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Forthcoming socials
and new dive
stories making the
headlines
Many of you will have seen the recent BBC news which featured the role
that No Take Zones can have in protecting marine biodiversity.
DEFRA are currently unlikely to include proposals for No Take Zones
(often called Highly Protected Marine Reserves) in the proposed marine
bill. This is a problem because huge damage is being caused to the seabeds
as a result of dredging for scallops and other catches.
Please support the Marine Conservation Society's campaign by
registering at www.marinereservesnow.org.uk
There is further information about this, and other activities, on the Marine
Conservation Society website www.mcsuk.org
A TV documentary has examined whether great white sharks could be making
forays into British waters.
A BBC 1 programme Sharks: Great Whites in Great Britain? looked at accounts
of sightings by holidaymakers and fishermen, with analysis from experts.
One story came from a North Cornish fisherman, who saw something large leap
out of the sea. He went over to find blood on the surface - as if, it was suggested,
a seal had just been taken by a great white.
And an expert on great whites, examining other seal remains in Wales, said the
injuries could well have been inflicted by a great white. But expert opinion was
also that hard evidence has still not emerged to suggest that the great white has
ventured as far north as Britain.
The nearest confirmed great white was a juvenile caught by fishermen off the
port of La Rochelle, in the Bay of Biscay, in 1977. In Britain, irrefutable proof may
have to come in the form of a similar accidental catch or beach stranding.
It could even be divers with cameras who finally settle the issue. Bude-based
Richard Peirce, Chairman of the Plymouth-based Shark Trust, has been running
Britain’s first shark diving programme off Cornwall, using dive cages and
chumming techniques.
Peirce told BBC News that, in his view, the case for great whites off Britain was
“much stronger” than that presented in the BBC documentary. He said: “My view
is that there is strong circumstantial evidence that we get occasional vagrant
visitors.”
*A large porbeagle shark was washed up at Porthmadog in Gwynedd late last
week, just days before the BBC documentary. It was a timely reminder that
perceived sightings of great whites in Britain can be down to other species.
The 2.2m porbeagle is a member of the lamnidae shark family, which includes
the great white. A third lamnidae member is the mako, also found in British
waters. The sharks have clear differences but, to the uninitiated, could look
similar.
An article in September's issue of Diver magazine reports that several people
have claimed that nitrox has similar powers to Viagra! See the article for more
details, but in the meantime why not sign up to do your Nitrox course...
The Marine Conservation Society has launched a consumer awareness campaign
to help encourage supermarkets to take fish-related foods from sustainable
sources.
Following research by the MCS through summer 2005, Fishwatch has established
to what extent major supermarkets such as Asda, Tesco, M&S and Waitrose stock
fish foods obtained from sustainable and unsustainable sources - as defined by the
MCS's previously developed Good Fish Guide, with its lists of Fish to Eat and Fish
to Avoid.
Foods sourced from unsustainable fisheries include, from certain areas, skate and
ray, hake, halibut, blue marlin, shark, monkfish and prawns. Where required, the
MCS is committed to approaching supermarkets to stop the purchase of threatened
species.
Supermarkets also deserve plaudits where fish from sustainable sources are
stocked. During its summer research programme, the MCS found that Waitrose
stocked the largest number of species (19) featured in the MCS's Fish to Eat list,
followed by M&S (16) and Asda (15). M&S had the distinction of not selling any
foods cited on the MCS's Fish to Avoid list.
Fishwatch is inviting consumers to question their supermarket fishmongers about
the sourcing of their fish, and to report back to the MCS so that the Fishwatch
database can be expanded and kept up to date.
The MCS insists that the Fishwatch campaign will not have an adverse effect on
consumer choice. "There are over 30 fish and shellfish on the MCS Fish to Eat list,
so we are not suggesting that supermarkets reduce their sale of fish, but that they
take more care to buy and sell fish from sustainable sources," said Bernadette
Clarke, MCS Fisheries Officer.
Tel: 01603 629444
Email@ chriswake5@hotmail.com