North Sea cod stocks 'on road to sustainability'

North Sea cod stocks are on the road to sustainability, according to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) research.

The council, which certifies whether fish are being caught sustainably, says it is too soon to tell exactly when the North Sea fishery will be sustainable.

But a spokesman said on current trends, it will be ready for certification within years rather than decades.

Stocks would still be in recovery then, James Simpson said, but they would have passed an acceptable level.

MSC certification is determined by the state of the stocks, the environmental impact of the fishery, and if there is a management system in place to maintain sustainability if circumstances change.

The latter two were already in place, Mr Simpson said.

"This is really great news," he said. "We have done an assessment of the entire inshore industry and it's clear that cod is on the way back."

The recovery was thanks to strict catch limits aided by a massive public campaign for sustainable fish, he said.

Barrie Deas, the chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, which represents fisherman in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, told Radio 4's Today programme it was a "dramatic turnaround".

"I think a major part of it is there are fewer vessels out there. There have been big decommissioning schemes.

"There's also been a change in the mindset in the industry. We work very closely with the scientists now."

Despite the positives, the MSC admits to an unwanted side-effect to the campaign against cod-eating.

Some celebrity chefs have pointed people towards red gurnard as an alternative.

This used to be caught as a bycatch, but so many fishermen are now hunting red gurnard that it is possible stocks of that might run low.

The data on red gurnard was so poor that it is impossible to tell whether it's sustainable or not, the report says.

Brown crab falls into the same category.

The report calls for investment in stocks, such as red gurnard, to ensure they are sustainably managed.

The MSC's Claire Pescod said: "There's been a significant interest in underutilised species over the past few years.

"When those fish suddenly become commercially popular, we need to put a lot more effort into providing the appropriate information for their management to make sure that they are managed sustainably."
From BBC News- Sci/ Environment

Cheap coal 'threatens UK pollution targets'

Coal on the global market is so cheap that it threatens government attempts to tackle climate change, the chairman of the Environment Agency has warned.

Lord Smith says the UK’s share of electricity generated by coal is up to 40% – the highest since 1996.

Unless this trend is curbed, he says, the UK will miss its targets on curbing climate change and sulphur pollution.

The price of coal has been driven down by the dash for shale gas in the US.

Gas is much less polluting than coal, so carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have fallen in the US. But European power generators have gobbled up the resulting cheap coal, driving carbon emissions up in several nations.

The EU's statistical agency Eurostat estimates that from 2011 to 2012, CO2 emissions increased by 3.9% in the UK. The rise is most likely to be due to increased coal burning.

UK emissions of sulphur, which is damaging to health, have risen when they are supposed to be falling.

Lord Smith urges the government to commit to long-term targets to remove almost all carbon pollution from electricity generation by 2030. MPs are due to vote on this issue next week.

He also urges ministers to resist any attempts by power generators to keep open old coal stations which are due to close under an EU directive on air pollution.

Lord Smith told the BBC: “There’s lots of talk about a dash for gas but in effect we’re in a dash for coal that’s completely unsustainable. The government must ensure it doesn’t continue.”

Lord Smith says it is important the UK develops its own reserves of shale gas, so long as gas power stations are able to store the resulting CO2 emissions in the future.

"If we lock ourselves into gas generation for the next 40 years without capturing the CO2 emissions, we will never meet our targets on climate change,” he said.

"At the current rate of progress we will miss our future carbon budgets."

A government spokesman said measures were in place to ensure new coal power stations could not be built unless they captured their carbon emissions.

There were no plans, he said, to extend the life of old coal power stations.