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July 13, 2011

EU Commission’s half-hearted attempt to restore Europe’s depleted seas

 

Today was a BIG day for Oceana: the European Commission unveiled their proposal for the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.

We’ve been working for months on ensuring that this proposal included the much needed solutions to restore Europe’s depleted seas and put us on the path towards sustainable fisheries.

The outcome had some positives, but there are still MANY issues that need to be worked on and the truth is, we are disappointed that the proposal didn’t go as far as it needed to go to in many very important areas, for example on discards, and the fact that approximately 74% of all commercially exploited species are still being fished without any management measures.

The good news is that this is just the beginning of a nearly 20 month process, during which time members of the European Parliament and national governments will modify this proposal. Our concern is that short term interests will influence decision makers over long term wisdom.

There is so much more work to be done, and our hope is that at the end of this process, Europe will have a fisheries policy that will ensure healthy seas and healthy fisheries for generations to come.

Interested in learning more? Check out our press release for a more in depth description of our issues of concern.