European Commission warns Italy on illegal use of drift-nets

THE European Commission has called on Italy to take measures and comply with an October 2009 Court of Justice ruling on Italy's continued illegal use of drift-nets.

The Court found that Italy had failed to adequately control and enforce the EU ban on the use of drift-nets. Safeguarding of fish stocks and the eradication of illegal fishing practices are crucial priorities for the EU, and the Commission, in particular Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, deeply regrets Italy's long-standing infringement of the drift-net ban, which dates from 1992. If no satisfactory actions are taken within two months from the receipt of the Commission's letter, the Commission may refer this case to the Court of Justice again, this time asking the Court to impose significant financial penalties on Italy in accordance with the Treaty rules.

Fishing with illegal gear such as drift-nets is highly destructive, as it ruins marine habitats, endangers marine wildlife and threatens sustainable fisheries. Illegal fishing practices ruin the income of honest fishermen and coastal communities - and the future of fisheries altogether. Therefore, in the interest of all, implementation and enforcement of the rules are at the heart of the Commission priorities.

Despite persistent calls on Italy to fulfil its monitoring and enforcement tasks adequately with regard to illegal drift-nets, recent on-site inspections did not show any significant improvements as compared to the situation before the Court's judgement. The Commission's verifications indicate that drift-nets are still used illegally in Italy in large numbers, and that actions taken by national authorities are neither sufficient, nor efficient enough to deter their use.

Background

The origins of this case go back to 1992, when the EU adopted the drift-net ban prohibiting the use of drift-nets of over 2.5 km in length (in response to a 1991 UN General Assembly moratorium on large pelagic drift-nets).

Since then, the EU has constantly toughened its anti-drift-net rules to address growing concerns about this fishing technique, which is highly non-selective (high degree of by-catches of non-targeted species) and therefore poses a threat to the conservation of many fish stocks, and marine mammals. As from January 2002, the EU has completely banned the use of drift-nets, irrespective of their length, intended for the capture of certain fish stocks, such as albacore, bluefin tuna and swordfish.


http://www.fishnewseu.com/latest-news/world/6748-european-commission-warns-italy-on-illegal-use-of-drift-nets.html

Hunting jellyfish threaten fish stocks

Far from being at the whim of wave and tide, the enigmatic jellyfish has been found by new research to move deliberately in search of food – an ability that could threaten the future of other species already at risk from human activity like fishing.


A team of researchers led by Swansea University attached data-loggers to jellyfish off the Welsh coast, to monitor their vertical movements. The results suggest that these movements are deliberate and probably intended to maximise the creatures' chances of finding food.


Jellyfish adapt readily to changing conditions and can quickly increase in numbers to fill the 'gap' left by species in decline from over-fishing. The ability to deliberately pursue prey would give them even greater advantage over falling numbers of fish larvae looking for the same food.

'Everyone can recognise a jellyfish, but we don't know very much about how they spend their time,' says Dr Victoria Hobson of Swansea University, who organised the fieldwork and is co-author of the research report, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

'We have discovered they are actually quite proactive – they move independently and choose where they go,' she explains.

The research team flew over Carmarthen Bay in Wales to find groups of the jellyfish Rhizostoma octopus. Operating from a boat, divers then loosely tied the data-loggers around the creatures' peduncle – the bit that joins the swimming bell to the arms; not an easy task with creatures up to half a metre in diameter and weighing up to 30kg.


The loggers took water-pressure readings every minute as well as measuring water temperature. The researchers retrieved the loggers as they washed up on the beach once the jellyfish had died, and downloaded the data. Of the 72 loggers deployed, 25 have so far been recovered.

Once the researchers had discounted non-intentional vertical movements, for example due to wave action, they could see how far and how often the jellyfish moved through the water column. They found that the creatures travelled on average around 600m vertically through the water each day, and were clearly not simply drifting at a fixed depth.

The pattern of movement was also similar to what's known as a Lévy walk – a foraging pattern thought to be adopted by certain animals to give themselves the best chance of locating scarce prey.

By examining the gut contents of several jellyfish the researchers could see that, however they were doing it, their foraging technique was successful, as the jellyfish stomachs were full of a variety of prey regardless of where and when they were caught.

Jellyfish are resilient creatures; they reproduce quickly and eat a wide range of prey, so they can adapt to changes in the marine environment that would pose problems for other species.

As over-fishing reduces fish numbers, jellyfish populations could increase, making the problem even worse because many fish larvae feed on the same plankton as the jellyfish.

The discovery of these complex and deliberate movement patterns adds significantly to our understanding of jellyfish behaviour. It also suggests they may be able to compete more strongly with fish then previously thought, making jellyfish even more dominant as oceans conditions change.

Adele Rackley

http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=1026