal year.