Something smells fishy?

Assalaamualaikum..

It's getting fishy up in here!

Yep, today's post is about fish. Thanks to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (such an English name, hee. Love it!). You might recognise him from The River Cottage series on The Asian Food Channel on Astro. Last year, he was busy with his Free-Range Chicken movement, and this year he's fist-ting up for a fish fight.

Here's the thing. European Union states that fishermen are allowed to fish on a quota. Meaning, a fisherman aiming to catch, let's say Cod, is allowed to fish until he reaches a certain amount, let's say 100,00 Cod, then he must return back to land. This quota was implemented to protect the endangered fish population and to prevent over-fishing. The fishes that are over the quota must be returned back to sea before they reach land.

However, the most efficient equipment to catch large amounts of fish are nets. I mean, we can't expect fisherman to supply the people's demand for fish, one by one on a rod now can we? And so, by using nets, fishermen have no control over what type of fish will get caught in them, especially in a mixed fishery where many different fish live together.

Fishing for one species often means catching another, and if people don’t want them or fishermen are not allowed to land them, the only option is to throw them overboard. The vast majority of these discarded fish will die.

Because discards are not monitored, it is difficult to know exactly how many fish are being thrown away. The EU estimates that in the North Sea, discards are between 40% and 60% of the total catch.

Others are prime cod, haddock, plaice and other popular food species that are “over-quota”. Fishermen are not allowed to land any over-quota fish; if they accidentally catch them – which they can’t help but do - there is no choice but to throw them overboard before they reach the docks.



So, you wanna help?

Here's how:

1. You can click here and sign up to support the campaign. By supporting the campaign, your name will be included in a letter to be sent to Commissioner Maria Damanaki, members of the Common Fisheries Policy Reform Group, and all MEPs.

If you would like to read the letter, click here!

2. Spread the word! Ask your friends and family to give their name to the cause too. To know more about Hugh's Fish Fight, visit their official website, http://www.fishfight.net/. To learn more about the solutions and ideas put forward by some NGO's on how to solve this problem, read up on it here.

3. For some scaly fun, take Hugh's Fish Challenge!

A simple act of just giving your name, WILL make a difference.

Sign up! It'll only take a sec >_<

Assalaamualaikum...

Resources: http://www.fishfight.net/