Perhaps it would do well to give you all a little background in how fishing opportunities are set in the EU for the Atlantic, before I get to the point. Every year, scientists from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) get together and use whatever data is available to determine the … Read more
Oceana is disappointed in the agreement reached today by European Fisheries Ministers concerning Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for the Atlantic European fleet. The approved fishing limits ignore 41% of scientific advice and are a clear move away from the precautionary proposal tabled by the Commission. In establishing these TACs EU Member states are extending the … Read more
Oceana is urging EU Fisheries Council Ministers to put aside short term interests in tomorrow’s meeting to establish 2012 catch limits for the main species targeted by Europe’s Atlantic fleet. Science-based Total Allowable Catches (TACs) are indispensable to stopping the overexploitation of our seas. Yet year after year, despite their commitment to manage stocks at … Read more
State of resources As concluded in the Communication from the Commission concerning Fishing Opportunities, fish stocks in European waters are improving. This is confirmed by the downward trend in the number of overfished and collapsed stocks. But the progress achieved in European fisheries management in relation to the fishing opportunities is clearly insufficient and Oceana … Read more
TACs for Western Baltic Cod and Western Baltic Herring are too high to stop overfishing of those species. Five other species for which scientists had given advice to maintain or reduce catches remain without TACs for another year. Last Friday, the European Union’s fisheries Ministers met in Luxembourg at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council session … Read more
Catch increases proposed for cod, anglerfish, haddock and Norway lobster are unjustified . Yesterday the European Commission published its proposal for 2012 Fishing Opportunities for exclusive EU stocks in the Northeast Atlantic, which are not subject to international agreements. Oceana considers that the proposed catch limits pave the way to stock recovery, although for most … Read more
Oceana remains troubled that the vast majority of Baltic fish species like seatrout, dab, brill, turbot and flounder remain largely unmanaged. Yesterday, the European Commission published their proposal for 2012 Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for some Baltic fish stocks. Oceana is urging the Commission and Member States to immediately halt fishing for red listed and … Read more
Imagine if Spaniards only ate fish from their own waters. Yesterday, Spain ran out of its own fish stocks, and now will have to depend on imports from other countries – for the rest of the year. May 8th marked Fish Dependence Day in Spain, about two months ahead of Fish Dependence Day for the … Read more
Mackerel’s been quite a hot topic over the past few months. You may remember last year’s “Mackerel Wars” between Iceland (and the Faroe Islands) and the EU. Unfortunately, Mackerel isn’t only overfished up north. The Commission recently reprimanded Spain for going over its 2010 allocated mackerel quota by 79% or 19,621 tons. The Spanish fleet’s … Read more
Total stated catch reduction of around 5% is highly insufficient to rectify current levels of overexploiting – according to scientists only 11 stocks are not overfished. Yesterday night the EU Council of Fisheries Ministers reached an agreement on the 2011 Total Allowable Catches (TAC) and quotas for the main fishing stocks exploited by the community … 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.
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