Let's get together!

The Bluefin Tuna have been breaching like whales off the coast of Cornwall, a vision of the sort of exuberant plenty that is possible if we stop seeing the natural riches of seas and landscape chiefly as a source of income. Already people are gearing up their boats to catch these fish, giant mackerel the size of dolphins. Even as we are wonderstruck the fishermen are looking to turn them into money. They will likely carry on turning these flashes of pure blued-steel energy into hard cash until they are gone again. ‘If we don’t catch them someone else will’, they usually say.

My last piece was about how, even as the European legislators were trying to halt the disappearance of the eel, the UK’s last elver merchant was fighting as if his life, rather than that of the eels, depended on it, to be allowed to export elvers by the tonne to Russia, of all places, out of reach of the European agencies trying to keep eels in our freshwater systems, well in reach though of elver smuggling networks turning these transparent almost foetal eels into very large sums of cash indeed.

Even now Defra is considering whether to allow his application for more permits to send even more elvers to Russia next spring. The exports have been on an upward trajectory year on year and it is likely that if a permit is granted it may be for at least 2 tonnes, 6 million baby eels.

This is as far as I can see contrary to the letter and the spirit of European legislation and regulation to which we are signatories, but if no-one notices a decision to allow the trade could well be announced in the next few weeks. I have started a petition on Change.org calling for an end to this trade. Maybe we could all start to get together again, as I prepare for a winter with time to write again, by signing this petition and spreading it around?

This will take you to the petition : https://chng.it/ZwkHKF79YL