Most of her crew of 99 took to the sea in lifeboats leaving thirteen on board to fight the fire. Eventually, with a British Sea King rescue helicopter standing by, she made her own way to Falmouth, as did the rescued crew, and she was boarded by 12 men

of the Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service who were eventually also forced to abandon the vessel after inhaling carbon-monoxide and ammonia gases. Eventually, however, Athena was salvaged and she has now, eight months later, returned to stalk the seas and torment European fishermen. With populations of 320,000 and 50,000, see more respectively, the two small ‘countries’ of Iceland and the Faeroese can not just hold Europe to ransom, the former is still deeply in debt to its fellow Europeans, while the latter is largely dependent on Danish aid and European Union subsidies, but both are seemingly able to do anything they like in the North Atlantic. Iceland, it must be remembered, Trichostatin A supplier still insists on its right to hunt whales commercially, taking 273 fin whales

(Baleanoptera physalus) between 2008 and 2010 in defiance of the moratorium on commercial whaling by the International Whaling Commission. Similarly, and annually, Faeroese people herd pods of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melaena) into bays where they are all slaughtered, in an action locals call ‘the grind’, in a sea of blood more reminiscent of one’s worst nightmare. It is estimated that between 1000 to 2500 animals are killed in this way annually and consumed locally. It seems incredible to me that these ‘countries’, better, rogue states, one of which, Iceland, is trying to negotiate admission to the European Union, can hold not just the whole of the North Atlantic’s fishing industry to ransom but to fly in the face of scientific wisdom and international co-operation that is at least trying to effect fisheries sustainability. Not just this, but, as my old Mum used to admonish, they clearly “want their cake and their ha’penny”. Demanding the right to pursue their ‘traditional cultures’ as island communities,

commandeering other taxpayer’s aid and subsidies, but ravaging our common marine heritage, setting nation against Dynein nation and mariner against mariner. For what? Turning a gift from the sea into pig feed, that’s what. But, just as importantly, destroying the ecology of the North Atlantic and polluting it with shameless greed. “
“There is only ONE big idea in the management of marine areas, including coasts and estuaries – that we have to protect and maintain the natural ecological characteristics while at the same time deliver the services and benefits required by society. This can be regarded as The Ecosystem Approach sensu stricto (as defined by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity) which requires that marine scientists and managers have to take a multidisciplinary approach covering natural and social sciences.