Category: Article

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.

Today, the Environment Committee (ENVI) in the European Parliament requested Associated Committee status on CFP reform, referring to the strong environmental focus of the proposal.

On September 8, the second annual meeting was hosted by the Commission in Brussels, moderated by Lowri Evans, Director General for DG Mare. The focus of the meeting was on the state of European fish stocks, as presented by scientific experts, and the way the EU should react to scientific based assessments and uncertainties. The meeting was the last opportunity for inputs to be made by stakeholders before the TACs are set for 2012.

The Commission “Blue team” visit to the Ministry in Copenhagen took place on the 8th September. Representatives of the EC presented their proposals for the CFP reform and invited approximately 25 Danish stakeholders to ask questions and pass comment.