Oceana supports penalties for Member States that exceeded 2013 fishing quotas

Today, the European Commission announced deductions from 2014 fishing quotas to a group of ten Member States that have exceeded their quotas for 2013. Oceana supports these deductions in order to reverse the damage done to overfished stocks, and denounces the lack of sound control measures by EU Member States. Xavier Pastor, Executive Director for … Read more

Tackling Illegal Fishing in Italy: The Making Of

 During an overnight mission, the team documented illegally caught swordfish from drift gillnets entering the Port. This isn’t the first undercover mission from Oceana—earlier this summer we uncovered drift gillnets in Morocco. Read below to learn more. Reaching Reggio Calabria has been a long trip—and not just in terms of the drive. We didn’t sleep … Read more

Oceana exposes illegal driftnet fisheries, while Italy denies it

Oceana observers, together with a cameraman from Reportime (Corriere della Sera), have gathered evidence of fishing boats using illegal driftnets in southern Italy’s port of Bagnara Calabra, as published today on Corriere della Sera by Report journalist Sabrina Giannini. This destructive fishing gear has been banned in the EU since 2002, due to high by-catch … Read more

Deep sea fisheries: the truth is revealed

France’s position on the reform of European deep-sea fishing regulations is even less justifiable in the light of this new information. On 2 July 2014, the French Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer) released data on the activities of French deep-sea bottom trawlers that non-government organizations (NGOs) have been demanding since national multi-stakeholder … Read more

Oceana welcomes continued EU commitment to fight IUU fishing worldwide

Today, the European Commission added the Philippines and Papua New Guinea to the list of countries failing to tackle Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU). Both countries must now demonstrate that they have taken adequate measures to address IUU fishing and if identified shortcomings are not addressed, they could face a ban of fish and … Read more

Scientists recommend largest cut in baltic cod fisheries in years

Today, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) delivered its advice for 2015 catches in the Baltic Sea, including the largest cuts in total allowable catches for cod in years. This move comes after ICES scientists  reported a particularly worrying development for eastern Baltic cod: While over the past few years, the … Read more

Scientific catch limits crucial to the future of european fish stocks

Oceana urges decision makers to heed scientific advice when setting 2015 catch limits and management measures. Today, the European Commission announced their initial plans for next year’s fishing quotas – Total Allowable Catches (TACs) – in the EU. The exact catch limits will not be decided until this autumn, but today’s review revealed an alarming … Read more

Oceana reveals illegal driftnet fishing in Morocco

Morocco officially phased out driftnets in 2010 with funding from the EU and US  Oceana today revealed that the illegal use of driftnets to capture swordfish has returned to Tangiers, Morocco. Evidence gathered by the international marine conservation organization over the past three days, shows small-scale vessels acting in coordination with larger ones with absolute … Read more

Oceana calls attention to the forgotten of the sea

On the occasion of World Oceans Day, Oceana calls attention to the forgotten of the sea, a list of marine species and habitats put together by the international marine conservation organisation. All of them deserve protection or urgent conservation measures because of their importance to the ecosystem, and they represent many others that are also … Read more