Responsible Fishing Archives

Half of 2013 fishing opportunities set by EU Fisheries Ministers are above scientific recommendations

This morning after an intense two-day negotiation process, EU fisheries ministers reached an agreement on 2013 catch limits for the main commercial species in the North East Atlantic. Oceana in a preliminary assessment of fisheries minister’s agreement describes the decisions adopted as contradictory and regrets another missed opportunity to end the overexploitation of European fishery … Read more

E.U. Parliament Votes to Curb Overfishing

After 18 months of negotiations, the Fisheries Committee of the EU parliament voted to put in place new measures that would effectively end overfishing and greatly improve the way the EU manages its fisheries, which have been historically poor managed and overfished. In recent years, the majority of its scientifically-assessed fisheries have been found to be … Read more

Wild Sea Trout Fishing Banned in the Gulf of Finland

The authorities of Uusimaa and the Southeast Finland Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment banned wild sea trout fisheries in the Gulf of Finland to give the stock a chance to rebuild. In the summer of 2012, alarming surveys from the Baltic Sea found that wild sea trout had become critically endangered in … Read more

Oceana regrets lack of agreement and weak ambition in key NEAFC´s decisions

Today, the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), which manages the fishery resources in the international waters of its region, finished its annual meeting today in London. Although some positive decisions were adopted, Oceana regrets the lack of consensus on key species like mackerel and blue whiting, and the adoption of inefficient management measures for … Read more

Oceana satisfied with courts sanctions deterrent enough prevent overfishing in Europe

Yesterday, a United Kingdom court ruled against two Spanish shipowners connected with the notorious pirate shipowners Antonio Vidal Suárez and Antonio Vidal Pego. The court has imposed a fine of 1.62 Million pounds for falsifying documentation on catches of overexploited hake, for which the quota was overshot. Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe … Read more

Oceana welcomes new Danish HELCOM Chairmanship and encourages prioritization of work on fisheries and marine protection

Oceana welcomes the new Chairwoman of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (known as HELCOM), Helle Pilsgaard, in her new position, and looks forward to the two-year Danish Chairmanship of HELCOM. In a letter addressed to Ms. Pilsgaard, Oceana marked its appreciation for plans to tackle the human causes of eutrophication by setting country-wide nutrient … Read more

Victory: 10 species of threatened sharks and rays get protected

Good news readers! Great news, actually: Yesterday, EU has finally voted in favour of strictly protecting ten threatened species of sharks and rays in the Mediterranean Sea, under the Barcelona Convention. These species, including hammerheads, tope, and shortfin mako, have declined dramatically in numbers – some by as much as 99% during the last century … Read more

State of the World Fisheries gets a bad report card

Every two years, the FAO releases a report called the State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture, and every two years, those of us who follow the issue are disappointed by dismal statistics. This year, 87% of evaluated stocks were fully or over-exploited, up 2% from the last FAO report. Our board member Dr. Daniel … Read more

Overfishing: a video

As part of our policy work on reforming the Common Fisheries Policy, Oceana often teams up with other NGOs in the area so as to maximize our influence on decision makers in Brussels and the EU. Here’s a great video that came out of this partnership that clearly explains the scale of the overfishing … Read more

Oceana: RIO +20 fails to make real progress towards restoring oceans

Oceana finds the final Rio +20 declaration to be a weak statement of intent, with no legally binding commitment that fails to respond to the urgent conservation and management needs of the world’s oceans. Rio +20 concludes without any real progress towards a sustainable future. However, the international marine conservation organization acknowledges as a positive … Read more