UK fisheries audit reveals status of fish stocks setting a baseline for evaluating future UK management decisions Oceana calls for urgent action to end overfishing to avoid the total collapse of cod The UK fisheries audit released today by the largest international advocacy organisation dedicated solely to ocean conservation, Oceana, paints a disturbing picture of … Read more
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Oceana welcomes the agreement between the EU and the UK in relation to fisheries as a positive first step for their shared marine ecosystem. Oceana also warns, however, that unless both sides set catch limits within sustainable levels for their more than 100 shared fish populations, overfishing may increase and the recovery progress achieved during … Read more
Ministers set 35% of Atlantic fishing limits above sustainable levels Mediterranean fisheries further jeopardized by short-termism Today the 27 EU fisheries ministers reached an agreement on fishing opportunities for EU fish stocks in 2021. Despite deadlines in EU law and United Nations’ commitments to end overfishing by 2020, ministers failed to set fishing limits that … Read more
Italy is worst-performing Member State, allowing bottom fishing to occur over sensitive habitats and in “protected” areas Extending the current trawl ban to within 10 nm of the coast or 150 m depth would protect almost the totality of sensitive habitats under the Mediterranean Regulation Following the release of the European Court of Auditors’ marine … Read more
The unrelenting overfishing and degradation of Mediterranean marine ecosystems over the last 15 years offer grounds for questioning the implementation of European Union (EU) policy responses. Not only it is the most overfished sea in the world, with 80% of its fish stocks overexploited, but the region’s unique marine biodiversity facesincreasing threats, including from climate … Read more
Some Member States are considering increasing annual quota flexibility from current 10% to 25% as a COVID-19 crisis response. In this short paper, we explain why this approach is risky from legal, environmental and economic point of view and call on the Member States and the European Commission to oppose any such attempts. Alternative measures … Read more
The future of fish looks bleak in Europe. Nearly nine months since the official Brexit and after multiple rounds of fisheries negotiations, the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) are racing against the clock to conclude a fisheries agreement. The problem? The UK is gambling with the long-term health and abundance of the … Read more
Oceana regrets that the Fisheries Bill, which has today received Royal Assent making it the Fisheries Act, fails to include a legal duty to fish sustainably, below Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), for all stocks. The Fisheries Bill originally offered hope of a new gold standard for fisheries management in the UK, which could have served … Read more
The Fisheries Bill concluded in Parliament today (Thursday 12th November) as hopes flounder for the UK to lead the way in sustainable fishing. The Fisheries Bill includes scant legal commitment to fish sustainably, despite having been much lauded by Ministers as the UK’s chance to showcase “gold standard” fisheries management as an independent coastal state … 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.
Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.
