Diving in Malaysia

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Ninety per cent of fish in the waters around Britain will have disappeared within 20 years unless they are given protection, a leading marine researcher told scientists yesterday.

He told the British Association for the Advancement of Science conference in York that fishing quotas needed to be scrapped and extensive no-fishing zones put in place. He also said that fishing should be halted or strictly limited in a third of Britain’s seas to give stocks time to recover. Fishing ministers, who are said to have disregarded scientific advice on sustainable fishing levels over the past two decades, should be stripped of their powers to rule on how many tonnes can be safely caught, he continued. They would be replaced by a science-led body that is independent of electoral pressures.

The decline in fish stocks around the world, with all species predicted by some experts to collapse by 2048, comes at a time when their nutritional value is recognised more than ever. World Health Organisation officials recommend a weekly intake of 200 to 300 grams of fish each week but today’s catches can only just meet this target.

He told the conference: “On average, over the last 18 years fisheries ministers have set quotas 20 to 30 per cent higher than recommended as safe. If we continue to do that a majority of fish stocks will collapse.”

Since the 1950s an estimated 60 per cent of stocks in British waters have collapsed and he said that more than half of those remaining are already being dangerously overfished.

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) only 25 to 30 per cent of fish stocks around Britain have been fished sustainably since 2001. “This means that around 70 per cent of UK fish stocks have suffered reduced reproductive capacity and have been harvested unsustainably since 2001,” a Defra report stated, accepting that the scientific advice “is that the fishing rate should be reduced substantially in order to permit the stocks to recover”.

Plans by supermodel Naomi Campbell to build a high-end casino near turtle sanctuaries in Kenya’s Indian Ocean resort of Malindi have sparked a firestorm from conservationists and residents.

Apart from hosting a bevy of beauties and moneyed men, the six-star casino complex — to be called Billionaires Resort — could disrupt the hatching process of several rare species of turtles, they say. Conservationists are worried that noise and lights from the casino envisioned by the British catwalk legend and her former boyfriend, Formula One boss Flavio Briatore — who already owns one hotel in Malindi, will scare the turtles away.

Female turtles hatch ashore and the baby turtles usually find their way back to the sea by looking for the brightest natural horizon. A glittering construction in the heart of Malindi’s marine park could lure the hatchlings in the wrong direction and away from the beach, leading them to die of dehydration, the conservationists say.”We are not against development, but all we are calling for is sustainable, low-environmental-impact and high quality tourism development,” said Stephen Trott, who heads Local Ocean Trust, a Malindi-based turtle conservation group.

A Kenya Wildlife Service official who did not want to be named said the agency was keeping a close eye on the project.

According to Malindi residents, Briatore has another hotel in the resort called While Elephant. “Let them go improve the quality of White Elephant,” said one resident.”We are totally against the casino. This is a small town, we have one casino and we don’t want another one,” said Terry Hill of the Malindi South Residents Association. “Furthermore, we are told that they want to build near a marine park. Be sure we won’t allow that because we are conservationists. Let them go and build it elsewhere,” Hill said.

Smelly fish skin once tossed away or sold to street vendors for cheap food has become a highly desirable product used to make designer handbags, shoes and even bikinis. Thai entrepreneurs have developed a way of processing skins of the tropical tilapia fish to make durable leather. “We tried to make something that was worth nothing into something valuable,” said Anchali Chatrakul Na Ayudyha, a businesswoman who sells tilapia skin goods on her Web site, www.angieandpenny.com.

The fish-skin bikini was unveiled at a Bangkok fashion show last month and its makers are hoping for orders from Europe and the United States for the unique product.

“It’s comfortable. The bikini can really breathe,” said Sudarat Sae-lim, modelling the scaly, cobalt-blue two-piece. “I like that it’s waterproof, it means it can dry more easily.”

Fish sellers in Petchaburi, 120 km southwest of Bangkok, used to sell the tilapia skins for just a few cents per kilo to street vendors who would fry them up as a cheap snack.

Now each skin fetches around $1.25, and is dried, treated and dyed to make products from key-rings to couches. One bikini needs 15 fish skins to make, and will go on sale for $75.

A Chinese poaching vessel has been apprehended by units of the Philippine Navy, Marines and Coast Guard in the Sulu Archipelago. A routine inspection by the boarding crew revealed rows of sea turtles – dead, gutted and left to dry on deck. The official count was 50 dried, 58 freshly-gutted and 18 still-living turtles, mostly green sea turtles – classified internationally as endangered by the IUCN and one of the flagship species that WWF-Philippines. 19 Chinese fishermen were arrested onboard the craft.