Follow us:

Welcome

The Fisheries Secretariat is a non-profit organisation dedicated to work towards more sustainable fisheries at an international level, with a focus on the European Union.

fs_slide_01 fs_slide_01 fs_slide_01 fs_slide_01 fs_slide_01 fs_slide_01 fs_slide_01

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly electronic newsletter on fisheries and the environment

What's On

  • Jan
    01
    Danish EU Presidency 2012
    Read more »
  • Feb
    02
    The 7th International Forum on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing
    London, United Kingdom
    Read more »
  • Feb
    08
    Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture
    Brussels, Belgium
    Read more »
  • Feb
    22
    Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture
    Brussels, Belgium
    Read more »
  • Feb
    29
    Hearing with National Parliament representatives on the CFP reform
    Brussels, Belgium
    Read more »
  • Mar
    12
    IAP Arctic Applications workshop
    Copenhagen, Denmark
    Read more »
  • Mar
    21
    The issue of regionalisation in the context of the CFP reform
    Brussels, Belgium
    Read more »
  • Apr
    24
    The feasibility of transferable fishing concessions in the framework of the CFP reform
    Brussels, Belgium
    Read more »
Read More

Latest News

  • 2012-01-19 Commission explains CFP reform proposals

    The Commission recently published a leaflet as well as several non-papers which provide some detail behind their thinking for the CFP reform proposals. They argue that because “our vessels are catching more fish than can be safely reproduced…(and) the fishing industry is experiencing smaller catches”, a radical reform is necessary. Read more »

  • 2012-01-19 Do you know what your fish ate for breakfast?

    The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and Swedwatch today launched their report on aquaculture and the use of fishmeal in production. It explores the supply chain of tiger prawns from Thailand and farmed Norwegian salmon via Peruvian fisheries to identify how consumption in Sweden leads to food chains being fished out in less developed nations. Read more »

  • 2012-01-13 Good reasons to criticise December quota decision

    At the December Council, EU fisheries Ministers set quotas for 75 stocks in EU waters, covering the North Sea, Kattegat, Skagerrak and Black Sea. Seafish has produced a table that includes the agreed TACs for 2011 and 2012, along with the ICES advice for each stock (see below). Read more »

  • 2011-12-19 Fisheries Ministers: not enough progress, yet again.

    On 17 December, after a difficult negotiation session ending at around 3:00am, the Fisheries Ministers of the European Council decided on the fishing possibilities for 2012 for EU stocks in the North Sea and the Atlantic. Despite assurances expressed by Commissioner Maria Damanaki, that ‘we have a happy end’ after the quota haggling, not enough progress has been made to ensure MSY is reached by 2015 for all stocks. Read more »

  • 2011-12-14 December Fisheries Council: Atlantic and North Sea TACs to be set

    At the upcoming meeting on 15–16 December, the Fisheries Council will agree on fishing possibilities for 2012 for EU stocks in the North Sea and the Atlantic, based on the European Commission’s proposals. Crucially important in setting the quotas for 2012, will be adhering to scientific advice to be able to achieve the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) target. This has been agreed to by the EU to rebuild the European fish stocks to a more sustainable level by 2015. Read more »

  • 2011-12-14 EU-Morocco fisheries deal rejected by the European Parliament

    At a plenary today, members of the EP rejected the fisheries partnership agreement (FPA) with Morocco by 326 votes to 296. Read more »

  • 2011-12-14 EU fisheries subsidies evaluation shows that they contribute to overcapacity

    The European Court of Auditors (ECA) today strongly criticised the use of subsidies in sustaining overcapacity when publishing its investigation entitled “have EU measures contributed to adapting the capacity of the fishing fleets to available fishing opportunities?” The court investigated spending in seven member states (Denmark, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the UK) and found that four had set inadequate targets for reducing their fleet, leading to overcapacity, which the court identify as one of the main reasons behind the “failure of the CFP”. Read more »

  • 2011-12-09 TFCs discussed at hearing in Brussels

    At a meeting in which Danish and Norwegian experiences of ITQ systems were presented, the consensus from four MEPs was that such a system of quota allocation should not be mandatory but may be a useful tool to reduce capacity if stringent safeguards are implemented. Read more »
More News

Council Briefings

Since October 2009, a comprehensive background briefing has been sent out prior to most EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meetings with fisheries issues on the agenda.

Reaching more than 400 recipients, the briefings are primarily aimed at the Fisheries ministers and their advisors, but also reach out to fisheries attachés, European Parliamentarians, a wide range of government officials, as well as other NGO representatives, the media and various stakeholders.

In addition to an introductory cover letter, every briefing contains one or several annexes with detailed background information and our preferred standpoints on the pertinent issues.

Briefings