Fishing News 16 July 2007
Precautionary principle for a more sustainable future.
Precautions, not panic for North Sea hering
The article in June “ No need for panic on North Sea herring” by Ad Corten made interesting reading and clearly points to a continued need for relevant data in an ever changing environment.
Ad Corten made the assertion that the data being used by ICES to determine the TAC and required spawning stock biomass at 800,000 tones for herring was outdated. Nowadays we all depend on scientists to provide, monitoring research and to provide sound data to guide decision making and that is likely to continue. The precautionary principle applied by ICES has added a further 500,000 tonnes and the recommended spawning stock mass stands at 1.3 million tonnes. There may be no need to panic but a commitment to continuing precaution can only increase the likelihood of a bigger future sustainable yield. A future based on increased socio economic value is the reward for applying the precautionary principle.
Yours sincerely
Brendan Kerr
10 Belgravia Park
Bangor
BT19 6XB