Looks like sandeels are back on the menu, boys. For seabirds that is.
After 25 years of tireless campaigning, the UK and Scottish governments have finally decided to close the North Sea to sandeel fishing and throw the seabirds who rely on these little fish a lifeline. This is in response to the alarming decline of seabird populations in the region.
The UK is home to a rich array of seabird colonies, but over the last 20 years, more than half of the seabird species that breed along its coastlines have declined, with an over 70% decline in Scotland alone. The RSPB's "Revive our Seas" report, published in 2021, highlighted the critical link between seabird decline and the reduced availability of sandeels, exposing the inadequacies in the management of the North Sea sandeel fishery.
While warming seas, bird flu, and poorly planned offshore marine development are significant drivers of the seabird population decline, the impact of commercial fishing cannot be overlooked. Industrial fishing fleets have been extracting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sandeels from the North Sea every year, pushing seabirds to the limits of their resilience.
Sandeels, a group of small, nutritious fish, are a crucial food source for seabirds, particularly during the breeding season when they are needed to feed chicks. Nutritious though these sandeels are, they aren’t widely eaten by humans but are instead in demand for their oil and use as animal feed for livestock and salmon farms. All the while, puffins and kittiwakes, in particular, have been so negatively impacted by this reduction in their food that they are at risk of global extinction and are red-listed as birds of highest conservation concern.
So the closure of sandeel fisheries in the North Sea is an imperative step towards protecting these vulnerable seabird populations and a clear recognition of the urgent need for action and a commitment to tackling unsustainable fishing practices. The process that led to this victory also provides valuable insights for future endeavours.
The successful sandeel fishing ban in the North Sea was the result of a sustained pressure on the UK and Scottish Government by environmental organisations like the RSPB and Greenpeace. In 2021, Defra conducted a call for evidence, highlighting the need for additional sandeel management measures. Public consultations were then held in 2023 with overwhelming support for ending industrial sandeel fishing. Environmental NGOs mobilised tens of thousands of supporters of the cause to participate in the consultations, sign petitions and write to their MPs. The strong public backing, coupled with scientific evidence on the ecological impacts of sandeel fishing, ultimately led to the governments' decisions to close the fisheries.
Given that the closure of a sandeel fishery off Scotland in the early 2000s resulted in better breeding success for kittiwakes, the rate of change for a total ban on sandeel fishing was clearly not fast enough, but the approach could serve as a model for tackling similar challenges.
It’s worth remembering that there are eight “marine protected areas'' in the northern North Sea - each considered an official zone of protection within UK waters. Within many of them, sandeel fisheries were running rampant, threatening the survival of some much-loved seabirds who are already at the forefront of the biodiversity and climate emergency. Once again this begs the question I asked the other day, how much protection do “marine protected areas” really offer?
Still, this particular hard-fought victory is one worth celebrating as it offers a glimmer of hope for these struggling seabirds. While there is still much to be done to secure their future, this decision demonstrates the power of persistent advocacy, public support and scientific evidence in the pursuit of healthy oceans and a healthy planet.
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Amie 🐋
Excellent news! The linkage between animal husbandry and related usages, to fisheries to seabird population crashes is a malign one and thank you for pointing it out.
Most welcome news from our smelly cabbage of a government, for once.