Oceana denounces EU’s failure to recover fishing resources

The meeting of the EU Council of Fisheries Ministers concluded yesterday night with agreements on total allowable catches (TACs) and country quotas for the Community fleet next year. The agreements reached confirm this Council’s inability to protect and manage fishery resources. Most of the decisions ignore the scientific recommendations made by the International Council for … Read more

Responsible Fishing

According to the FAO, destructive fishing practices like bottom trawling dump more than 7 million tons of marine organisms every year, while obliterating ocean habitat like coral reefs and seamounts that need decades or centuries to recover. Oceana works to ensure that fish are taken out of the ocean only at sustainable rates based on … Read more

CITES: A tragedy for the oceans

Today it’s all about last-day expectations. All important discussions have been put off for today’s plenary. The reopening of the bluefin tuna, sharks and corals debates will depend upon the support of the parties. Today we may obtain more protection for more species… or be doomed to lose them. Finally CITES failed to ban the … Read more

CITES: Proposal to protect porbeagle was agreed!

Today all four shark proposals were debated. Unfortunately, only one was approved. The proposals to protect hammerhead sharks, oceanic whitetips and the spurdog were rejected. The good news is that the proposal to protect the porbeagle was agreed! This is a large, migratory and warm blooded shark. It´s meat is heavily consumed in Europe. The … Read more

CITES: Sharks maybe?

Tomorrow proposals for protection of 8 shark species will be discussed. We are very excited cause it seems that there is a will to reach an agreement. Some fishing countries, like Spain, seem to be in favour of these proposals and everyone, including countries envolved in shark fisheries and trade, aknowledge that there is a … Read more