On October 9, The Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska, PO) party met success in this year’s Polish Parliamentary elections, and made history too. For the first time in twenty years, the ruling party has been re-elected in Poland. Although the election results were not surprising, what was unprecedented, is the incredible support shown for the breakaway faction of the Civic Platform party, the Palikot Movement (Ruch Palikota, RP).
In an effort the secure sustainable fisheries through the CFP reform, small-scale fishermen and NGOs have joined forces, by making a follow-up declaration to that from La Coruna in 2010, on the need to ensure that priority access to fisheries is given to those who fish in the most environmentally and socially sustainable manner.
Following on from the Danish election on the 15th September, a new government has been formed by the victorious left-wing coalition.
The Commission visit to the Ministry in Spain took place on 28 September, with the goal of presenting its proposals for the CFP reform to stakeholder groups, and in particular to the Ministry responsible for fisheries issues. Although some Member States decided to keep the Commission meetings a closed affair (i.e.: Poland), in Spain more than 100 people representing the Spanish fishing industry, and non-governmental organisations, joined the proceedings.
Today, around 200 Polish fishermen gathered in Gdansk to protest sanctions– some reaching 350 000 PLN—imposed on them as a result of illegal Baltic cod fishing in 2007, which took place despite the European Commission (EC) mandated closure of the Baltic cod fisheries. The man behind the protests is Grzegorz Hałubek, the Chair of the Polish Fishermen’s Union, who has been fronting the protests since the beginning.
Yesterday evening, a decision in the EP Fisheries Committee finally settled the heated debate about the allocation of reports for the different parts of the CFP reform package. In the end, the different party groups were each given a piece of the cake.
Today, the Commission presented its proposals for North Sea and Atlantic TACs. They stressed the scientific basis for their proposals, stating that “the Commission’s goal is to set TACs at science-based levels which help recover the stocks and make fisheries sustainable in the long term”.
On 21 September, Region Skåne, a southern regional Swedish authority, gathered actors with a wide range of backgrounds to discuss sustainable entrepreneurship focusing on the Baltic Sea at a seminar called Blue Tech – a good idea for the Sea.
Today, the European Commission released its proposal on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2012. The Commission states that the overall objective of the proposal is to make fisheries in the Baltic Sea environmentally and economically sustainable by following the recommendations of scientists.
On 13 September, Dr. Daniel Pauly, the Director of the Fisheries Centre at University of British Columbia in Canada and Principal Investigator of the Sea Around Us Project , gave an introductory summary of his latest work on the global spread of fisheries and how his findings are illuminating the pressing need for the European Union to manage its fisheries more effectively.