I thought my readers would be interested to know about this visit in the context of the continuing problems of mixed stocks exploitation and salmon farming, although (thank goodness) only the first of these is relevant to the South Esk. While AST is a very small charity with 2.5 staff we feel that we have quite a lot of influence because of our reputation for science-based influencing and rational discussion. The issue of accidental damage to outgoing smolt migrations is of course highly relevant to the South Esk given the topography of the coast in the area of the river’s estuary.
AST at the European Commission
Last week the AST team were in Brussels to meet officials in DG Mare – the department responsible for European seas – and DG Environment – the department responsible for environment, habitats and biodiversity in the European Union.
Melfort Campbell, AST Chairman, Professor Ken Whelan, Research Director, Ivor Llewelyn, Director England and Wales and Tony Andrews, Chief Executive, met a number of key officials, all of whom welcomed the Trust’s team, and actively engaged with our concerns.
Addressing the by-catch problem.
The meeting with the Fisheries Conservation and Control Unit, Atlantic and Outermost Regions of the DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, was a follow-up to Ken Whelan’s attendance in December 2012 at the meeting of pelagic commercial fishermen in Amsterdam (Pelagic RAC).
At the Amsterdam meeting the Head of the Unit, Maria Candela-Castillo, had invited AST to meet members of the unit to discuss the issue of inadvertent by-catch of outgoing smolts by pelagic nets. It became clear during our discussion that DG Mare agree to be advocates for research into possible damage to outgoing smolt migrations as proposed by AST. Furthermore, Fuensanta Candela-Castillo expects AST attendance at the next pelagic RAC meeting to take the discussion forward.
For AST this was a satisfactory outcome, and enables us to address an area of concern to biologists and fisheries managers. It also gives substance and momentum to our effort to address the by-catch issue. It is now a priority for AST to meet the Chairman of the Pelagic RAC, who is based in Scotland.
Salmon Aquaculture:
Our second meeting with DG Mare was with Policy officers for Aquaculture Strategy, Common Fisheries Policy and Aquaculture. For AST this was really a briefing session for us to learn about the new EU Aquaculture Group which covers all aspects of aquaculture in both fresh and salt water. Anna Zito, the Aquaculture Policy Officer, explained that this massive new group will be unwieldy and too large to address specifics of salmon farming which, in the context of all forms of aquaculture, forms a small part. However, she explained that small subgroups will be established to deal with matters affecting each sub division of the sector, which should provide a focus for farmed salmon. We were also pleased to hear from Anna Zito that there will be full NGO participation in the main Aquaculture Advisory Group and in its sub groups.
The meeting ended with a short discussion about the importance of the consumer in the development of salmon farming, especially as new technologies such as close containment options, come into production.
Environmental issues:
Our meeting with DG Environment was a morale raiser for the AST team because of the deep understanding of problems faced by wild salmon and sea trout shown by Micheal O’Brian and his colleagues. (This is the group that took forward Brian Marshall’s complaint about the effects of the Irish drift nets on English southern rivers, and which resulted in the Irish Government taking action to end drift netting. This is the very same group that will be dealing with the Brechin Angling Club complaint. The EU team consists of top-level scientists who require solid scientific data to back any complaint before they will recommend that the Commission takes action.)
The background to our meeting was SALSEA-Merge which had received funds of over £6 million from the EU and others. The discussion centred on biodiversity and conservation, with particular emphasis on the development of ‘safe migratory corridors’ for outgoing smolts. While it became clear that revisiting the designation of SACs in the hope of establishing new ones where there are perceived gaps at present, is unlikely to happen, it was encouraging to hear that there are other ways of protecting targeted species in the pelagic zone. We discussed the Marine Protected Area (MPA) approach and encouraging different methods of netting (e.g. lowering the front edge of trawls by 2 or 3 metres) to take the pressure off shoals of smolts. We felt that this was the start of a much longer discussion to focus on conserving and enhancing salmon and sea trout stocks with their full natural diversity. Like their DG Mare colleagues they agreed to be advocates for our approach to these issues.
Outcomes:
After a busy day in Brussels when the AST team met key officials in the Commission we left with the knowledge that our efforts are being followed and supported by officials who have a deep understanding of the issues affecting the survival of wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout. While it is unfortunate that sea trout are not officially part of Habitats directive designated species, we were greatly reassured by the willingness of officials in DG Mare and DG Environment to listen to our concerns, and we were left in no doubt that, as a recognised ‘expert’ NGO on two important migratory indicator species, we can return to Brussels with our concerns when we need to do so.
Tony Andrews
14th January 2013