A few days ago, over 3 km of illegal driftnets were seized in Italy. It’s amazing, and disturbing that more than a decade after a driftnet ban was put in place in the EU – we are still seeing regular cases of infractions, particularly by the Italian fleet. Driftnets do not discriminate. The enormous nets … Read more
Oceana believes that it is crucial that all European States display the same level of commitment in application of Regulations. Oceana appreciates the political U-turn taken by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and the Environment to fight illegal fishing. The General Secretary for Fisheries, Carlos Domínguez, yesterday presented data on control of fishery product imports … Read more
Yesterday an overwhelming majority of the European Parliament voted for a gradual ban on the discarding of unwanted fish in the Skagerrak. Oceana welcomes this bold step towards ending the wasteful practice of throwing millions of tons of fish back into the sea. “It is rewarding to see that the Parliament is sticking to defending … Read more
In another late night Fisheries Council meeting, France and Spain led a group of countries into dismantling a hard earned discard ban that was overwhelmingly passed through the European Parliament earlier this month. All Member States but Sweden, disappointingly agreed to compromise the principle of a full discard ban by allowing up to 9 percent … Read more
After 18 months of negotiations, the Fisheries Committee of the EU parliament voted to put in place new measures that would effectively end overfishing and greatly improve the way the EU manages its fisheries, which have been historically poor managed and overfished. In recent years, the majority of its scientifically-assessed fisheries have been found to be … Read more
Agadir (Morocco) – As the annual ICCAT Meeting closes its doors today, Oceana, an official observer at the meeting, welcomes the steps taken for Eastern bluefin tuna management in 2013, but has grave concerns about the lack of new measures for threatened highly migratory species of sharks, and overall weak compliance with existing measures. Contracting … Read more
Today, the European Commission identified eight third-countries failing to fulfill their duties to fight Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing (IUU). Their decision grants Belize, Panama, Cambodia, Fiji, Guinea, Sri Lanka, Togo and Vanuatu, six months to address the European Union’s concerns. If they fail to respond adequately, a series of measures will be implemented, including … Read more
Did you know that illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing accounts for 15% of catches worldwide and that this business amounts to 10 billion euros annually? If you want an order of comparison, it is as if IUU fishing was the second biggest fishing “nation” in the world after China. In Europe, we at Oceana … Read more
This week, the annual ICCAT conference is underway in Agadir, Morocco. As some of you may know, Oceana has observer status at the ICCAT meeting, and two of our experts are on the ground as we speak. Bluefin tuna is such an iconic species, both because of its place in the culinary history of so … Read more
Last night the European Council of fisheries ministers reached an agreement on the partial general approach for the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). This new funding mechanism, which will replace the current European Fisheries Fund in 2014, will seal the future of the European fishing sector until 2020. Oceana is appalled by the outcome … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
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