Heavy overfishing of blue whiting off Ireland by fishing vessels from Norway has been admitted by the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate, leaving thousands of dead and dying fish on the sea surface. Bursting of fishing nets when catches were too heavy to be lifted onto the vessels led to the Directorate, the official executive body for fisheries management in Norway, issuing a safety warning to its fishermen: ‘Be careful, avoid explosions.”
Photo from Norwegian Fisheries Directorate showing sea covered with dead and dying fish
Directorate Inspectors “observed burst fishing gear and significant loss of fish by Norwegian vessels. Blue whiting fishing is a very demanding and tough activity which poses a high risk of bursting the cod-end due to too large catches.”
The Norwegian Directorate acknowledgement was an effective admission of overfishing by the Norwegian fleet. The Marine Times newspaper obtained photographs by the Directorate, the one below described as showing – “Dead and dying blue whiting on the surface like a gray veil in the middle of the image behind the vessel.”
“It is feared that there have been many more cases of burst gear unreported,” said Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation. “This unaccounted fishing mortality impacts on the stock where the most recent scientific advice showed a sharp decline.” About 70 non-EU vessels were fishing in recent weeks just outside the Irish 200-mile EEZ, around half of them from Norway. This graphic was issued by the Killybegs Fishrmen’s Organisation, showing where the vessels were located.
“We have particular concerns over the reported frequent net ruptures being experienced leading to unintended discards,” said Dominic Rihan, CEO of the Killybegs Organisation.
“There are considerable concerns at the level of fishing effort for blue whiting off the West Coast both inside EU waters and outside the Irish 200-mile EEZ in international waters. While these vessels are entitled to fish there, it does seem that there is a lack of proper monitoring. To our knowledge there have been no Naval or patrol ships from the European Fisheries Control Agency in the area despite the number of vessels and the significant volumes of fish being caught.”
