- Email: [email protected]
Opposition to Release of GM Salmon
Volume 42/Number 5/May 2001
PII: S0025-326X(01)00102-3
New UK Fisheries Conservation Measures The introduction of technical conservation measures designed to provide extra protection for haddock and other white®sh in the North Sea and the West of Scotland have been announced by the UK Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley. The measures will go far to improving the selectivity of ®shing nets which has been shown to be so important in conserving ®sh stocks. The measures have been developed after discussions with the UK Fisheries Conservation Group and following full consultation with the ®shing industry and other interests. Their primary purpose is to protect the young haddock now present in the ®shery. The measures follow the introduction last year of similar legislation in Scotland, in whose waters the bulk of this ®shery takes place and include: · A mandatory requirement to use square mesh panels of 90 mm in Nephrops and white®sh nets in the mesh size range 70 to 119 mm. · The whole of the 90 mm square mesh panel must be placed a maximum of 12 metres from the cod-line, unless the trawl is targeting Nephrops, in which case the maximum distance for the whole panel from the cod-line is to be no more than 18 metres. · Twine thickness in the cod-end is not to exceed 10 mm in aggregate for double or multiple twines. (A maximum thickness for single twines of 8 mm is already required by the EC Technical Conservation Regulation.) · The maximum twine thickness in any Nephrops net (de®ned as a net with a mesh size between 70 and 99 mm where the catch composition complies with that set out in Annex 1 to Regulation 850/98 for nets in that mesh size range) is not to exceed 4 mm. · South of 53° in the North Sea, 80 mm diamond mesh twin or multi-rigs are still allowed so as to permit the traditional sole ®shery in that area. The legislation also de®nes what is meant by a single-rig gear. These requirements apply in the whole of ICES Area IIA south of 64°, IV (North Sea) and VI (West of Scotland). Irish Sea gear has been dealt with in the context of the ongoing Irish Sea cod recovery plan. Existing EC and UK rules remain in force in the rest of Area VII.
PII: S0025-326X(01)00103-5
Opposition to Release of G.M. Salmon Greenpeace activists sealed o a research facility, owned by A/F Protein, at the end of March this year in an at-
tempt to halt the further development of genetically modi®ed salmon. They are calling for a global rejection of the world's ®rst application to commercially produce genetically engineered (GE) ®sh, and a global ban on all releases of GE organisms into the oceans. According to a Greenpeace report, leading marine biologists have expressed grave reservations and warned that even a small number of GE ®sh released into the wild could have potentially devastating eects. Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana, the United States, estimate that 60 fertile GE ®sh introduced into a natural population of 60,000 could contaminate the natural stock in 20±30 years. A/F Protein's application to commercialize GE salmon for the aquaculture industry world-wide is currently being considered by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under their regulation on `animal drugs', and a ruling is expected anytime this year. The permit would set a precedent for approvals of other types of GE ®sh that are already being developed, including trout, cat®sh, lobster, carp and striped bass. A/F Protein claims that it already has orders for 15 million GE ®sh eggs for delivery as soon as the FDA gives the go-ahead. Escapes from ®sh farms are frequent and virtually impossible to prevent. In the past ten years over half a million ®sh escaped from just a handful of facilities in the US and Canada. According to the report, there are no published studies to date on the health risks of engineered ®sh, nor are there speci®c regulations governing the release of GE ®sh into the wild. A/F Protein has manipulated the GE Atlantic Salmon with an additional gene for growth hormone production and an anti-freeze gene promoter sequence. As a result, instead of only growing during the summer months, the GE salmon grows all year around developing two to three times faster than a normal salmon.
PII: S0025-326X(01)00104-7
Warning on Tourism in the Mediterranean The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has issued a warning about the increasingly negative impact of tourism development on the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean plays host to 220 million tourists annually, a ®gure projected to increase to 350 million in twenty years. According to an analysis recently presented by WWF, by 2005, France, Italy and Spain will see a continued increase in tourism pressure while countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, Greece, Turkey and Croatia will experience a massive surge of new tourism development. This projected increase could lead to uncontrolled development of the entire Mediterranean basin, degrading the unique natural and cultural wealth of the region. The recent WWF report suggests that a new form of tourism must be introduced in the Mediterranean to
335
PII: S0025-326X(01)00102-3
New UK Fisheries Conservation Measures The introduction of technical conservation measures designed to provide extra protection for haddock and other white®sh in the North Sea and the West of Scotland have been announced by the UK Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley. The measures will go far to improving the selectivity of ®shing nets which has been shown to be so important in conserving ®sh stocks. The measures have been developed after discussions with the UK Fisheries Conservation Group and following full consultation with the ®shing industry and other interests. Their primary purpose is to protect the young haddock now present in the ®shery. The measures follow the introduction last year of similar legislation in Scotland, in whose waters the bulk of this ®shery takes place and include: · A mandatory requirement to use square mesh panels of 90 mm in Nephrops and white®sh nets in the mesh size range 70 to 119 mm. · The whole of the 90 mm square mesh panel must be placed a maximum of 12 metres from the cod-line, unless the trawl is targeting Nephrops, in which case the maximum distance for the whole panel from the cod-line is to be no more than 18 metres. · Twine thickness in the cod-end is not to exceed 10 mm in aggregate for double or multiple twines. (A maximum thickness for single twines of 8 mm is already required by the EC Technical Conservation Regulation.) · The maximum twine thickness in any Nephrops net (de®ned as a net with a mesh size between 70 and 99 mm where the catch composition complies with that set out in Annex 1 to Regulation 850/98 for nets in that mesh size range) is not to exceed 4 mm. · South of 53° in the North Sea, 80 mm diamond mesh twin or multi-rigs are still allowed so as to permit the traditional sole ®shery in that area. The legislation also de®nes what is meant by a single-rig gear. These requirements apply in the whole of ICES Area IIA south of 64°, IV (North Sea) and VI (West of Scotland). Irish Sea gear has been dealt with in the context of the ongoing Irish Sea cod recovery plan. Existing EC and UK rules remain in force in the rest of Area VII.
PII: S0025-326X(01)00103-5
Opposition to Release of G.M. Salmon Greenpeace activists sealed o a research facility, owned by A/F Protein, at the end of March this year in an at-
tempt to halt the further development of genetically modi®ed salmon. They are calling for a global rejection of the world's ®rst application to commercially produce genetically engineered (GE) ®sh, and a global ban on all releases of GE organisms into the oceans. According to a Greenpeace report, leading marine biologists have expressed grave reservations and warned that even a small number of GE ®sh released into the wild could have potentially devastating eects. Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana, the United States, estimate that 60 fertile GE ®sh introduced into a natural population of 60,000 could contaminate the natural stock in 20±30 years. A/F Protein's application to commercialize GE salmon for the aquaculture industry world-wide is currently being considered by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under their regulation on `animal drugs', and a ruling is expected anytime this year. The permit would set a precedent for approvals of other types of GE ®sh that are already being developed, including trout, cat®sh, lobster, carp and striped bass. A/F Protein claims that it already has orders for 15 million GE ®sh eggs for delivery as soon as the FDA gives the go-ahead. Escapes from ®sh farms are frequent and virtually impossible to prevent. In the past ten years over half a million ®sh escaped from just a handful of facilities in the US and Canada. According to the report, there are no published studies to date on the health risks of engineered ®sh, nor are there speci®c regulations governing the release of GE ®sh into the wild. A/F Protein has manipulated the GE Atlantic Salmon with an additional gene for growth hormone production and an anti-freeze gene promoter sequence. As a result, instead of only growing during the summer months, the GE salmon grows all year around developing two to three times faster than a normal salmon.
PII: S0025-326X(01)00104-7
Warning on Tourism in the Mediterranean The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has issued a warning about the increasingly negative impact of tourism development on the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean plays host to 220 million tourists annually, a ®gure projected to increase to 350 million in twenty years. According to an analysis recently presented by WWF, by 2005, France, Italy and Spain will see a continued increase in tourism pressure while countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, Greece, Turkey and Croatia will experience a massive surge of new tourism development. This projected increase could lead to uncontrolled development of the entire Mediterranean basin, degrading the unique natural and cultural wealth of the region. The recent WWF report suggests that a new form of tourism must be introduced in the Mediterranean to
335