Tackle industrial fishing, but local inshore fleets deserve support
Monbiot is right to highlight our complacency with overfishing, but in our attempts to tackle industrial fishing's worst abuses, especially unchecked bottom trawling, we should not demonise small‑scale fishers – our ocean's most powerful custodians.
Across the globe, small‑scale fishers using low‑impact gear in coastal waters are on the frontlines against industrial overfishing. They're the first to feel the impacts of ocean decline and the best-placed to propose solutions.
Is it true that 'the fishing industry trashes everything'? No. Some gears, like bottom trawls, are indeed destructive and should be restricted. But small-scale fisheries using low-impact gears are the opposite. They use environmentally friendly methods to provide healthy, low-carbon food to coastal communities.
Is fishing really 'the most destructive of all private industries'? No. Fossil fuel, mining and chemical lobbyists will be smiling as readers direct their ire towards the local inshore fishing fleet.
Should the UK government redirect funding away from fishing and let the industry fade? No. Current subsidies unfairly favour industrial vessels with outsized impacts. Redistributing funds and rapidly scaling investment in small‑scale fisheries would deliver dividends through resilient food systems, enhanced food security, sustainable livelihoods and greater climate resilience, alongside healthier ecosystems.
Should the oceans be closed to fishing, bar a few gazetted areas? No. Coastal waters should be fully co‑managed with small-scale fishers to ensure they are stewarded for future generations.
The world is awakening to the impacts of bottom trawling. Now it must wake up to the vital importance of small‑scale fisheries – and fast.Tom CollinsonAdvocacy manager, Blue Ventures
I read George Monbiot's article with interest. I am one of the producers of Rupert Murray's 2009 film The End of the Line, which was about marine destruction, was funded in part by Channel 4, and broadcast by it. This film did not 'carefully avoid' blaming the fishing industry, and an independent study showed that it had an impact on public attitudes, corporate behaviour and political policy.
That film drew heavily on the previous work of Charles Clover, who appeared in the film and whose 2004 book of the same title was a milestone in the campaign to save the world's oceans.
It is not just a question of making good and powerful programmes. Today, those have to have a celebrity at the front of them, and a lasting impact is achieved by a sustained and continuous campaign from civil society groups and journalism – in George's words 'those whose job it is to inform us'. My concern is that after Ocean, the BBC will think 'job done' and everyone else in the media will agree. Christopher HirdDartmouth Films
Many of us echo George Monbiot's 'At last!' in response to David Attenborough's film. But I was disappointed that the names of the trawlers plundering the oceans were blurred. It is about time the international companies plundering our oceans' ecosystems were publicly shamed.
Environmental NGOs, especially local ones using citizen scientists to gather data in their own time and often unpaid, have amassed millions of pieces of relevant data, especially from inshore waters. Yet we still have long 'consultations' on marine protected areas, usually resulting in nothing changing. I have completed four in recent years about Scottish inshore waters. There is collusion between UK governments and their national scientific and nature conservation organisations in this, and environmental NGOs, in fear of losing finance, grants etc stay silent.
The government has procrastinated in ratifying the 2023 UN high seas treaty agreeing to put 30% of these waters into marine protected areas. Ecosystems are the lifeblood of our oceans and ultimately us. Overfishing, short-term greed and financial returns are the name of this game. Stop the politics of delay – do it now!Dr Sally CampbellLamlash, Isle of Arran
Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
Starmer to raise Gaza ceasefire and UK steel tariffs in Trump meeting
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to raise the prospect of reviving ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and the future of tariffs on British steel as he meets Donald Trump in Scotland. The Prime Minister will travel to Ayrshire, where the US president is staying at his Turnberry golf resort, for wide-ranging discussions on trade and the Middle East as international alarm grows over starvation in Gaza. The two leaders have built a rapport on the world stage despite their differing political backgrounds, with Mr Trump praising Sir Keir for doing a 'very good job' in office ahead of their talks on Monday. But humanitarian conditions in Gaza and uncertainty over US import taxes on key British goods in America threaten to complicate their bilateral meeting. Peace talks in the Middle East came to a standstill last week after Washington and Israel recalled negotiating teams from Qatar, with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff blaming Hamas for a 'lack of desire' to reach an agreement. Since then, Israel has promised military pauses in three populated areas of Gaza to allow designated UN convoys of aid to reach desperate Palestinians. But the UK, which is joining efforts to airdrop aid into the enclave and evacuate children in need of medical assistance, has said that access to supplies must be 'urgently' widened. In his talks with Mr Trump, Sir Keir will 'welcome the President's administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza', Number 10 said. 'He will discuss further with him what more can be done to secure the ceasefire urgently, bring an end to the unspeakable suffering and starvation in Gaza and free the hostages who have been held so cruelly for so long.' Scotland's First Minister John Swinney, who will also meet the president during his five day visit to the country, said he would urge Mr Trump to apply pressure on Israel to agree to a lasting ceasefire and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. 'I think what's important is that we focus on the solutions that are required now, and the absolutely immediate situation is a necessity for a ceasefire and for humanitarian aid to need to flow into Gaza so that the people of Gaza can be saved from the starvation that they face,' Mr Swinney told BBC Breakfast. 'And that is the blunt human reality of the situation that we face, and there must be an intensification of pressure on Israel. 'And I think President Trump is ideally positioned. In fact, he's perhaps uniquely positioned to apply that pressure to Israel to ensure that there is safe passage for humanitarian aid to support the people of Gaza, who face an absolutely unbearable set of circumstances as a consequence of the conflict. 'And a key part of that must be the application of a durable ceasefire, the flow of humanitarian aid and the progress towards a two state solution in the Middle East.' The Prime Minister and US president will also talk 'one-on-one about advancing implementation of the landmark Economic Prosperity Deal so that Britons and Americans can benefit from boosted trade links between their two countries', it said. The agreement signed at the G7 summit last month slashed trade barriers on goods from both countries. But tariffs for the steel industry, which is of key economic importance to the UK, were left to stand at 25% rather than falling to zero as originally agreed. Concerns had previously been raised that the sector could face a levy of up to 50% – the US's global rate – unless a further agreement was made by July 9, when Mr Trump said he would start implementing import taxes on America's trading partners. But that deadline has been and gone without any concrete update on the status of UK steel. Downing Street said that both sides are working 'at pace' to 'go further to deliver benefits to working people on both sides of the Atlantic' and to give UK industry 'the security it needs'. Mr Swinney said he would use his meeting with President Trump to press him to exempt Scotch whisky from US trade tariffs. The First Minister said the 'uniqueness' of whisky made in Scotland justified the exemption from the 10% tariff applied on UK exports into the US. Sir Keir and Mr Trump are also expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, which Number 10 said would include 'applying pressure' on Vladimir Putin to end the invasion, before travelling on together for a private engagement in Aberdeen. It comes after Mr Trump announced he had agreed 'the biggest deal ever made' between the US and the European Union after meeting Ursula von der Leyen for high-stakes talks at Turnberry on Sunday. After a day playing golf, the US leader met the President of the EU Commission to hammer out the broad terms of an agreement that will subject the bloc to 15% tariffs on most of its goods entering America. This is lower than a 30% levy previously threatened by the US president. The agreement will include 'zero for zero' tariffs on a number of products including aircraft, some agricultural goods and certain chemicals, as well as EU purchases of US energy worth 750 billion dollars (£558 billion) over three years. Speaking to journalists on Sunday about his meeting with Sir Keir, Mr Trump said: 'We're meeting about a lot of things. We have our trade deal and it's been a great deal. 'It's good for us. It's good for them and good for us. I think the UK is very happy, they've been trying for 12 years to get it and they got it, and it's a great trade deal for both, works out very well. 'We'll be discussing that. I think we're going to be discussing a lot about Israel. 'They're very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen. 'He's doing a very good job, by the way.' Mr Trump's private trip to the UK comes ahead of a planned state visit in September.
The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
‘More to do' on US steel tariffs than Trump and PM can resolve, minister signals
There is unlikely to be a 'resolution' in talks over US tariffs on UK steel when Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer meet on Monday, Jonathan Reynolds indicated, saying there was 'more to do' in negotiations. The Prime Minister will attempt to hammer out a deal on steel import levies when he meets the US president at Turnberry, Mr Trump's Ayrshire golf course. Sir Keir and Scotland's First Minister John Swinney also plan to urge the US president to apply pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the population is facing starvation. When the UK and US signed a trade deal in June, it reduced tariffs on car and aerospace imports to the US. But agreement on a similar arrangement for Britain's steel imports was not reached, leaving tariffs on steel at 25%. American concerns over steel products made elsewhere in the world, then finished in the UK, are said to be among the sticking points. Sir Keir is expected to spend most of the day with President Trump on Monday, when he will have a chance to press the president on a steel deal. But Business Secretary Mr Reynolds suggested it may take more than a meeting between the two leaders to resolve the matter, telling BBC Breakfast: 'We were very happy to announce the breakthrough that we had a few months ago in relation to sectors like automotive, aerospace, which are really important to the UK economy. 'But we always said it was job saved, but it wasn't job done. There's more to do. 'The negotiations have been going on on a daily basis since then. There's a few issues to push a little bit further today. 'We won't perhaps have anything to announce a resolution of those talks, but there's some sectors that we still need to resolve, particularly around steel and aluminium, and there's the wider conversation about what the US calls its reciprocal tariffs.' It comes after Mr Trump announced he had agreed 'the biggest deal ever made' between the US and the European Union after meeting Ursula von der Leyen for high-stakes talks at Turnberry on Sunday. After a day playing golf, the US leader met the president of the EU Commission to discuss the broad terms of an agreement that will subject the bloc to 15% tariffs on most of its goods entering America. This is lower than a 30% levy previously threatened by the US president. Sir Keir is also likely to use his time with Mr Trump to raise the starvation faced by the population of Gaza. The Prime Minister has condemned Israel for restricting the flow of aid into the territory, alongside the leaders of France and Germany. The UK will take part in efforts led by Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza, Sir Keir said over the weekend. Elsewhere, he is facing pressure from more than 220 MPs to immediately recognise the state of Palestine, something which French president Emmanuel Macron has promised to do. The US is the country 'with the leverage' to make a difference in the conflict in Gaza, the Business Secretary suggested. Mr Reynolds told BBC Breakfast that Gaza would 'of course' be on the agenda for the meeting of the two leaders, adding: 'The intolerable scenes that we're seeing, the world is seeing, are the backdrop to that. 'And of course, the US has itself secured on two occasions ceasefires in the conflict, so they have been actively engaged in it, working with Egypt, the Qataris, and other key partners in the region.' Mr Swinney also promised to raise Gaza with Mr Trump, as it was 'causing deep unease and concern and heartbreak within Scotland'.
The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
Almost 50,000 firms near collapse amid ‘immense strain' from tax hike
Nearly 50,000 UK companies are on the brink of collapse with retailers and hospitality firms among the hardest hit as rising wage costs due to budget measures put small firms under 'immense strain', according to a report. The latest Begbies Traynor red flag alert found that firms in critical financial distress rose by more than a fifth – 21.4% – year-on-year to 49,309 in the second quarter. Consumer-facing industries saw some of the most 'extreme' rises in critical financial distress, with a 41.7% surge among bars and restaurants, a 39% leap for travel and tourism and 17.8% jump for general retailers. Begbies warned that many independent pubs will not have the scale to withstand the pressures for another year without action. Ric Traynor, executive chairman of Begbies Traynor, said: 'The sharp rise in critical distress underscores just how tough the economic environment is for UK businesses and it's abundantly clear that tens of thousands of firms are struggling to stay afloat. 'Small and medium sized businesses across the UK are being put under immense strain by the recent increases to employer's NI as well as the increase to the national minimum wage. 'With limited financial headroom to absorb rising costs, many businesses are now reaching a tipping point.' It is the latest sign of the toll taken on many firms by the Government's move in last autumn's budget to increase national insurance contributions (NICs) and hike the minimum wage, both taking effect in April. Labour-intense companies in particular have felt the impact, such as retailers and restaurants and bars. Troubles in the sector have been compounded by a pull back in consumer spending, according to Begbies. Julie Palmer, a partner at Begbies Traynor, said: ' Households are still grappling with their finances, and this is keeping consumer confidence volatile. 'The knock-on effect of this is clear to see in the consumer-facing sectors where margins are thin, growth is hard to come by, and the impact of higher employee costs is pushing many businesses to the brink of collapse. 'So, it is of no surprise to me that while larger pub groups might be performing well, by squeezing out extra efficiencies to counteract onerous price rises, many independent players won't have the scale to withstand the pressures of this environment for another 12 months if nothing improves.' The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) recently estimated that 378 pubs will close this year across England, Wales and Scotland, which it said would amount to more than 5,600 direct job losses. The wider economy is also showing signs of strain, with recent official figures revealing gross domestic product shrank by 0.1% in May, following a 0.3% drop in April. 'With no end in sight to the current economic malaise, I fear the financial burdens companies are enduring at present are simply too high for many not to avoid collapse,' said Ms Palmer.
