There is a great robbery happening beneath our noses. The fish we take for granted are being stolen in huge numbers, destined for salmon farms in the waters of Scotland. The South-West has become the 'Wild West', with opportunistic commercial fishermen taking advantage of a dire need of 'cleaner wrasse' for the salmon industry. This is a problem that will affect both anglers and non-anglers alike. Is there hope for our local wrasse species and the predators that feed on them? Or will our seas continue to be plundered for a quick buck?
Firstly, a disclaimer. I wish to make it clear I am not taking shots at the local commercial fishermen here. Although I have come across some supremely ignorant and small minded individuals in that profession whilst researching the topic, I realise they make up a small minority. The majority are just trying to make good money, like any of us in other careers. I cannot blame them for taking an opportunity when it arises.
So let's talk wrasse. All of the inshore species of wrasse are currently being targeted for the farmed salmon industry. These include the ballan, goldsinny and corkwring varieties. The ballan is both the largest, the most heavily targeted and most recognisable (when people talk about 'wrasse' they normally mean the ballan). The goldsinny and corkwring are much smaller species, yet are also key components of the ecosystem and welcome catches to pleasure anglers, who admire the tropical beauty of them.
All of the wrasse species are not particularly hard to catch and fight incredibly hard for their size, catching a four pound plus ballan being a real test even for heavier fishing tackle. This makes them hugely popular to sea anglers. From complete novices to experienced pros, I guarantee a wrasse has brightened up their day at some point. This value cannot have a monetary figure placed on to it, because in the end it is priceless. Purely from a personal perspective, my first foray into sea fishing was catching small ballan wrasse from a local pontoon at the age of eight. That fishing taught me about fish care and respect for the ocean, it also paved the way for an absolute obsession with angling that had persisted for almost twenty years. I can't put a price on that.
So why now is there such a high price for wrasse? Well it's to do with their use as a 'cleaner fish', eating the sea lice from farmed salmon without damaging the infested fish. This, in principle, sounds fantastic. The farmers no longer need to use pesticides, the salmon stay relatively healthy and the wrasse get a consistent meal. It is also a superb market for hard off fishermen, hit by quota restriction after restriction, with companies paying up to fourteen pound a fish. To the casual observer, it's a win for all involved. Except of course this isn't the only side of the story.
Firstly, hundreds of wrasse need to be taken from their natural environment - most likely a rocky area that the local population have lived in for generations. They are then transferred to aerated tanks and driven or flown over seven hundred miles to the farms in Scotland. During this time there are obviously losses, stressed wild fish do not do well with being transferred in crowded enclosed tanks. The survivors are then placed into the nets with the salmon. It's worth saying that a wild wrasse's diet will include everything from crustaceans, to small fish and worms, a captive 'cleaner fish' has only a diet of sea lice to survive on, plus whatever scraps they can find from the fishmeal fed to the salmon, hardly a natural diet. They then live their lives until the salmon are ready to be harvested. This is the end of the wrasse's life, they are killed and replaced by new fish in order to prevent contamination to new salmon stock. This shockingly wasteful system is created and it requires constant new live wrasse, mostly coming from the south coast of England.
Wrasse are slow growing, taking up to six years to sexually mature and living to over thirty years old. As mentioned before they are territorial and habitual, regularly coming into the same bays and gulleys with the tide most of the year. Removing local fish very quickly creates a vacuum that takes years to recover, with very few 'migrant' fish coming in to fill the void. They also struggle to metabolize food items in water temperatures lower than ten degrees Celsius, a fact that makes them a poor choice for constant feeding in the cooler waters off the Scottish coast!
But, the opposition might say, wrasse have previously had no commercial value and had been left alone (besides being bait for the crab pots!). Surely this is a species that is plentiful and unimportant, a perfect target in a an increasingly fraught and delicate marketplace? To that I would say this, wrasse are not pelagic, fast spawning fish like mackerel or herring. They cannot take this kind of pressure on their numbers. This is not the 'eco-friendly' option. Removing this kind of tonnage of fish from our waters will hurt everything, but in particular species like the grey seal, who need these fish to survive.
They might also say that this has been going on for at least two years, why all the uproar now? The answer to that is easy - because we have noticed. Speak to any wrasse angler that fishes the potted areas and ask them if there's a difference. They will of course say yes, unanimously. Wrasse catches are down and the fish are smaller. This is despite more anglers than ever targeting them on lures, the majority practicing catch and release. On what could be an unrelated note, numbers of goldsinny in certain areas counter actively seem to be up. My theory being that the commercial fishermen do not see these as the target species and are releasing them, back in a habitat with less competition from their larger cousins. This is ironic considering the goldsinny is the perfect cleaner fish, small and fast growing, feeding in both low temperatures and in darkness.
So, what is the answer? A species of fish called the lumpfish or lumpsucker could be one. They are a cold water species that are much more efficient in lice removal. Unfortunately they too shouldn't be wild harvested, but countries such as Norway are working on farming them - as they are struggling with the exact same problem. There's definitely no quick fix to the lice issue, but this 'Wild-West' attitude to wrasse removal will only result one thing, the decimation of our local bio-diversity.
On a local level though we can actually make quick and lasting fixes, firstly by banding together and pushing our local MPs to ban this type of exploitation right now. Please click on this link and sign the petition, it literally takes under a minute to do.
http://action.wildlifetrusts.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1823&ea.campaign.id=73231
Please also share this blog post and make people aware of the dark side of farmed salmon. A small gesture I have made is to give up Scottish farmed salmon, until the industry can prove it's working on a more sustainable model. In the grand scheme of things it may seem futile, but never underestimate the power we have as consumers.
Thank you so much for reading. If you want to talk about any concerns or ideas you have, contact me through my Facebook page - Ben Bassett Fishing.
Here's more reading from other sources both local and nationwide.
http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/wrasse-campaign-2017
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/10/salmon-farmers-put-wild-wrasse-at-risk--sea-lice-scotland-anglers
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/scottish-salmon-farmers-accused-of-raiding-plymouth-beauty-spots/story-30407738-detail/story.html
These fish have been the lifeblood of my fishing since the age of eight.
Firstly, a disclaimer. I wish to make it clear I am not taking shots at the local commercial fishermen here. Although I have come across some supremely ignorant and small minded individuals in that profession whilst researching the topic, I realise they make up a small minority. The majority are just trying to make good money, like any of us in other careers. I cannot blame them for taking an opportunity when it arises.
So let's talk wrasse. All of the inshore species of wrasse are currently being targeted for the farmed salmon industry. These include the ballan, goldsinny and corkwring varieties. The ballan is both the largest, the most heavily targeted and most recognisable (when people talk about 'wrasse' they normally mean the ballan). The goldsinny and corkwring are much smaller species, yet are also key components of the ecosystem and welcome catches to pleasure anglers, who admire the tropical beauty of them.
A stunning male corkwring wrasse in all it's colourful glory.
All of the wrasse species are not particularly hard to catch and fight incredibly hard for their size, catching a four pound plus ballan being a real test even for heavier fishing tackle. This makes them hugely popular to sea anglers. From complete novices to experienced pros, I guarantee a wrasse has brightened up their day at some point. This value cannot have a monetary figure placed on to it, because in the end it is priceless. Purely from a personal perspective, my first foray into sea fishing was catching small ballan wrasse from a local pontoon at the age of eight. That fishing taught me about fish care and respect for the ocean, it also paved the way for an absolute obsession with angling that had persisted for almost twenty years. I can't put a price on that.
The quintessential summer fish
So why now is there such a high price for wrasse? Well it's to do with their use as a 'cleaner fish', eating the sea lice from farmed salmon without damaging the infested fish. This, in principle, sounds fantastic. The farmers no longer need to use pesticides, the salmon stay relatively healthy and the wrasse get a consistent meal. It is also a superb market for hard off fishermen, hit by quota restriction after restriction, with companies paying up to fourteen pound a fish. To the casual observer, it's a win for all involved. Except of course this isn't the only side of the story.
Firstly, hundreds of wrasse need to be taken from their natural environment - most likely a rocky area that the local population have lived in for generations. They are then transferred to aerated tanks and driven or flown over seven hundred miles to the farms in Scotland. During this time there are obviously losses, stressed wild fish do not do well with being transferred in crowded enclosed tanks. The survivors are then placed into the nets with the salmon. It's worth saying that a wild wrasse's diet will include everything from crustaceans, to small fish and worms, a captive 'cleaner fish' has only a diet of sea lice to survive on, plus whatever scraps they can find from the fishmeal fed to the salmon, hardly a natural diet. They then live their lives until the salmon are ready to be harvested. This is the end of the wrasse's life, they are killed and replaced by new fish in order to prevent contamination to new salmon stock. This shockingly wasteful system is created and it requires constant new live wrasse, mostly coming from the south coast of England.
A fish this size may be five years old or more.
Wrasse are slow growing, taking up to six years to sexually mature and living to over thirty years old. As mentioned before they are territorial and habitual, regularly coming into the same bays and gulleys with the tide most of the year. Removing local fish very quickly creates a vacuum that takes years to recover, with very few 'migrant' fish coming in to fill the void. They also struggle to metabolize food items in water temperatures lower than ten degrees Celsius, a fact that makes them a poor choice for constant feeding in the cooler waters off the Scottish coast!
The variety of a ballan's colours are part of their enduring appeal.
But, the opposition might say, wrasse have previously had no commercial value and had been left alone (besides being bait for the crab pots!). Surely this is a species that is plentiful and unimportant, a perfect target in a an increasingly fraught and delicate marketplace? To that I would say this, wrasse are not pelagic, fast spawning fish like mackerel or herring. They cannot take this kind of pressure on their numbers. This is not the 'eco-friendly' option. Removing this kind of tonnage of fish from our waters will hurt everything, but in particular species like the grey seal, who need these fish to survive.
One of the UK's most popular seaside inhabitants, the grey seal. Wrasse are a large part of their diet.
They might also say that this has been going on for at least two years, why all the uproar now? The answer to that is easy - because we have noticed. Speak to any wrasse angler that fishes the potted areas and ask them if there's a difference. They will of course say yes, unanimously. Wrasse catches are down and the fish are smaller. This is despite more anglers than ever targeting them on lures, the majority practicing catch and release. On what could be an unrelated note, numbers of goldsinny in certain areas counter actively seem to be up. My theory being that the commercial fishermen do not see these as the target species and are releasing them, back in a habitat with less competition from their larger cousins. This is ironic considering the goldsinny is the perfect cleaner fish, small and fast growing, feeding in both low temperatures and in darkness.
The diminutive goldsinny, a species more suited for lice removal, but we still can't afford to lose them in such numbers.
So, what is the answer? A species of fish called the lumpfish or lumpsucker could be one. They are a cold water species that are much more efficient in lice removal. Unfortunately they too shouldn't be wild harvested, but countries such as Norway are working on farming them - as they are struggling with the exact same problem. There's definitely no quick fix to the lice issue, but this 'Wild-West' attitude to wrasse removal will only result one thing, the decimation of our local bio-diversity.
The bizarre looking lumpsucker could be the answer, only time will tell. Photo source.
On a local level though we can actually make quick and lasting fixes, firstly by banding together and pushing our local MPs to ban this type of exploitation right now. Please click on this link and sign the petition, it literally takes under a minute to do.
http://action.wildlifetrusts.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1823&ea.campaign.id=73231
Let's not make this a thing of the past, it's time to Save Our Wrasse!
Please also share this blog post and make people aware of the dark side of farmed salmon. A small gesture I have made is to give up Scottish farmed salmon, until the industry can prove it's working on a more sustainable model. In the grand scheme of things it may seem futile, but never underestimate the power we have as consumers.
Thank you so much for reading. If you want to talk about any concerns or ideas you have, contact me through my Facebook page - Ben Bassett Fishing.
Here's more reading from other sources both local and nationwide.
http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/wrasse-campaign-2017
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/10/salmon-farmers-put-wild-wrasse-at-risk--sea-lice-scotland-anglers
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/scottish-salmon-farmers-accused-of-raiding-plymouth-beauty-spots/story-30407738-detail/story.html
