Toxic , not tasty
A venomous blue-ringed octopus was found grilled up on a stick and up for sale at a central Thailand market in January . The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources posted photos of the octopus on their Facebook page , warning people to watch what they eat .
PHOTO : TO DAVE MCBRIDE
Pi , not pasty
Meanwhile , a humpback whale has been entertaining Scilly islanders over Christmas and into January . The mammal appeared off St Mary ’ s on Christmas Eve and has since been sighted cruising just a few hundred metres from the shore . The whale has been nicknamed ‘ Pi ’ after the novel , ‘ Life of Pi ’, which featured a fanciful humpback encounter .
Sheilah take a bow
Sheilah Openshaw , SCUBA contributor and member of Basingstoke SAC , has been awarded a Fellowship of the Nautical Archaeology Society . Known for her involvement in citizen science projects that include the discovery of a Messerschmitt aircraft off the Jurassic Coast , Sheilah has been an active member of the Nautical Archaeology Society ( NAS ) for decades . Since 2016 she has managed the work of the NAS Members Research Group and she remains an active diver .
Always have a Plan B
Paul Cox , MD of the Shark Trust , explains how pressure from the scientific community could yet be the saviour of the shortfin mako
Of all the epitaphs for 2020 , it ’ s unlikely that ‘ the year that the shortfin mako was saved ’ will be up there . It was looking like a frustrating year for the Shark Trust ’ s No Limits ? campaign . The goal is relatively straightforward : science-based catch limits for commercially fished sharks . Some find it hard to believe that this isn ’ t happening already . But sharks often fall between the cracks , with the fates of different species being bounced between wildlife conservation and fisheries measures . Shortfin mako populations in the Atlantic are in a sorry state . Heavily fished , they ’ re traded for both meat and fins and sought after by sport fishermen . Slow growth makes them exceptionally vulnerable to overfishing . Yet they ’ re still fished by many nations without international fishing quotas . Scientists have been sounding the alarm for years . The Atlantic shortfin mako population is headed for collapse and could take five decades to recover , even if fishing were to stop immediately . But a lack of consensus between nations has allowed unsustainable fishing to continue . Support for a ban through the International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tunas ( ICCAT ) has been growing since 2017 . But the EU has played a lead role in blocking proposals in the last two annual meetings . Perversely , while fisheries ministers were standing in the way of science-based limits , EU environment ministers were successfully championing the species for listing under CITES . This prevents trade without evidence of sustainable practice . The right hand and left hand seem to be disconnected .
The 2020 ICCAT fisheries meeting was to be another opportunity to square the circle . Then came Covid . The spectre of another frustrating delay loomed large . With some advocacy effort , mako managed to stay on the agenda for debate at November ’ s virtual meeting . But after six weeks of hard diplomacy the EU stood firm and , once again , blocked a ban . Days later the European Commission proposed the firstever EU Total Allowable Catch ( TAC ) for the North Atlantic . That ’ s progress of sorts . But the urgent advice from scientists is for a complete ban , not a quota . So , it was looking like another disappointing year for the mako . But then we got a Christmas gift – the seeds of which we ’ d been nurturing over the last 12 months . EU Member State scientists , reviewing mako obligations under the treaty , issued an “ opinion ”. And this opinion counts . The EU Scientific Review Group ( SRG ) “ negative opinion ” for import of North Atlantic makos reflects the risk that imports pose to the conservation status of the population . Under the CITES listing , landings of mako sharks caught on the high seas ( outside the 200-mile EU zone ) are considered imports . In the opinion of this influential group , EU Member States should be banning North Atlantic Shortfin Mako imports , including those from the high seas . This accounts for 90 % of EU landings . So , we start 2021 with some hope for the mako . There ’ s still much work to be done . Fisheries management remains essential . But it does go to show that it ’ s always worth having a back-up plan .
www . sharktrust . org
PHOTO : CHARLES HOOD
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