The Ultimate Sacrifice

So I whinge I can’t get fish. My customers complain that they can’t get the fish they want. My wholesalers complain they struggle to get fish. This past couple of weeks has seen some of the worst storms for nearly a decade with 70mph+ coastal winds, flooding, extensive damage to property and yet we still expect fish. As fish go short the price increases as wholesalers and exporters bid against each other for the morsels. The over worked, under paid, fisherman eye a chance for a better return and risk their lives for this and ultimately to put fish on our plates. Again last weekend we lost another brave crewman who was washed over board into the English Channel from the Brixham trawler the Korenbloem. Young James Grindy was heroically pulled from the water by two of his colleagues who dived into the icy water with no concern for their own safety. James was taken by the air ambulance but died later in hospital. I would like to say many understand the dangers of being a fisherman, however, many more do not. Make it you business to realise what some people do to supply fish – sometimes the ultimate sacrifice

Trees and Deers and Fresh Air

Occasionally the outskirts of London offer a real getaway from the hustles of our packed metropolis. The expanse of Richmond Park in late Autumn is a place to be savoured. Beautiful colours, majestic wildlife and if you can’t bear to be with out a latte maker in every car park.

Less Fish Higher Prices

The European Commission recently published it’s proposed changes for 2010 Total Allowable Catches based on best available scientific and catch data. As expected a number of fisheries have proposed reductions in total take by fisherman. The commonly known plight of Cod in certain areas continues with proposed 25% cuts in nearly all fishing grounds around the UK. The haddock fishing grounds off West Scotland have a massive proposed 54% cut. Among others the eastern English Channel may have a 15% reduction in Skate & Ray landings. The plaice fisheries of Western Ireland, the Bristol Channel and the eastern English Channel have proposed 15% cuts. The North Sea has further 15% cuts in Turbot and Brill catches. The good old sustainable Pollack fisheries of the whole west coast will be cut by 15%. Many Dover sole fisheries have be cut by between 7 and 31% with the eastern English Channel suffering most. Also many langoustine fisheries have been cut by around 10%. Interestingly no monkfish fisheries are cut and one has increased by 15% indicating good stock status.

So be prepared for increases in the price of your fish. The Scottish fisheries are hugely important to the British fish haul and with potentially huge reductions in landings the remaining ports will suffer increased pressure from the big wholesalers. All legally caught fish are auctioned and follow the simple rule of prices being affected by market availability and demand. Many of you would actually shudder if they new how much Cod costs at wholesale, especially as a notable percentage is trimmed off before re-sale. I am confident that the least return on any product sold by a fishmonger is the Cod so do expect it to rise in price in 2010. Additionally the haddock is a very important species to the Scottish Fleet so with the proposed 50%+ reductions huge pressure will be inflicted on the south west ports of England.

When The Wind Blows

Fishmongers have to face the major problem of a lack of quality fish when the weather is bad. I see many mongers quality fall through the floor when bad weather is about as they feel they have to continue to offer every product all of the time. I embrace these situations as it allows me to restrict my fare to a selection of high quality sourced species. I recall that on my one and only trip to Borough Market a couple of years ago I saw the perfect example of this. The mentioned weekend had been towards the end of a week of some countrywide gales and quality fish was critically short. A fishmonger in the centre of Borough, whose name I am unaware, had a huge selection of species with much interest and many sales. The quality was awful. Apart from one piece of tuna there was not an item I would have allowed on my counter. Walking out of the market rather bemused and disappointed I noticed a fishmonger called Applebee’s. I popped in and introduced myself and was pleasantly greeted with a small selection of great quality. Not a chance were they going to compromise their standards for market tourist trade.

Remember that our fish are not kept in fields with fences penning them in. When bad weather is about be prepared to change your menu as many fish will not be available. Also be prepared to be offered low quality if you visit a shop that puts profit over pride. I am not ashamed to say I only had 22 species (including each shellfish and prawn) for sale today. I am, however, proud to say I sold them all.

Skating on Thin Ice - The Plight of our skates and rays

Skates and rays are ancient and stunningly beautiful creatures thought to have been with us for 150 million years. There are approximately 600 species throughout the world including 21 around the coast of the UK; varieties also include electrical and stinging species. They derive from the class Chondrichthyes and fall into the sub-class elasmabranchii that also includes the sharks. The close relationship of the skates and sharks mean they both differ from the bony fish as their endoskeleton is made entirely of cartilage. The differences do not stop their as unlike many bony fish the skates and rays do not have scales; they are either armed with mucus covered skin, common to the spotted ray, or bony armoured projections called tubercles. They are very sociable animals and can commonly be found in large groups sometimes in piles on top of each other. They glide effortlessly through the water using their huge pectoral fins, commonly known as wings that move by waves of dorsoventral muscle contractions, whilst using their long whip like tail as a rudder. Their beautiful markings, normally characteristic of their specific environment, are used as camouflage as they lie lifeless disguised on the sea bed; camouflage on the sea bed is a great form of predator defence.

The beautiful markings of a Cuckoo Ray

They are slow moving bottom dwellers and spend a large amount of time laying on the sea bed so have their mouth on the underside of the body which traps prey against the substrate. They are ambush predators commonly laying in wait too pounce on their unsuspecting prey grasping them with compact rows of strong pointed teeth.

The skates and rays have evolved additional help in breathing; their five to seven pairs of gills on the underside of the body would continuously become clogged with silt if no help was at hand. On the top of the body, alongside each eye, there is an opening called a spiracle. Water is taken into these vents and then past over the gills allowing the oxygen to be removed. Similar to sharks the skates have great senses and having electro receptors that are able to detect electricity produced by prey.

Male skates have specialised fins known as claspers that can be seen either side of the tail on the underside. Mating is quite violent with the males commonly biting into the females. The fish generally have a late age at maturity, between 5 and 10 years, and the females produce only a small number of spiny egg cases, less than 100 per year, and these are commonly known as mermaids’ purses. Depending on the species and certain environmental factors their eggs can take 6 to 12 months to hatch; some species of sting rays do bear live young.

The catch levels into UK ports of the main species approaches 2-3000 tonnes per year. Considering that nearly all caught skates are part of the bottom trawl by-catch these levels are quite high. Being a by-catch species has particularly bad consequences as it is very difficult to ascertain accurate catch levels. Managing fisheries with figures ascertained from by-catch data make effective fishery management hugely difficult. Additionally over the past decades all species have been recorded in the generic skate and ray family resulting in little or no accurate historical commercial catch records; without this data it is impossible to assess stock level fluctuations over time. Since 2009, however, a species specific recording system has become compulsory. The retention of the common skate species is now illegal in the majority of the Europeon waters and must be returned alive if caught. This is also true of the undulate ray species.

Of the many species across the world we need only to centre around a small percentage of local varieties. The stage is taken by the critically endangered common skate (Dipturus batis), the species of categorised ray thought to be at low or critical levels n certain areas including the Thornback (Raja clavata), Undulate (Raja undulata), Blonde (Raja brachyura) and Painted or otherwise known as small-eyed (Raja microcellata) and the species deemed at safe levels which include the Cuckoo (Leucoraja naevus), spotted (Raja montagui), and the Starry (Raja radiata).

So why has the skate, and to a lesser extent certain species of ray, found themselves on the endangered list. They are not particularly fashionable like the blufin or other species of tuna, delicate like halibut or even as easy to cook as cod. Unfortunately the skates and rays have one huge disadvantage when compared to these species. They take time to mature and reproduce very slowly in incredibly small numbers. Unlike a mackerel that will release many thousands of eggs per fish the rays will lay a small number per female. The majority of shoaling species work on the theory that a mass production of eggs will yield a small percentage of survivors. If, for example, the female population were halved the tiny survival rate would also be halved; the problem that created the cod stocks to collapse of the west coast of Canada. So if the species only lays a small number of eggs to start with then it is critical a large percentage survive. Ultimately a stock can reach no return when the spawning stock is not large enough to successfully recruit and the species becomes extinct – when only two males are left the Adam and eve theory reverts to Adam and Steve – no reproduction.

The EC have recently proposed a 15% cut in Total Allowable Catches across the board within EC waters. The landing of Common Skate, Norwegian Skate, White Skate and Underlate Ray remains illegal in many European waters.

For many years the skate in England and the Ray in France have traditionally appeared on restaurant menus or in front of the family at dinner time; served with black butter and capers or more commonly in England battered with chips. In more resent times skate has become a popular dish offered by some of the top London establishments; maybe it offers something quintessentially English?

Personally, I have not seen a piece of Common skate for a number of years and although our shop is situated in the heart of London’s largest and wealthiest French and English communities the demand for this, and ray species, is minimal. I put this down to my choice of rarely offering this product; I am one of the people fascinated by them in their own environment. On a Friday the shop will offer a small amount of carefully selected ray species that I am happy with selling. I understand it can be very hard for certain businesses when the most talked about ‘must avoid’ species are also the most popular. In a way I feel sorry for restaurants such as Nobo, Scotts and Sheekeys as they are being publicly pressured into to removing dishes they have sold for many years, dishes that are signature of their restaurant, dishes that will leave gaping holes in their menus, holes that cannot be filled. However, nobody can condone the selling of an endangered species, aquatic or not, so these restaurants will have to come to terms with this and adapt their menus accordingly. Those that do not will eventually find themselves ostracised which will be more damaging long term to their businesses.

I certainly believe the majority of restaurants, including those so heavily criticised on recent ‘where not to buy fish’ websites which offer skate on the menu, are in fact selling species of sustainable ray (websites such as the recent fish2fork.com which was removed for a short period and updated as inaccuracies and assumptions where leading to possible libel action). The problem that occurs is that all these species encompass the group of true skates. All of our commercial species are then split into the larger species with long snouts (true skates) and the smaller short snouted species (rays). Although technically they can all be called skate on the menu it is time, with increased pressure of knowing some are critically endangered, to label our dishes, and in the case of fishmongers, their counters, correctly. Not until 2009 has the fishing industry been forced into labelling each variety as species specific.

Common Skate

Many chefs and fishmongers will not recognise the difference between the many species. In fact many would have never sold common skate. However, many of the menu inaccuracies involving skate are accidental and without true malice, but those restaurants that have known they have been selling ray as skate will now feel uneasy with recent publicity. Conversely, many will be happy with their labelling as technically it is correct and the assumption by the recent fish2fork website that menu citing of skate are automatically the endangered species are very assuming and in most cases wholly inaccurate. I am also told there is a certain amount of misleading undertaken by some wholesalers and fishmongers and I have also seen the smallest of immature ray wings labelled as skate in the so called ‘green’ supermarket. The real problem is that over the past ten years everybody has just called all species skate. It was just easier that way. It was a name everybody recognised. “Portion of skate and chips please love” just makes more sense than “Portion of small-eyed ray and chips please”. This however needs to change. People are aware of the uneasy plight of certain species of fish. Shops and restaurants need to re-label. It is not acceptable to sell endangered species of Skate so why use the name. The rays have such beautiful names so use it as a sale pitch.

So what is my advice on buying or not buying skate and ray? Due to the lack of data it has been very difficult in finding any real help to answer this question. The fishonline.org website offers its usual level of worthless help by suggesting the stock levels of most species is uncertain. Fish2fork seem to categorise all species as skate thus assuming they are critically endangered without any real justification. Seafish ‘the authority on seafood’ (their branding) offer little more than a lack of data gives insufficient results. The IUCN red list offers little unless well hidden in its site. For example the Thornback Ray, categorised by Seafish (with reference to IUCN) as ‘near threatened’ is actually categorised as lower risk by the IUCN – all very confusing and might I say misleading. All I can suggest is to follow the following list and you should buy the tastiest meal that hasn’t come from a critically endangered species.

Your purchased piece of fish should be as pink as possible (see picture below) – remember ‘White will be shite’. The older the fish the whiter it will be so if no colour remains walk away.

Many will know that an old piece of skate will smell of ammonia but why?
The skates retain nitrogenous wastes such as urea in their blood stream to help water from being drawn out of them via osmosis. When combined with blood salts the concentration is raised above that of the surrounding water resulting in osmotic equality. If it smells do not eat it.

And finally with regards to ethical selection the size may be your only help. As the very large species of True Skates and the Underlate Ray are now rarely or never landed I would suggest avoiding the very small wings that would come from immature fish. It is hard as the smaller species are believed to be the most abundant, but rarely will any have reached maturity at a small size. Buy whole wings that weigh 700grms+ or pieces that have come from wings this size or above. Maybe your ideal size to guarantee your fish had reached maturity and had been given a chance to spawn would be bigger still.

To note – Unlike the cleanly skinned Blonde Ray wings in the picture below the common skate has small black squiggly lines left on the flesh after skinning (they are part of the skin that remains and could be likened to black worms?) and I believe is the only species that does. If you see it for sale you’ll know it is from a critically endangered species.

I See Trouble Ahead

So is it ethical to follow the lead of celebrity chefs like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall? Should we choose unusual non fashionable fish that fall under ‘their own’ new favourite label of ‘sustainable’. Or maybe get into line behind Charles Clover and only eat at restaurants that he wants us too. I am confused, and trust me, when it comes to fish that is not usual. Of course the majority of fish HFW champions are not only awful to the taste, but are unavailable to buy anyway. That’s fine, but please don’t try to convince us we need to eat carp et al. Anyhow the point; I have been studying the European Communities (EC) proposed Total Allowable Catch (TAC) alterations for 2010. Although the piece I am writing centres around the popular species I did pick up on the following. The marine stewardship council accredits fisheries that can prove they are sustainable which is a very hard status to achieve. The Eastern English Channel Dover Sole fishery gained this status last year and has since won the plaudits and then recommendations of all the ‘where to source fish’ guides. Why then is there a proposed 31% reduction in the TAC of this species in this area? This to me is not showing a stable fishery? This to me is showing that even more than ever before people are jumping on a bandwagon to gain respect from the concerned public by suggesting sources of ‘sustainable, fish – sources they have no understanding of.

Secondly, everyone’s favourite savour of the ocean the Pollack. Let us open with the shuddering words from the SeaFish website that states

“Although Pollack are not an assessed species the European Union set a precautionary Total Allowable Catches based on previous catches (this can be modified based on evidence provided to the EU by the Member State making the request) for this species in the following ICES areas”

So Pollack has no assessment! This problem has caused certain species to collapse in the past and will continue to do in the near future. So, with no assessment the EC has proposed a 15% decrease in TAC which to me is very concerning. This could be construed as guess work as no member state will suggest cuts in their own fleets catch. Maybe in a few years people will be saying ‘don’t eat Pollack it is an endangered species’. And if this scenario occurs please remember the names of those who bullied us all into eating this tasteless fish for their own publicity.

Quality over Quantity

It can be very hard finding the quality of fish that I like to sell especially on the back of a windy week. Bad weather over a weekend moves the wholesalers’ and the exporters’ bottomless pocket buying power into Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday leaving the smaller boys scrapping around for the remains. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a demand for 52 day aged sea bass, but unfortunately this is what makes fishmongery so much more difficult than butchery – it needs to be in and out in one day. Ok by the look of some other establishments fish this is not always the case but it is certainly the principal I try to adopt.

It is, however, lovely to see, and especially on a Friday, some high quality fish from some of the most reliable boats in the fleet. The fishing port of Plymouth (the fine town where I read my fisheries science degree) now has an updated re-built busy market with a near faultless on line Dutch auction. Many boats have now chosen to land here because of the facilities. The lemon sole pictured were landed by the ever reliable Plymouth registered ‘Our Endeavour’.

Of course my favourite fish are landed into the quaint fishing port of Newlyn and although their soon to be updated market is a little dated it does have the glamour of a shout auction which gives a lovely historical feel. More importantly though is the Newlyn registered Scorpio, the most reliable Red Mullet boat in the fleet. Pristine fish (pictured) on every landing incurs much interest and huge demand.

A fish that always creates an interest are hook and line caught mackerel. “The only way to eat them is straight out of the sea” I hear. All well and good but there is not much of a coastline in London so you will have to rely on some of the St Ives registered hand-liner the ‘Janet Ann’ to supply the best in London – and they are the best!!

The skippers of these boats lead the way when it comes to looking after their catch. They clearly realise the higher the quality when reaching the market, the higher the market price. I see Icelandic lemon sole and small trawled red mullet and tiny watery Scottish mackerel (which I would be embarrassed to sell) at Billingsgate that are less than half the price, however, I never whinge when paying through the nose for the quality of fish from my favourite boats. Twice the price maybe, five times the quality certainly.

Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy - Maybe?

Ever since the cinema premier of the hugely revealing documentary 'The End of The Line', which exposes frailties in certain fisheries around the world, everybody has become an expert. The politician, the chef, the angler, the greenie, the organic and so on all now think they have a full insight into the plight of the worlds fisheries so much so they are polished in all aspects of fisheries management. Apparently the fisherman, the fish wholesaler and the fishmonger are clueless and have no understanding about the current situation of certain depleted species and are only interested in capitalising on the profits that can be made from fish. I can't speak for others but in my case this could be no further from the truth. With the TV premier of this documentary imminent i ask those who will watch it for the first time to listen to the words and not just be memorised by the shock factor pictures unveiling in front of your eyes. After watching we will all have an opinion, whether structured or not, however, few people have offered me any better suggestions on how to solve this problem other than 'talking about' buying pollack instead of cod or not buying blufin tuna that isn't available for them to buy anyway. Why? Because the documentary offers no clear insight or understanding into the subject of fisheries. Please enjoy some of my opinions, based around our more local situation of the European Union, and maybe it will also give an insight into how complex the fisheries world really is.



It could be argued that Britain and Europe must have a sustainable fishery to meet the requirements of consumer demand and coastal employment. In the majority of cases fish are common property, but can they still be treated as a free resource? Or will this continuation cause the extinction of many species? Fish resources are not only limited, but are increasingly insufficient, pointing to an argument that fish resources can no longer be treated as free. To implement this is a challenge; if tackled incorrectly the collapse of Eco-systems, entire food chains and huge economic hardships may result. Organisations throughout the world have been established to undertake these problems; Europe is no exception.

The common fisheries policy originated from the accession of three countries to the European union. With Great Britain, Denmark and Ireland’s application, the existing member states felt it was necessary to compile a policy concerning the fisheries in EU waters. This policy would attempt to protect and manage the existing and new member’s rights. The new members joined in 1973 with the basic foundation of the policy being laid down on November 3^rd 1976; this coincided with the introduction of a 200-mile fisheries limit by the EEC. This agreement included management techniques in the form of total allowable catches (TACs) and individual quotas for each member state for each of the main fish stocks.

One problem that arises is the apportionment of TACs and quotas. The method of allocation is still based on an agreement reached in 1980 relating to relative stability of states; member states maintain their share of a TAC over time. Interestingly, it must be noted that fish stocks fluctuate, effort levels vary, technology improves and demands change, but TAC allocation methods stay the same. This approach seems somewhat static and although allocation is modified yearly within TACs it is probably the case that when they are at their lowest there are to many boats chasing to many fish (this may also be the case when set at highest levels as it is dependent on exploitation levels).

People in charge of setting TACs have on occasions been inexact, leading to collapses of certain stocks. The problem stems from data availability and the inaccurate scientific techniques used in quantification. Although indirectly associated with the common fisheries policy, assessment methods need to improve. More accurate data is essential and bias needs to be eliminated from mathematical models, it may be fair to assume that in submission of figures these problems may not be taken into consideration for political reasons. The continued setting of incorrect TACs may eventuate in a failure to conserve stocks (the key rationale behind the common fisheries policy), hence undermining the whole process in the eyes of fishermen. These and other techniques have essentially failed to safeguard fish stocks. This leads to the long-term future of fishing industries being unpredictable as stock depletion has failed to ensure a sustainable fishery.

The resident allocation of quotas could have become redundant in 2002, when the question of open access was addressed. It would seem that reform was fundamental in this area otherwise the community would continue with 10-year recesses resulting in no denouement of the issue. The engagement of free access was of course unrealisable, as this would require unanimity amongst member states which is highly unlikely. A more viable notion is regional or national control. Allocation would stay adequately constant, but regionalising of management and control will assist against the enigmas of enforcement.

Enforcement of laws and regulations are arduous and costly and with some fishermen just covering their variable costs, there will always be falsification in the system; it could probably be said that abuse is rife. Abuse in the system will proceed whilst fishermen have to contend for dwindling fish resources. So would an abatement of capacity in the fishing fleet resolve these problems? The accession of Spain and Portugal in 1986 put an augmenting burden onto Europe’s total catching fleet. Technically Spain is part of Europe, but at this stage they were not union members, so prior to their accession the majority of their vessels were fishing in distant non-EU waters. Once they had joined (after prolonged discussions), Europe’s fleet had the added problem of compensating for some of Spain’s vast fleet (17300 vessels). This expanded competition between vessels meant far too much power pursuing too few fish.

With continued accession of European countries coinciding with deficient polices, reform seems the only option. The largest consideration entails what areas can be amended and how many disturbances it may cause to the fisheries sector. It could be argued that increasing the level of officious bureaucracy into a system that is already over-bureaucratic, is unnecessary and definitely unwanted by the fishermen. This leads to the opinion that the common fisheries policy is politically driven. Members will negotiate between themselves to gain the best deal for their country, their fisherman, or more cynically their political party. The problem is the lower priority, given to conservation and long-term sustainability throughout negotiations.

If excluding the political interactions that obviously play such a large role in policy making, the reform must then directly reflect on the fleet, the main contributors to stock reduction. If through reform, the cheats in the system can be reduced or removed, the policies, in theory should work with greater efficiency. Convincing fisherman that regulations set by ‘armchair’ politicians are indeed beneficial, may be the most strenuous task. Being told how much you are authorised to catch after years of exploiting a free resource will obviously cause dissatisfaction in fishing sectors.

Allowing fishermen their own rights to the fish rather than be granted them by a European government may increase faith in the policies and may give good reasons to subscribe to their success. Allowing fisherman to buy into and sell out of these schemes would help to give them a sense of ownership. This could stop the immense problems of discarding, illegal net sizes and immoral bycatches as fishermen would be cheating a system they consider their own. Essentially, the system would become self-enforcing, thus taking the pressure from the already inadequate enforcement agencies. On the subject of discards it must be conceived that this behaviour is not only influenced by market opportunities, but in some cases it is in the direction of conservation. Obviously, it cannot be classed as conservation, therefore policies concerning this problem are unquestionably in need of reform.

These suggestions coinciding with developments of satellite tracking will aid the uncertainty of enforcing policies. By tracking catches to the point of sale, assurances that fish obtainable on the market were legally caught as part of a sustainability management scheme can be given.

The more extreme method of reform would entail a reduction in fleet capacity across the board. This is a feasible option if befitting compensation is given to members who choose to vacate the fleet and deploy their maritime skills elsewhere. The problem with this policy is many traditional fishing communities have few if any alternative sources of employment thus a return to politically sensitive issues. Decommissioning is an unavoidable evil. There will be no long-term future for the fishing industry unless fishing stocks are offered a chance to recuperate and, when recovered, the fish are harvested at a sustainable level.

This decommissioning may be prerequisite, but the techniques used are somewhat prejudiced. It must be unacceptable that states are decommissioning vessels, facilitating supplementary fishing opportunities in their waters for the fishing industry of their European partners. Also vast amounts of money are paid into cohesion funds to help the upgrading and upkeep of other countries fishing fleets. It may also be the case that some countries are paying more for the upkeep of partner’s vessels than to their own fisherman to eradicate theirs. When considering these points it is of no surprise that some members of the fishing industry object to the common fisheries policy.

Essentially, a reduction in fleet size will not initially enlarge stock sizes. If the TAC system remains, the quota of fish targeted by the decommissioned boat will be shared amongst other vessels. If this process continues it would be fair to say that socio-economic impacts will result, but the stock of fish is unlikely to be conserved. This argument leads directly into quota reductions, a highly sensitive issue that without accompaniment of decommissioning, would bankrupt fishermen without any compensation. Once a vessel has been scraped the equivalent quota should follow the same route.

To conclude, areas of the common fisheries policy require reform if sustainable fisheries are to be met. Fishermen require more stability and understanding of the regulations that are being enforced. This may be done through implementing schemes enabling them to buy into the rights of fish stocks and in turn reduce the obvious abuse to the system. Essentially, a policy that enforces itself will be more effective and may reduce problems of unnecessary bycatches and gear usage. A reduction in fishing effort will reduce the competition and catch per unit effort, making the fishery more efficient and less likely to hoard poachers. This will only work if quota levels are re-assessed alongside decommissioning. The communities are required to offer adequate compensation for those choosing to leave the industry for retraining in other sectors. The calculation and setting of total allowable catches need to be 1) more dynamic instead of the exceedingly static method deployed at the moment and 2) more accurate.

Finally, the issue of open access requires settlement with control being passed over to regional and national authorities, instead of being centralised in Brussels. This should ameliorate enforcement and management strategies that are currently inadequate.

Italy's Island of Fantastic Fishes

I admit that i have an obsession with fish so with every visit to anywhere i will seek out the aquarium, the fish market, fishmonger or fishing port. On my recent honeymoon to the Island of Ischia i was a little spoiled as this area of Italy really depends on fish to fill their busy restaurants.


Externally this could be the prettiest front to a fishmongers i have ever seen. It was situated in Ischia Ponte just before the headland to the castle. It really was an eye catcher, but sadly the fish inside, mainly farmed Orata and Spigola were of fairly poor quality.


At the start of the causeway that leads to the castle i found a concrete pontoon that yielded a small collection of fishing boats selling their fare in some of the most breathtaking surroundings.


This fisherman obviously takes care of his catch as his fish were carefully kept in salt water that he continually re-freshed. In this picture he was selling a large red octopus to a delighted Signora. It was still alive and about 1.2kgs (my estimate) in size. Price was about 20 euros per Kilo. The middle blue tub was full of cuttlefish.


Our man also had a nice collection of rock dwellers such as wrasse, weavers and small scorpion fish.


The sale comes to an end but what was noticeable was the lack of bargaining. The fishermen valued their product and no-body questioned their prices.


Mending their small tatty nets. Can't believe they ever catch anything with their gear.


I stumbled across a busy food market in a town called Casamicciola that had a small covered fish stall. Bear in mind the temperature was approaching 27 and not a cube of ice was to be seen!!


The stall, albeit not the best quality, had some very interesting species. My first spot of the famous gambero rosso, huge cuttlefish and a box of garfish.




This was the largest fish stall i found, again void of ice. It was also situated in the town of Casamicciola.


He was selling a large, may be too large, selection of fish with some impressive swordfish, rascasse and tuna and some not so impressive bass, bream, mullet and so on. We had beautiful weather whilst on Ischia with not a cloud in the sky. After visiting this mongers i realised he had all the clouds pasted to his fishes eyes! His shop needed a clean up too. That aside displays like this allow you to see what local fish species are available.



These two pictures are common site in Ischia Porto where the busy restaurants are competing for tourist diners. Among the amazing swordfish, scorpion fish and red bream are defrosting langoustine, farmed turbot and old farmed bream. Why???

Effects of Electricity on Fish

A number of years ago i participated in a fish survey that was undertaken on a southern section of the grand union canal. It gave me the perfect opportunity to gain some photographic evidence of fish reaction to electrical fields. I wrote this short piece explaining how fish then react when in contact with these electrical fields. I did not delve to deeply into the rather confusing areas of theoretical reactions of fish as this rather is long-winded.

There are three types of electrical current available to fisheries scientists - uninterrupted direct current; pulsed direct current; alternating current.

Three keys stages are witnessed when fish are exposed to electrical fields. The initial reaction is commonly known as 'excitation' and all current types result in similar responses. Fish show restlessness and begin to shudder as they come into line with, and then lie along, the lines of the force.

The second stage is known as 'electrotaxis' and does tend to vary slightly between current types. Uninterrupted and pulsed DC are, however, similar. The fish begin to move towards the anode and away from the cathode. When the anode is reached the fish becomes immobile with their head facing the anode.

The slight difference with pulsed DC is that if the pulse is set to frequent some larger fish can succumb to muscular cramps. The reaction of fish when using DC in the headed section of 'electrotaxis' is sub-headed to galvanotaxis . Conversely, in the same section, but applying AC, is known as oscillotaxis. This area of fish reaction varies from that of DC. The fish become oppressed into occupying a position along the euipotential (central between positive and negative).

The final section of fish reaction is 'electronarcosis'. With DC this sub-section is known as galvanonarcosis. Fish become dazed and immobile and show little or no response to alternative stimuli. At this point the fish will cease to breathe for short periods. Depending on species, some will sink (eels, bullheads, initially carp and zander) and others will float (bream, pike, carp after a short period and zander after a couple of minutes but float for a long period there after). This is a critical point as long periods in the field can cause death. Conversely, shorter periods are ideal as fish will recover and return to normal.

The effects of AC are known as oscillonarcosis and are very similar to galvonarcosis, however, the physiological effects are much greater thus the reason why DC is now more commonly used.

The difficulty in gaining accurate photographs on a working boat means that the following images only fall between the categories of the final stages of galvanotaxis through to complete galvanonarcosis.






These three images are good examples of multiple fish reaction to direct current . The top image shows a large crucian carp clearly under the state of electrotaxis. By looking at the water pattern this shows the fish being pulled towards the anode (positive) headfirst. The middle picture shows some bream in a state of electronarcosis - visual state of immobility and beginning to float to the surface. The bottom image shows the result when counteracting a shoal of fish. All responses are shown in this picture. All pictures show the right arm of the electrofishing boom boat and a fisheries technician working an extra hand held anode to increase the fishable width and efficiency.