Today, on February 6th 2013 in Strasbourg, all the MEPs will vote on the report on the so called basic regulation – creating the framework for the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). This is the first time that the European Parliament has had the opportunity to co-legislate on EU’s overarching fisheries policy.
In a letter sent to fisheries attachés ahead of their working group meeting, at which they will reflect upon the outcome of December’s vote in the Fisheries Committee, Member States are encouraged to look to the EP who “took a momentous step towards turning the tide on overfishing in Europe”.
The “Paint a Fish” campaign is a straightforward concept. It asks members of the public to simply paint fish, but the aspiration behind the project is to engage and educate the younger generations in the protection of fish stocks, while also encouraging decision-makers to do the same as the CFP reform draws to a close.
Litter is still one of the main environmental problems that effects marine environments today. Fishing for Litter (FFL) is a project that started in 2005 in Scotland that aims to directly remove garbage from the sea but at the same time raising awareness to stakeholders, the public and the packing industry.
Last night Fisheries Ministers finally reached an agreement on TACs for 2013. Although a compromise agreement was reached which aims at putting the majority of fish stocks at an exploitation rate in line with Maximum Sustainable yield by 2015, TACs for many fish stocks were still set higher than proposed by the Commission, which largely followed scientific advice.
When the report on the Skagerrak discard ban was discussed for the first time in the Parliament Fisheries Committee on 17 December, MEPs raised issues in both the report and the Commission’s proposal on possible increases in TACs, control systems and minimum conservation reference sizes.
The Fisheries Secretariat (FISH) will be moving to a new office later this week.
The European Parliament Fisheries Committee (PECH) has adopted the Rodust (S&D, DE) report on the CFP reform basic regulation, along with a number of amendments which will improve the long-term sustainability of fish stocks.
Ministers agreed a roll-over of Black Sea catch limits today, despite continued problems with illegal fishing of turbot. They also came to an agreement that essentially scraps the 2008 cod recovery plan which is widely judged to be ineffective.
The Council has agreed TACs for deep sea stocks for the coming two years. While most quotas will be reduced next year, a lack of caution has been exercised for these vulnerable species. There was more good news for sharks though, for which no quotas were assigned.