Oceana has seen evidence revealing that an EU-funded body, the Mediterranean Advisory Council (MedAC), aligned with a portion of the Italian fishing industry to lobby MEPs and postpone the latest European Parliament vote on the Western Mediterranean Multiannual Plan, which could have decided the future of the most overexploited sea in the world. Senior figures … Read more
After negotiations late into Monday evening, agriculture and fisheries ministers came to a disappointing deal on “fishing opportunities” in the European Atlantic waters for the next two years. The agreement affects deep-sea fish and sharks, and goes against recommended conservation measures for this vulnerable marine life and sustainable fishing in the Atlantic, Oceana warns. The … Read more
Summary The reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was agreed in 2013 and entered into force on 1st January 2014. Among its many innovations, the 2013 regulation introduced, for the first time, a legal requirement to achieve the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) exploitation rate, as well as an obligation to land all catches. Both are inextricably … Read more
The EU and Mediterranean countries have failed to protect critical fish nursery areas for commercial species that are already overfished, some of which stocks are near to collapse. Despite growing international concerns over the state and health of the Mediterranean – the sea with the most fish stocks heading towards depletion (above 80%) – the … Read more
One of the aspects behind the critical situation of Mediterranean stocks is the high exploitation rate of juveniles in many demersal fi sheries. The fisheries management in place today has brought most of assessed stocks outside safe biological limits (FAO, 2017) and some of them face a high risk of biological collapse, such ascommercially-important hake … Read more
Executive Summary While the UK Government has long championed sustainable fisheries policy, including the much needed and radical reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2013, in practice the UK is still one of the worst offenders for continuing to fish above scientific advice3. Key fishing waters for UK vessels – such as North … Read more
The European Parliament has today voted to water down its commitments made in 2013 to reform fisheries in the European Union (EU) and to manage all the bloc’s fisheries sustainably. MEPs, in a plenary session, favoured fishing at levels that still make overfishing possible, a move criticised by Oceana. Lasse Gustavsson, executive director for Oceana … Read more
On the release of the UK Fisheries Bill today, Oceana has issued the following statement from Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of Oceana Europe: “The UK Fisheries Bill comes amid a growing global movement to protect the oceans. But the reality is that 4 out of 10 fish stocks surrounding the UK are still overfished meaning … Read more
EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) today reached an agreement on fishing limits for Baltic stocks for the next year. Regrettably, the Council decided to set catch limits for the Eastern Baltic cod and the Western herring stocks which not only do not follow scientific advice, but also challenge the goal of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) that ensures … Read more
On October 15th, the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) is due to meet in Luxembourg where ministers will decide on fishing limits for the Baltic Sea in 2019. Oceana encourages the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) to be in line with scientific advice, which could help rebuild stocks and eventually increase catches by 25%. In … 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.
