Past Events

CONFERENCE More big fish in the sea! Questioning the MSY paradigm for a sustainable long-term marine fisheries management Co-chaired by MEP Caroline Roose and MEP Isabel Carvalhais When: April 25 12:30-13:30 Where: Brussels and online. On 25 April 2023, the Forum on Recreational Fisheries and Aquatic Environment will organise an event on the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) instrument in regard of a sustainable fish stock structure management. The conference will be chaired by MEP Caroline Roose and MEP Isabel Carvalhais and will take place in the European Parliament, Room Spinelli 5E1. The event will be live-streamed and a link provided before the day of the event. This conference will help drive the debate on the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) as the sole target considered for the sustainability of fisheries management in the EU. It will be co-chaired by MEP Caroline Roose and MEP Isabel Carvalhais and will take place in the European Parliament, Room 5E1 (Altiero Spinelli building). The event will be video broadcasted. Commercial fisheries management based on MSY has led to a progressive reduction in fish size. Indeed, this instrument is solely based on tonnage targets and does not consider the preservation of fish stocks’ structures, posing a problem for the fish species’ ability to cope with the growing risks of climate change, eutrophication of waters and for the maintenance of marine ecosystems. Indeed, the age and size distribution of individuals in the populations of commercially-exploited species is indicative of a healthy population according to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The recreational fisheries sector wishes to raise awareness of this problem, which endangers the long-term sustainability of commercial and recreational fisheries. This “RecFishing Forum” event aims at launching a dialogue between the EU decision-makers and scientific experts to consider the issue of fish populations’ structure (as foreseen by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive) when taking decisions for more a sustainable management of commercial fisheries.

Links:

• Event outline
• Agenda
• Register here

Agriculture and Fisheries Council where ministers will exchange views on the Commission’s new package of measures to increase the sustainability and resilience of the EU’s fisheries and aquaculture sector.

Links:

• Meeting information
• Commission press release: Fisheries, aquaculture and marine ecosystems: transition to clean energy and ecosystem protection for more sustainability and resilience

The Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre is organising a breakfast seminar (Baltic Breakfast) with focus on compensatory restocking of eel and salmon from the fish's perspective on 14/3 at 8.30-9.15. Johan Östergren (SLU) will talk about the latest research on how restocking affects the salmon's genetics and Henrik Svedäng (Stockholm University, Baltic Sea Centre) will present the precarious situation of the European eel and how restocking affects the eel. Sign up to here to join the breakfast in Stockholm (Scandic Klara, Slöjdgatan 7) or watch live on the website (no registration required). SU also posts recordings of the Baltic Breakfasts on their YouTube page.

Links:

• Program

Registration is now open for this year's Baltic Stakeholder Conference (BSC2023). The Conference is hosted by Latvia and aims to "speed up the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan and send an emphatic call for action". Deadline for registrations is 28 February 2023.  

Links:

• Event homepage with agenda
• Registration link

The SSF Forum’s second workshop on "Connecting scientists and fishers in the process towards data collection and management of European eel in the Mediterranean", taking place on 28 February to 2 March 2023. NB it will not be possible to follow the event from remote during the excursion to the Orbetello lagoon on Wednesday 1 March from 8:30-15:00.        

Links:

• General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean website
• Agenda

The seabed is becoming a hot topic in the sustainable development debate, especially the green growth discussions. More and more people are turning their eyes to the seabed for raw materials. Lately the possibility to retract manganese nodules from the seabed has been discussed and some companies have shown interest to get started. Another sea bed topic is CCS, Carbon Capture and Storage. The possibility of capturing carbon dioxide from flue gases, to pump it far below the ocean floor for long-term storage, is by many seen as a necessary action to reduce the concentrations in the atmosphere and mitigate climate change. What are the opportunities and problems with such interventions? Are we free to use the seabed to contribute to sustainable development? How far has research come and what questions remain to be answered? Welcome to a Baltic Breakfast to learn more about CCS and sea bed mining of manganese nodules!   Speakers: Francisco Nacimento, Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Science, Stockholm University Gry Møl Mortensen, Senior Geologist, Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) Moderator: Gun Rudquist, Head of Policy, Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre Practical information: The seminar is held 15 February 2023 8:30 - 9:15 at Scandic Klara, Slöjdgatan 7, Stockholm. Vegetarian breakfast is served from 8:00. Physical participation requires registration before 13 February. The seminar will also be broadcast digitally su.se/balticseacentre/balticbreakfast. No registration is required to view the broadcast. The seminar will be recorded and can be watched afterwards on the same webpage.

Links:

• Register for the seminar here

Meeting name	MIACO 2023
Group name	Annual Meeting between ICES, Advisory Councils and other Observers
Meeting Chairs	Mark Dickey-Collas -
Venue	ICES HQ, Copenhagen, Denmark
Meeting start	12/1/2023
Meeting end	13/1/2023

Links:

• https://www.ices.dk/news-and-events/meeting-calendar/Pages/ICES-CalendarDisp.aspx?sd=4c71952c-51ed-ec11-9296-00155d2c0c14

At December council, Agriculture and Fisheries ministers will meet to reach a political agreement on fishing rights for 2023 in EU and non-EU waters, in the Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Links:

• https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/agrifish/2022/12/11-12/

The Fisheries Secretariat will be arranging the webinar “Östersjötorsken – status och framtid” (held in Swedish) in collaboration with Länsstyrelsen Skåne and Marint centrum Simrishamn. Presentations will be given by the report authors, and invited experts will present some of the factors affecting cod in more detail. Registration for the event can be done here.  

FishSec and Naturskyddsföreningen arranges a discussion about the Swedish Eel restocking.