Oceana calls on commissioner Costas Kadis to develop a strong Ocean Deal
Press Release Date: November 6, 2024
Location: Brussels
Contact:
Natividad Sánchez | email: nsanchez@oceana.org | tel.: +34 687 598 529
In response to the parliamentary hearing of Costas Kadis as EU commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Vera Coelho, Deputy Vice President for Oceana in Europe, stated:
We congratulate Commissioner-designate Costas Kadis on successfully navigating his hearing in the European Parliament. He demonstrated his extensive science and policy background, and showed a solid understanding of the need to safeguard the ocean – because prosperous fishing communities and a thriving blue economy are entirely dependent on a healthy, abundant, and biodiverse ocean.
Oceana looks forward to working closely with Commissioner Kadis and his team to develop a strong Ocean Deal, with the necessary measures to deliver a healthy ocean, as the necessary basis without which a thriving fishing sector and blue economy cannot exist. The EU cannot afford to present merely a weak statement of intentions at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice in June 2025, when we still have overfishing in the EU, when destructive fishing plagues 90% of the area designated for marine habitat protection, and when the EU is so dependent on seafood imports, some of which are nearly untraceable and come from countries with a high risk of illegal fishing.
Commissioner Kadis will need to drive the agenda of the EU in order to rebuild abundant fish populations, effectively protect marine ecosystems, and ensure a level playing field for fishers. He gave strong answers on the need to fully implement and to evaluate the Common Fisheries Policy, and referred to the responsibility of Member States in allocating quotas in a more transparent and fair way to small-scale fishers. He also mentioned the need for better labelling of seafood, especially to avoid imports of overfished or illegally fished seafood. However, he did not sufficiently tackle the issue of destructive fishing practices, such as bottom trawling, in Europe’s marine protected areas. He also did not address the need to disclose EU ownership of fishing vessels worldwide.
As expected, most of the questions addressed to the Commissioner focused on fisheries, demonstrating the definitive separation of the environment and ocean portfolios. Oceana regrets this split, which further cements the siloed approach between environment and fisheries. We trust that Commissioner Kadis will make every effort to work with all the relevant colleagues in the Commission to ensure that ocean-related policies are coherent and put the health of the ocean at the basis of a blue economy that works for people and the planet alike.
# # #
