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
Today is a final opportunity for MPs to prove that the UK can truly set a ‘gold standard’ for sustainable fisheries – protecting the UK’s valuable fish stocks for generations to come, according to the world’s largest ocean conservation organisation, Oceana. Ending overfishing is critical to securing the future livelihoods of those working in the … Read more
Oceana strongly supports the designation of the Scottish Government’s four possible Marine Protected Areas (pMPAs) of North‐east Lewis, Sea of the Hebrides, Shiant East Bank and Southern Trench. We agree with the Scottish Government and its statutory nature conservation advisers Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) that the sites meet … Read more
There are numerous studies and evidence that Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) are the most effective way of protecting the oceans (Lester and Halpern 2008, Edgar et al. 2014, Appolloni et al. 2017). A recent 2017 study2 undertook a new meta-analysis of previous studies and showed that the biomass of whole fish assemblages in marine … Read more
As a new round of negotiations between the UK and the EU begins this week, Oceana draws attention to the urgent need for a successful conclusion of the talks when it comes to fisheries. Due to the shared nature of ecosystems and fish populations, a deal on fisheries is essential not only to settle issues … Read more
The Fisheries Bill returns to the House of Lords on 22 June, and the UK government is still refusing to amend it to require sustainable fishing. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) namely refuses to include a legal duty in the bill to exploit fish populations in line with the best internationally … Read more
Oceana calls on the UK to protect at least 10% of UK seas in Highly Protected Marine Areas. At present, about 30% of UK seas are designated as Marine Protected Areas, but most are “paper parks” – protected only in name. With the UK government soon to release a review into Highly Protected Marine Areas … Read more
The EU-UK fisheries agreement negotiations are expected to start early in March and to be concluded and ratified by 1 July 2020 in order to allow enough time for determining catch limits and fishing quotas for the first year after the Brexit transition period. The future agreement would be unprecedented in scope and cover over … Read more
Oceana urges the EU and UK to commit to retain sustainable science-based management, high environmental standards and control of fishing activities in the negotiations for a bilateral fisheries agreement starting tomorrow. Fisheries is foreseen as one of the most controversial topics in the complex future relationship. While most of the awareness is focused on access … Read more
The UK government has revoked the legal duty to fish sustainably, at Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) in the new Fisheries Bill, despite their claims to the contrary. Oceana fears that unless amended the Fisheries Bill will make overfishing legal in the UK. Despite repeated promises by the UK Government not to renege on EU environmental … 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.
