Oceana: European Commission falls short with deep-sea fisheries proposal

Today, the European Commission published its biennial proposal on fishing opportunities for deep-sea species, for 2015 and 2016. While for most stocks the Commission has proposed total allowable catches (TACs) that follow scientific advice, it has failed to propose drastic reductions that were recommended by scientists for three key stocks, and has neglected to consider … 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

10 facts you may not know about deep-sea fisheries

The EU is in the process of reforming its current regulation on deep-sea fishing in the North-East Atlantic. This law dates back to 2002 and has proven to be very ineffective – deep-sea species have not been managed sustainably, and fisheries have been permitted to damage vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems. Do you know the facts about … Read more

Oceana: EU Ministers fail first test of new fisheries policy targets

Yesterday in the evening EU Fisheries Ministers reached a political agreement on 2014 fishing opportunities for the main commercial fish stocks for EU vessels in the North East Atlantic. Only one year is left before the deadline, established in the newly reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), to have sustainably exploited fish stocks. While acknowledging some … Read more

North-East Atlantic Governments leave threatened wildlife in dire conditions

On December 18th, an extraordinary meeting of OSPAR, the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, marked a historic failure of the Convention to meet its ministerial commitments to develop protection measures for all threatened and/or declining marine species and habitats on the OSPAR List no later than by 2013. … Read more