Summary The reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was agreed in 2013 and entered into force on 1st January 2014. Among its many innovations, the 2013 regulation introduced, for the first time, a legal requirement to achieve the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) exploitation rate, as well as an obligation to land all catches. Both are inextricably … Read more
The EU and Mediterranean countries have failed to protect critical fish nursery areas for commercial species that are already overfished, some of which stocks are near to collapse. Despite growing international concerns over the state and health of the Mediterranean – the sea with the most fish stocks heading towards depletion (above 80%) – the … Read more
One of the aspects behind the critical situation of Mediterranean stocks is the high exploitation rate of juveniles in many demersal fi sheries. The fisheries management in place today has brought most of assessed stocks outside safe biological limits (FAO, 2017) and some of them face a high risk of biological collapse, such ascommercially-important hake … Read more
On the release of the UK Fisheries Bill today, Oceana has issued the following statement from Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of Oceana Europe: “The UK Fisheries Bill comes amid a growing global movement to protect the oceans. But the reality is that 4 out of 10 fish stocks surrounding the UK are still overfished meaning … Read more
EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) today reached an agreement on fishing limits for Baltic stocks for the next year. Regrettably, the Council decided to set catch limits for the Eastern Baltic cod and the Western herring stocks which not only do not follow scientific advice, but also challenge the goal of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) that ensures … Read more
On October 15th, the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) is due to meet in Luxembourg where ministers will decide on fishing limits for the Baltic Sea in 2019. Oceana encourages the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) to be in line with scientific advice, which could help rebuild stocks and eventually increase catches by 25%. In … Read more
MEPs have today introduced changes that significantly weaken a plan to better manage fisheries in the European waters of the Atlantic Ocean. After a vote in the European Parliament, the Fisheries Committee voted to take a step backwards on sustainably managing the fishing grounds for 8 major EU fishing countries and overlooked legal obligations under the … Read more
We call on MEPs to support the Commission’s proposal to: Ensure that exploitation of living marine biological resources restores and maintains populations of harvested species above levels which can produce the Maximum SustainableYield (MSY) (Articles 3.1, 7.1 and 7.2); Contribute to the elimination of discards by avoiding and reducing, as far as possible, unwanted catches … Read more
Fisheries ministers from Mediterranean countries signed today a historical declaration on a Regional Plan of Action for small-scale fisheries. The Ministerial Conference, organised by the GFCM and FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, lays down a new framework for fisheries governance in the region and builds on the 2017 MedFish4Ever initiative. The declaration marks a political … Read more
There are only 18 months left to achieve the 2020 deadline to stop overfishing. However, despite the progress made in reducing fishing pressure in the Atlantic waters and adjacent seas during the recent decade, the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries has confirmed repeatedly that the improvements achieved so far are insufficient to meet the … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.
