Fisheries authorities in the Falkland Islands have said that 2022 was a bumper year for the squid and hake fishing fleets licenced by the territory. Sixteen ships caught a remarkable 101,166 tonnes of loligo squid; a catch that was exceeded only in 1989 when 118,120 tonnes were landed, although that record catch was achieved by almost three times as many ships.
The challenging complexity and uncertain consequences of Brexit, progress in understandings with Argentina, including the second weekly air link to Sao Paulo, a sound economy with financial stability and the strong commitment of the Falkland Islands population with representative democracy, were outlined by Governor Nigel James Phillips, CBE in his annual address to the elected Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands.
Sasha Arkhipkin, Senior Fisheries Scientist talks about mass strandings of pilot whales.
The British Royal Navy's Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) HMS Forth has commenced its first sea trials on the River Clyde. HMS Forth is the first of five new patrol ships of the same class being built to assist the navy in safeguarding fishing stocks, as well as protecting the Falkland Islands and their inhabitants.
On October 29 1986, a proclamation declaring the Interim Falklands Conservation Zone was signed by Governor Gordon Jewkes. The zone had a 160-nauticalmile (300 km; 180 mi) radius. On February 1, 1987 the Falkland Islands Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance came in to effect.
Big OceanData has been awarded a contract to provide the Government of the Falkland Islands with its vessel monitoring system (VMS) capability for another five years. For the first time the system will include AIS data, which will be integrated with existing Inmarsat tracking data from the fishing vessels.
One hundred and five jiggers and one trawler have been offered Falkland Islands Illex squid licenses for the coming season which opens on February 15. The total number of licences offered matches those taken up in 2014, confirmed Director of Natural Resources John Barton at the Islands Fisheries Committee Meeting.
The world’s biggest ever attempted rodent eradication campaign to be launched in South Georgia is only a few weeks away according to the South Georgia Heritage Trust's (SGHT) Habitat Restoration Project and reported in the January edition of the South Georgia newsletter.