News
May 22, 2009
EU Ministers in for new, deeper discussions on CFP Reform
The EU Council meeting on Monday, May 25, will provide Union ministers with a first opportunity to dig deeper into the Green Paper on CFP reform introduced a month ago. Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg will also make a statement to the Council on the controversial discards issue. This practice is “no longer acceptable” and the … Continued
May 22, 2009
Heat is on, fisheries sweat
Sixty-one of the world’s 64 Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) show a significant increase in surface temperature, a new UN report says. LMEs with the sharpest increase included the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Mediterranean. The change in surface temperature had led to smaller catches in some fisheries, and bigger in some other, according … Continued
May 22, 2009
WWF eco-labelling plan meets angry NGO protest
In a letter to leading WWF members, more than 70 environmental and human right groups are protesting the World Wildlife Fund’s plans to launch a certification label for aquaculture products. Claiming that the WWF rejects invitations to discuss the issue with representatives of affected communities in six different aquaculture regions across the world, the letter … Continued
May 22, 2009
Control Reform urgent, says EU Body
The EESC, a consultative body within the EU structure, has urged the Commission to press for reform of the fisheries control system without waiting for the debate on a new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2010. At a plenary session in May, the European Economic and Social Committee adopted an opinion which stressed the urgent … Continued
May 22, 2009
How to use the CFP – Download it here!
In an information drive accompanying the debate leading up to a new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2012, the European Commission has published a free User’s guide to the CFP. The guide, published in English, French and German, can be downloaded from the Internet, but also ordered from the EU bookshop.
May 14, 2009
Yellow Light for most Baltic cod
”OK – but caution!”, is the new WWF advise to Scandinavian customers lusting for cod from the East Baltic stock. In the fifth edition of the Swedish WWF Fish Guide, published simultaneously with similar local guides in Finland, Denmark and Norway, the red-listing was changed for the first time ever for the Eastern stock, while … Continued
May 12, 2009
Worries – and some hope – in Commission paper on 2010
Catch quotas have consistently been set at levels too high for the fish stocks to sustain, the European Commission noted as it released a consultation document outlining its views on how to set fishing possibilities in EU waters for 2010. In a press release, the Commission points out that slow progress has been made in … Continued
May 12, 2009
Climate change may shrink shrimp stocks
If ocean temperatures rise, stocks of northern shrimp could be seriously affected, a study published in the Science Magazine shows. The international team of scientists found that, on average, northern shrimp eggs hatched in time with the spring phytoplankton bloom, the main food source for its larvae. The mating time of the species in the … Continued
May 11, 2009
Polish stakeholders in round-table discussions
A group of Polish stakeholders has met for the second time to agree on the working methods of an expert group composed of different interests. The aim of the project is to improve dialogue but also to come up with joint, workable solutions for the future Polish fisheries policy. On 6 May, a meeting was … Continued
April 24, 2009
Swedish media still hot for Baltic cod
A new wave of media attention surrounding the situation of the still WWF-blacklisted Baltic cod has rolled over Sweden, a nation where consumers have been more eager than in any other European country to follow the WWF recommendations. The first round of debate followed the EU Council’s decision last October to raise TACs (Total Allowable … Continued