UK Fisheries Audit
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Legacy: Responsible Fisheries
Oceana warns UK and EU must ‘walk the talk’ if new Brexit deal is to protect fish stocks
Oceana welcomes the agreement between the EU and the UK in relation to fisheries as a positive first step for their shared marine ecosystem. Oceana also warns, however, that unless both sides set catch limits within sustainable levels for their more than 100 shared fish populations, overfishing may increase and the recovery progress achieved during … Read more
EU fisheries Council fails to ensure sustainable exploitation of fish stocks
Ministers set 35% of Atlantic fishing limits above sustainable levels Mediterranean fisheries further jeopardized by short-termism Today the 27 EU fisheries ministers reached an agreement on fishing opportunities for EU fish stocks in 2021. Despite deadlines in EU law and United Nations’ commitments to end overfishing by 2020, ministers failed to set fishing limits that … Read more
Oceana: weak implementation of EU Mediterranean fisheries law leaves sensitive habitats unprotected
Italy is worst-performing Member State, allowing bottom fishing to occur over sensitive habitats and in “protected” areas Extending the current trawl ban to within 10 nm of the coast or 150 m depth would protect almost the totality of sensitive habitats under the Mediterranean Regulation Following the release of the European Court of Auditors’ marine … Read more
New UK Fisheries Act turns back the clock on sustainable fisheries
Oceana regrets that the Fisheries Bill, which has today received Royal Assent making it the Fisheries Act, fails to include a legal duty to fish sustainably, below Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), for all stocks. The Fisheries Bill originally offered hope of a new gold standard for fisheries management in the UK, which could have served … Read more
Brexit puts Northeast Atlantic fisheries abundance at risk
The future of fish looks bleak in Europe. Nearly nine months since the official Brexit and after multiple rounds of fisheries negotiations, the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) are racing against the clock to conclude a fisheries agreement. The problem? The UK is gambling with the long-term health and abundance of the … Read more
Oceana urges EU to finally deliver on its duty to stop overfishing
Today the European Commission published its proposal on 2021 fishing opportunities for over 23 stocks in the Atlantic and the North Sea. The proposal covers catch limits for stocks present exclusively in EU waters. While all the proposed catch limits for the fully assessed stocks are in line with the best available scientific advice, around … Read more
EU and UK must ensure protection of deep-sea fish in Northeast Atlantic
Responding to the European Commission’s proposal for deep sea fishing limits for 2021-2022, published today [1], NGOs welcome the positive steps towards following scientific advice. However, the proposal does not go far enough to ensure protection and allow the recovery of these very sensitive and unique species, some of which are the most vulnerable known … Read more
NGOs Welcome EU Fisheries Ministers Setting More Baltic Fishing limits in line with science – but ecological crisis not averted
Environmental NGOs this morning welcomed the decision of EU Fisheries Ministers to set Baltic fishing limits for 2021 in accordance with scientific advice for eight of ten fish populations in the Baltic, but reflect that this result is largely due to the strong position of the European Commission, and warn that today’s result is still … Read more
