New research published by lead author Sophie Corrigan from the University of Exeter and the Marine Biological Association demonstrates that mussel and seaweed farms provide new structured habitat to fish species – including high numbers of commercial fish species. The work, published in the scientific journal of Aquaculture Environment Interactions, shows the biodiversity benefits that farming low tropic species can bring to otherwise structure-less or degraded inshore habitats.
Her work shows mussel farms deliver the highest benefits to fishes throughout the water column and in different size classes, providing relatively stable habitats with plentiful food. Seaweed farming areas provided temporary habitats due to their shorter harvesting schedules. However, while seaweed was being cultivated there was still a marked increase in fish abundance and diversity compared to the non-farmed reference areas of the sea. The research identified several commercially and ecologically important fish species that were using the farmed areas, such as mackerel, pollack, and greater sand eels, with diet analysis revealing that farms may provide important new feeding grounds for these species.
She said: “Given the degradation of natural habitats around our coastlines, the decline of many important fish stocks, and the clear need for increased sustainable food systems, these results provide important evidence about how shellfish and seaweed farms could be used as nature-based solutions if appropriately managed. The increase in fish abundance within these farms will likely have spill-over benefits to other marine users including fisheries, which may help to facilitate the inclusion of sustainable aquaculture within marine planning.”
Sophie, who was until recently co-funded by the FCFCT to undertake her PhD at Exeter University, and who featured among speakers at last years’ Aquaculture conference at Fishmongers’ Hall, has now moved upwards and onwards, joining London’s Natural History Museum to contribute at the science policy interface of the rapidly expanding seaweed farming horizon.
Members of the Livery Dan Aherne, CEO of New England Seafood and Libby Woodhatch, Executive Chairman of the Marin Trust, have been recognised in Intrafish’s guide to the 100 most influential executives working in the seafood industry today.
TheSeafood Power 100 list recognises those who have made significant contribution to innovation, sustainability and profitability in our namesake trade.
Dan Aherne of New England Seafood, founded by our current Prime Warden Fred Stroyan, has been recognised for their work in connecting with UK consumers and driving domestic demand for seafood.
Libby Woodhatch has been recognised for her work at the Marin Trust, an international certification scheme program for marine ingredients, a “blind spot” in the seafood supply chain. The schemeworks to improve standards in the international fishmeal and oil industry, focusing on the factories bringing the product to market and assessing the fisheries that supply them, certifying 48% of average global production in the last five years.
Simon Dwyer, executive of the Seafood Grimsby and Humber Alliance (SGHA), whom the Company helped to found and is a key working partner in our support for the UK seafood trade, has also been recognised. The SGHA, who’s members make up approximately 60% of the UK seafood processing trade has been instrumental in supporting the industry to navigate the challenges of the pandemic and Brexit and has secured millions of pounds in government funding to support training and careers in the sector as well as driving sustainability and innovation.
Support from The Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust (FCFCT) enabled key representatives to attend the first ever Catch Welfare Platform event in Bergen, Norway in November 2023. This kick-off conference aimed to bring the global seafood community together to form working groups that could collaborate on fish and shellfish welfare-related projects.
Members of the steering group: David Jarrad (Shellfish Association of Great Britain), Sophie Bennett (Seafish), Claire Pescod (Macduff Shellfish as Chair of the Crab and Lobster Management Group) and Mike Roach (National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations and chair of the SAGB Crustacean Committee).
Welfare of wild capture species is increasingly important, particularly in the UK where recent changes to legislation (recognising crustaceans including brown crab and European lobster as sentient) have potential implications for seafood businesses. The attendees supported by FCFCT were members of the steering group that have been coordinating the development of voluntary codes of best practice for crustacean welfare alongside industry panels. The FCFCT grant enabled the members to build connections with others in the field and increase their awareness of how key players are responding to consumer pressure and changes in public perception.
The Catch Welfare Platform coordinators are working to develop their own codes of best practice for animal welfare in the seafood supply chain, so the event in Bergen was a great opportunity for the steering group members to introduce themselves to these individuals. The group were able to offer support and expertise given that they are somewhat leading the way with their UK-based work on decapod crustaceans – hopefully opening up opportunities for future international collaboration.
The conference provided a valuable opportunity to shine a light on technologies that are being developed to improve catch welfare in the UK:
SafetyNet Technologies have been developing uses for underwater cameras and lights in improving selectivity in demersal fishing trawls to avoid catching non-target species. Avoiding catching non-target species in the first place negates the risk of welfare impacts on fish that could be returned to the sea.
Optimar – a designer of automated fish processing systems – have been collaborating with large UK-based retailers to develop electrical stunning machines for use onboard UK Nephrops trawlers and at warm water shrimp farms that export to the UK. Stunning is conducted prior to killing or tailing to enable humane dispatch before processing.
A key take-home message from the event is that animal welfare is very much on the agenda for the seafood industry, and not just for crustaceans. The knowledge and science represented in the Catch Welfare Platform is likely to play a key role in future innovations around animal welfare in the seafood supply chain, so it was incredibly useful for the group to attend to ensure this is on the radar of key UK organisations!
Information on the Catch welfare platform can be found here. For further news of the launch of the voluntary codes of practice, please keep an eye out on the Seafish website or contact sophie.bennett@seafish.co.uk for more details.
The Company welcomed welcomed the UK Minister for Food, Fisheries and Farming, Mark Spencer and the Norweigan Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy, Cecilie Myrseth, to the Hall when hosting the Norwegian Seafood Council annual conference. Both Ministers addressed the conference and spoke warmly of bi-lateral trade and shared fishing opportunities and joined stakeholders from the seafood sector and related industries, from fishing fleet, seafood producers and exporters, to importers, suppliers, retail, food service and media.
The Ministers met Prime Warden Fred Stroyan and Fisheries Director Andrew Wallace, alongside representatives of Seafood Grimsby and Humber Alliance (SGHA), who have worked tirelessly over the past three years with the seafood sector in Norway and ministerial departments in London and Oslo to smooth future trade flows since the introduction of the Border Target Operating Model.
Andrew Wallace, Fishmongers’ Company Director of Fisheries and SGHA board member, remarked: “This is the second year in a row we have hosted this conference at Fishmongers’Hall and it is always enlightening to hear about the importance of bi-lateral seafood trade and fisheries between our fishing nations. The Alliance board, which is headquartered in Grimsby, have been very focused on developing seafood trade opportunities with Norway and it was a great opportunity to share some thoughts on this with our respective Ministers and their officials”
Major Norwegian seafood exporter, Nordic Group AS, represented by Managing Director, Morten Hyldborg Jensen, commented “Over recent years we’ve had a warm, friendly and successful dialogue with our colleagues in Grimsby led by Simon Dwyer. We were delighted when Simon brought a delegation from the UK to visit our landing stations in Batsfjord, Norway, last May to see hands on our fish landing and processing facilities. This conference is always a great networking opportunity for both Norwegian and UK seafood businesses and various stakeholders.”
Scientists at the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and Newcastle University have begun trials to progress an active kelp restoration technique for four species of native kelp (Order Laminariales), using test sites in Devon and Teesside. The fundamental goal of the project is to develop a system for restoring degraded kelp forests using a low-cost, scalable, and practical solution, whilst bridging the gap between marine conservation and the fishing and seafood industry. The project has been generously funded by the Marine Management Organisation, Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, Newcastle University, Seafarers Charity, Marshall Wace, Devon Environment Foundation, and the Dixon Foundation.
Kelp forests form vital marine ecosystems, support high levels of biodiversity, primary productivity and underpin a range of core ecosystem services. However, kelp beds are declining across the world, with losses stemming from a variety of physical and biological factors such as climate change, decreases in water quality, coastal development, overgrazing, overharvesting, pollution.
The UK and Ireland represent an important area for kelps, with 7 different species found along ~19,000 km of the UK’s coastline. Kelp habitats support vital important ecosystem services, including fisheries habitats, biogenic coastal protection, nutrient cycling and carbon uptake and storage. Losses or shifts in the structure of kelp forests in the UK could have significant consequences for marine ecosystems and the services they provide to coastal communities. While much research has focused on coral, mangrove and seagrass restoration, far less attention has been given to kelp forests, despite their huge ecological and socioeconomic importance.
This restoration project, which is the first of its kind in the UK, will use controlled laboratory conditions to grow native kelp species using fertile ‘sorus’ material (seed) obtained from local donor plants. Kelp spores will be extracted and seeded onto local gravel substrates. Trials will also assess the feasibility of using scallop shells as a restoration substrate, with the objective of also reducing scallop shell landfill waste. Once juvenile kelp plants have grown large enough (~1cm long), the substrates and kelp will be out-planted at sea. The restoration method is known as the ‘green gravel’, which was pioneered by Fredriksen et al in Norway. The project has been working closely with the fishing communities through the North East Fishing Collective / Whitby Fishing Association and Plymouth Fishing and Seafood Association. The ambition is that the fishing fleet will support the out-planting activities on an ongoing, paid basis.
Since November, the MBA and Newcastle University have been doing exploratory cultivation trials of two kelp species, Laminaria digitata and Saccharina latissima. To start the trials, the MBA set up a dedicated controlled temperature room with tanks, pipework, racking, filtered seawater, UV sterilization, and specialist lighting. To optimise seeding methods, tests are comparing the success of seeding with both spores and microscopic gametophyte life stages. A pilot trial at the MBA was also recently started to assess kelp settlement density, growth rate and attachment strength on both sides of scallop shells, using flat, concave and crushed shells. Seeding success and follow-on growth will be monitored for eight weeks and will inform subsequent substrate trials.
As part of the project, the MMO, FCFCT and Newcastle University are also funding a PhD student, Cat Wilding, to develop the ‘green gravel’ research. Cat has worked as a scientist at the MBA for the past 6 years, and will continue her studentship based at the MBA, in partnership with Newcastle University as the host.
Support from the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust’s Ocean Programme has supported dive scholarships for young people in St Helena, providing essential skills to support careers in marine conservation.
Scholars aged 15-17 embarked on an extensive diving course designed to enable them to dive at sea, an essential skill for those wishing to engage in marine conservation, particularly in the unique ocean habitats of the South Atlantic.
Two of the scholars who received funding from the FCFCT have now completed their training with each of them demonstrating skills such as mask removal, regulator removal, low air and various hand signals for underwater communication.
Course organisers said that both Blane and Stefan “showed great enthusiasm and dedication to the course, and both passed with flying colours” and we hope that both will use these skills to great effect in protecting the marine environment of St Helena in years to come.
Key next steps in the de-carbonisation of the seafood industry have been laid out at a landmark event hosted at Fishmongers’ Hall.
The Seafood Grimsby & Humber Alliance (SGHA), in collaboration with industry leaders such as Hilton Seafoods, New England Seafoods, J Marr (Seafoods), and Sofina’s Young’s Seafoods, is spearheading the decarbonisation agenda within the UK seafood sector. The alliance took a significant step towards sustainability by launching the Seafish Industry Authority’s Seafood Carbon Emissions Profiling Tool at a workshop held at Fishmongers’ Hall on Thursday, 25 January.
Simon Smith, Chairperson for the Seafood Grimsby & Humber Alliance, highlighted the alliance’s dedication to supporting the decarbonisation of the seafood sector. The workshop provided an opportunity to introduce and demonstrate the Seafish tool’s capabilities, especially the recently added feature covering the wild-capture aspect. Developed collaboratively between SGHA and Seafish, this groundbreaking tool calculates the carbon footprint of seafood capture, harvest, and production, facilitating informed investment decisions to drive the necessary supply chain transformation toward Net Zero.
Seafood industry leaders, along with major retailers and food service businesses, are actively testing the tool’s ability to identify carbon hotspots in the wild-capture seafood supply chain. This data-driven approach will enable targeted efforts to reduce carbon emissions in critical supply chains. The event served as a platform to discuss progress and plan the next steps in utilising the Seafood Carbon Emissions Profiling Tool to support ongoing efforts for further decarbonisation of the seafood sector.
Marcus Coleman, CEO of Seafish, expressed the commitment to supporting a thriving UK seafood sector. He emphasised that the Seafish tool aims to quantify seafood’s position, both farmed and wild capture, as a low-carbon protein source, underscoring its role in healthy and sustainable diets.
Dr. Henrietta Boyd, a representative of the Fishmongers’ Company and facilitator of the workshop, highlighted that the Seafood Carbon Emissions Profiling Tool represents a significant leap forward in the collective journey toward a greener and more sustainable seafood sector. Once complete, the tool will empower stakeholders to make informed decisions for a healthier planet.
The collaborative efforts of SGHA and Seafish, along with the engagement of industry leaders, reflect a pivotal moment in the UK seafood industry’s commitment to carbon neutrality and sustainability.
Funding from the Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust has supported ground-breaking research into the effectiveness of LED lights on attracting scallops in inshore fisheries. The results could support the development of a new, low-impact scallop fishery for the UK’s inshore fishing fleets.
In 2019 Dr Rob Enever and his team from Fishtek Marine were tinkering with adding small LED lights to traditional crustacean pots. These lights, they hoped, would attract crabs and lobsters to the pots, without the need to use fish as bait. The lights were simply named ‘PotLights’, and the modified traps were handed over to Newlyn fisherman John Ashworth for trial on fishing grounds off the Cornish coast. Strings shot, they waited….
When they hauled the pots a few days later, they found they had accidentally attracted a rather unexpected reveller: king scallops. A number of scallops were in the pots, alongside the expected species of crustacean.
With over 200 eyes, for some time it’s been no secret that scallops are sensitive to light, but it was previously unknown that they could be attracted to it in this way. Speaking to The Guardian, Ashworth stated that “pretty much every pot (with lights) hauled had scallops in them, and yet every pot without lights had no scallops”. John, skipper of the Three Jays, also revealed that from the 35,000 pots he hauls annually, he would generally not expect to see more than five scallops all year. When he began shooting pots with PotLights, the first haul immediately revealed 15 scallops.
This caused so much excitement that Dr Enever, lead author of the study, “could hardly sleep for a couple of nights”. This had potential to be a worldfirst discovery, but further research was needed. Funding was granted from the Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, alongside support from the UK Seafood Innovation Fund, which is part of the £100m UK Seafood Fund. Researchers from the University of York and Exeter got on board, as well as more local fishermen and pot makers.
With this additional support, Fishtek Marine began conducting further trials to investigate the phenomenon. The trials were again conducted in Cornish waters, on grounds traditionally potted for crustaceans. Between December 2020 and February 2021, 77 strings were shot, deploying 1,886 pots of several different designs. Some pots included modifications such as ramps and retainers to help scallops enter pots and make leaving them more difficult.
The results? Scallops are party animals! All treatments with lights were found to retain scallops, and of 518 total scallops recorded, 516 (99.6%) were caught in pots with lights. Modified parlour pots containing PotLights were most effective, with 24 scallops caught in a single pot!
Fittingly, these LED-modified pots are now being referred to as ‘scallop discos’. Not only do these pots particularly attract scallops, they also had no detrimental effect on catches of crab and lobster: scallops were simply being caught alongside them. These exciting findings have introduced the potential for a new, low-impact and low-cost alternative to traditional scallop fishing methods. Currently, scallops are caught primarily using dredges, which, due to their heavy and penetrative design, carry a high impact on the seabed.
The other low-impact alternative currently practised is hand-gathering by divers, but this method can only produce limited quantities. PotLights – small, AA-battery powered LED lights – are an inexpensive, reusable modification for crustacean pots. Further experiments will look to refine pot designs and LED lights to specifically retain attracted scallops, and also investigate the effect of using different light colours.
As of June 2022, Orkney, the Isle of Man and Dartmouth have been identified as further sites to trial PotLights. For now, the research has shown that PotLights work, and could offer a potential to boost inshore fisheries with further development.
This article is adapted from Ain’t No Party Like a Scallop Party – Caitlin Turner, Seafish, Quay Issues, Volume 9 2023
Over 170 delegates gathered in Fishmongers’ Hall on November 30th to hear from industry, scientists, policy-makers and NGOs, who examined the state of low-trophic aquaculture in the UK and set out the steps required to support a thriving, sustainable industry.
Speakers outlined the need for further funding for research and development, the importance of advocacy to drive policy changes and a an appropriate regulatory environment, as well as the need for cross-sector collaboration to foster innovation, reduce risk to investors and increase access to finance.
The conference was opened by special guest speaker Stefán Jón Hafstein, Chair of the Aquatic Food Coalition and Special Envoy for Ocean Affairs, Iceland, who gave an international perspective on aquatic blue food, highlighting that whilst aquaculture remains undervalued and underrepresented at a policy level the significant growth of the sector provides positive signals, with space to achieve much more.
Speakers from the Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland examined the UK vision for nature-positive aquaculture, whilst representatives from the MMO, Green Finance Institute and FinanceEarth explored the current state and future potential for policy and investment in the UK.
Focus then turned to the environmental gains that low-trophic aquaculture can deliver, as speakers from WWF, the Universities of Plymouth, Exeter and Essex demonstrated the ecological benefits of mussel, seaweed and oyster farming. Second guest speaker Rod Fujita, Oceans Director at the Environmental Defence Fund, then explored the benefits of seaweed for climate change mitigation, outlining the rapid rate at which it absorbs carbon from the atmosphere.
The fourth session examined market innovation as speakers discussed the innovative use of low-trophic products in food, ranging from mussel burgers to clam nuggets, designed to broaden consumption of farmed shellfish. Opportunities to monetise seaweed growing through payment for ecosystem services were also examined.
The final session interrogated opportunities for the future of UK low-trophic aquaculture, exploring collaborative models that can deliver benefits for shellfish farmers, fishermen and the environment, as well as tackling some of the structural barriers currently restricting growth in this sector. This was followed by a lively panel discussion dissecting the key issues facing the sector and identifying the core opportunities for growth and development of an aquaculture approach that benefits both people and the aquatic environment.
Emma Plotnek, Executive Director at the charity Fishing into the Future, looks back a hugely successful 3 day event, “by fishermen, for fishermen” and funded by the Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, that is set to be rolled out elsewhere in the UK in 2024.
The Fishing into the Future (FITF) 3-day Fisheries Recourse Education Programme on the south coast, brought together 34 working fishermen and industry representatives with a wide range of those involved in the science and management of British fisheries, including officials from DEFRA and the MMO, and scientists from CEFAS and UK Universities.
Everyone gets involved with the interactive session to design and run a stock assessment on Day 1 (Science). John Balls (fisherman Clovelly Harbour North Devon) and Nick West (Mevagissey. Cornwall) seen here working on their practical research survey designs
The Fisheries Resource Education Programme, or F-Rep, as it is known,aims to break down barriers between people working within industry (connecting fishermen who work along the coast from one another but don’t know each other) and also between fishermen, scientists and managers.
We encourage people to exchange stories and learn from one another, and invite fishermen to facilitate sessions and be actively involved in the planning and delivery of the event.
FITF is a charity that is dedicated to supporting people involved with the fishing industry to work effectively together. We believe that co-management – an approach where key groups work together in decision-making – is the best approach to build sustainable fisheries and a prosperous fishing industry. But the success of co-management depends on having the right conditions for everyone to work together. This event was designed to equip working fishermen with the skills, connections and confidence to further (or to jumpstart) their participation in fisheries science and management.
We want to create the best conditions for co-management, collaborative research and industry led science, where industry, science and government are all participants in research and decision making. F-REP was about encouraging and giving the chance for people from the fishing industry who are not always able to effectively input into these spaces the opportunity to gain the skills and connections to effectively participate. Equally importantly it is also breaking down barriers for people in science and management to understand and reach the industry.
The agenda itself – tells its own story. Day one concentrated on fisheries science and data collection, with a mix of government and academic scientists such as Professor Mike Kaiser from Heriot-Watt university and Rui Viera from CEFAS giving talks tailored to working fishermen, giving participants an insight into the marine environment and ecosystems of their local environment. This was complemented with examples of industry led science, with, for example, Gary Buchan, skipper of the scalloper Evening Star discussing his involvement over several years of collecting and providing data for use in scallop stock assessments.
An informal environment at the Industry/Science mixer allowed rich conversations to develop and connections to be made. Lyme Bay fisherman Aubrey Banfield, chatting to Demet Dinler, an anthropologist from the University of Sussex.
Day two looked at an issue that will occupy a huge amount of the industry’s time and efforts in the next 12 months- Fisheries Management Plans. Whilst consultation on the first round of FMPs concluded this autumn, 2024 will see the process accelerate, with 26 more expected within the year – a hugely ambitious target. The day also looked at how to create, build and strengthen fishing associations, and as importantly, help them deliver their messages on behalf of members. This rolled over into day 3, where social science, anthropology, economics, and marketing were also thrown into the mix.
For myself, highlights were the connections the people in the room made with each other. Despite working different roles we were able to see each other as fellow humans with good intentions, we share a common goal and an interest in supporting fishing communities, fisheries, and healthy seas. This sometimes meant challenging each other and asking difficult questions – but we are all walking away better connected and with a greater understanding an empathy for each other. Ideally we can now pick up the phone to each other when we have an issue – and try and resolve it together!
The recipe for success of F-REP is using a mix of interactive learning and speaker sessions, the activities in the agenda were a big hit – as people get to practice skills and working together. “We ran an activity where groups designed and carried out stock assessment surveys using bags full of thousands of beans to represent fish stocks! People got their mathematical and analytical brain going to comprehend the complexity of fisheries science.”
We also had a great session where groups were given challenging and common scenarios that reflect the reality of the combined issues that affect fisheries management decisions. Groups had to negotiate and agree proposals for a Fisheries Management plan. Working together as fishermen, scientists and government – however we got people to swap roles, so fishermen played the role of NGOs and Government, and government were simulating the role of fishermen, using humour and getting people comfortable with the process of engaging in an FMP. Even the most sceptical and reserved people got involved and were enjoying playing their role, and everyone came out with a better understanding of the process and each other!
Event picture outside the venue of Chilworth Manor – close to Southampton. A further F-REP, in Yorkshire, is planned for February.
Every time I looked around the room people were engaged, listening, asking questions and following each and every session – very little staring at phones, leaving the room or zoning out. People were really present and keen to participate. The number of fishermen we got committed to be with us was a testament to what we do – considering they were willing to commit 4 days out of their week before they even knew what the weather was doing! Understandably, several guys turned up pretty sceptical, so it’s great to see them walk away enthusiastic and reinvigorated in what the future could hold if this level of engagement and enhanced understanding is maintained. “
F-REP- the start of a process, not the end
The event is not a space to resolve specific issues, but instead get everyone into a better place to walk away from it and work together more effectively. It was highlighted in the wrap up of the event that this process of learning and connecting is not additional to the fisheries management process – but a key component to ensuring the success of co-management. This F-REP event was funded by the Fishmongers Company, the Seafarers Charity and FaSS scheme, and there is a similar event being held on the East Coast, near York, in February 2024, with a greater focus on shellfish species. The goal is to roll out more events through 2024 across the UK.
Full details of the event, and how to apply for one of the funded places, will be made available on the FITF website.
This article is an adaptation of a piece published in the Fishing News
