No decisions are expected on fisheries issues at the June EU Council meeting in Luxembourg, but CFP reform and future TACs will be up for debate. At the Tuesday 29 luncheon – possibly over a seafood menu – the Fisheries ministers will discuss “Reform of the common market organisation (CMO) for fishery and aquaculture products”. The … Continued
A whole Danish fishing community that went for ITQs now risks to be wiped out after the local bank collapsed. When Danish fishing quotas were made transferable in 2007, many fishermen on north-western Jutland cashed in, sold their boats and whole communities moved on to other ways of making a living. In the village of … Continued
Contrary to earlier beliefs, a new study indicates that professional fisheries do not go for what is left at the top of the food chain, but rather focuses on what is most profitable: shrimp pays better than cod. The depletion of stocks high in the food web, such as cod and tuna, has earlier been … Continued
Ivory Coast officials say its own seafood catches went down 30 percent last year, and some experts estimate that illegal catches along West African coasts, mostly by European or Asian vessels, amount to as much as one billion dollars annually. According to the Environmental Justice Foundation, an NGO based in London, as many as 60 … Continued
Changed fishing gears could reduce both harmful effects on the marine ecosystems and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as lower the fishermen’s fuel costs, a new report towards low impact fisheries shows. The study, commissioned by the Brussels-based Seas At Risk organisation and performed by the independent fisheries consultancy MacAlister Elliott and Partners, also identified … Continued
A strong representation of anglers in general and NGOs from Estonia, Latvia and Estonia in particular marked a recent FISH-led strategy workshop in Poland. Some 25 NGO representatives, also from Poland, Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Russia, had gathered in Miêdzyzdroje, a spa and sea resort north of Szczecin on the Polish Baltic coast. FISH had … Continued
Feeling ”truly disappointed”, Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki has urged Mediterranean member states to finally apply the 2006 fisheries regulation. “The transition period is over”, she added grimly. Of those fish stocks in the Mediterranean that have been scientifically assessed at all – the majority haven’t – more than 54 percent have been found overfished. In … Continued
A British chartered accountant has been appointed new Director-General for fisheries under the EU Commission. As part of the Commission’s “mobility policy”, Fokion Fotiadis, a Greek national as his Commissioner Maria Damanaki, is replaced by Lowri Evans at the top of the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), the Commission announced. According to … Continued
Welcoming the EU Commission’s ”clear commitment” to bring in the MSY approach by 2015, a statement from nine important NGOs points out that Maxim Sustainable Yield is not “the ultimate target”. The statement, signers including FISH, WWF and the OCEAN2012 coalition, was commenting on the Commission Communication two weeks earlier on principles for setting quotas … Continued
Contrary to what the European Parliament’s legal experts have found, the EU Ambassador to Morocco contends there is “no problem” with the legalities in the EU-Morocco agreement on fisheries in occupied Western Sahara. Western Sahara, originally a Spanish colony, has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. The UN Security Council adopted a peace plan in … Continued