Brussels— On August 29th the European Commission released its annual proposal for fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2018. Despite a long history of the Western Baltic Cod stock being in poor condition, last year’s criticism by Oceana and a recent fishing scandal in Denmark, the Commission decided to maintain the status quo with … Read more
In advance Fisheries Council decision on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea, Oceana releases its recommendations for setting total allowable catches (TACs) for 2018, in line with the most recently available scientific advice and aiming to stop overfishing in Baltic fisheries before 2020. The end of overfishing is necessary not only to guarantee the sustainable … Read more
Europe has a long tradition of exploiting marine fishes and is promoting marine economic activity through its Blue Growth strategy. This increase in anthropogenic pressure, along with climate change, threatens the biodiversity of fishes and food security. Here, we examine the conservation status of 1,020 species of European marine fishes and identify factors that contribute … Read more
The underestimation of fisheries removals is a global issue that spans countries from different continents and different socio-economic situations. Underestimation of catches is especially important in countries where fishing fleets are highly diversified, the enforcement of fishing management is low, data availability is poor, and there is high demand for fish products in local markets. … Read more
Brussels—July 10, the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament is voting this Wednesday (July 12) on the North Sea multiannual management plan for fish species living near the sea bottom. The plan is due to cover nearly one-third of all fish catches in EU waters, and includes species such as cod, haddock, whiting, sole, plaice … Read more
Brussels – The European Commission has today released its annual communication on the state of fish stocks and the progress in achieving the commitments of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Oceana has continuously expressed concerns regarding the lack of decisive political action during recent years to stop overfishing in European waters, and has called on … Read more
For effective fisheries management to be able to act, realistic fisheries removal data are needed, so as to assess exploitation levels and the impact of fisheries on the ecosystem. Unfortunately, official statistics underestimate catches in most countries and regions. In the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean), where artisanal fishing and industrial bottom trawling are the most … Read more
Management of fisheries in the Mediterranean basin has often been described as a unique and complex challenge, due to their multi-specificity, the diversity of gear-types, and the number of nations involved. This perspective has gone hand-in-hand for decades with a lack of strong political will from decision-makers, who have been unwilling to put Mediterranean fisheries … Read more
How can fashion help save the oceans? This was the huge challenge Oceana and Uttopy gave to a group of young designers in Barcelona earlier in the year. To make things even harder, the designs had to focus on the biggest threat facing the oceans right now: overfishing. Not exactly the easiest design to doodle, right? So, … Read more
Today, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published a damning report on fisheries compliance by EU Member States. Auditors visited Spain, France, Italy and the UK (Scotland), which represent more than half of the EU fishing fleet and almost half of the total fish catches in the Union. The results reveal a lack of control … Read more
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