In the run up to the publication of the European Commission’s proposal for a reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) over 100 member groups of OCEAN2012 are engaging citizens across Europe in the second European Fish Week.
This year, the European Fish Week is celebrated from June 4th to 12th 2011, and OCEAN2012 member groups across Europe are inviting EU citizens to bear witness to the evidence of how the marine environment was healthier, how overfishing has changed this and how the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform is an opportunity to go Back to the Future.
In Poland, the European Fish Week will be celebrated by opening a photography exhibition titled Back to the Future, in the City Hall in Warsaw at Plac Bankowy, street 3/5. The exhibition’s grand opening will take place on June 6th at 13:00 in room 131 of the City Hall, and the photographs will be on display until 20th of June. Polish OCEAN2012 Members would like to invite everyone to this important event where photos of current state of Polish fisheries will be presented and compared to historical data, raising critical questions in the discussion of the issue of overfishing.
The exhibition’s grand opening in Warsaw will include a presentation from a renowned scientist, prof. Krzysztof Skóra, from the University of Gdansk Maritime Institute who will discuss fisheries policy and the importance of the conservation of the Baltic Sea ecosytem . A press conference for the media will follow. Invited guests include representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development , Members of Parliament (MP’s), Members of European Parliament (MEP’s) Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) involved in fisheries policy, and other institutions.
European Fish Week is a unique opportunity for everyone in Poland and across Europe to play their part in reforming the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). “During European Fish Week we will be collecting stories and evidence of the past richness of our seas and fishing communities and telling Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Marek Sawicki, that we want it back.” said Justyna Niewolewska, OCEAN2012 Coordinator for Poland. “The story of fishing is a tale of over-exploitation of the seas that has reduced their richness and productivity and so reduced the opportunity for fishing communities. The reform of the Common Fisheries Policy can reverse this. ”
In living memory, there were more fish, more boats, more fishers and more fisheries dependent communities in Europe. Due to continued overfishing, most EU fish stocks are now overfished, many of them outside safe biological limits. Today the commercial fishery for bluefin tuna in northern Europe is closed because the fish are gone, due to overfishing.
But it was not always like this. In the not so distant past, fish stocks were healthier and fishing communities were wealthier. “We are very encouraged by the interest in the second European Fish Week,” said Uta Bellion, director of the Pew Environment Group’s European Marine Programme and OCEAN2012 Coalition Coordinator. “The European Commission will soon publish its proposal for a reformed Common Fisheries Policy; this is an important moment for OCEAN2012 member groups to demonstrate that people all over Europe want to see overfishing stopped. During Fish Week we are calling on EU fisheries ministers to deliver a Common Fisheries Policy that prioritises the marine environment as a way of safeguarding fisheries dependent communities.”
There is growing evidence of Europe’s lost fisheries:
- In 1900s the average length of cod landed in the North Sea was 1-1.5 meters, and the average age was 8-10 years – today the average length of landed cod is 50 centimetres and the average age is less than three years;
- In 1949 the bluefin tuna fishery in the northern Europe peaked with an annual catch of 5,485 tonnes – today there is no more commercial fishery for bluefin tuna in northern Europe;
- In the 1640s there were 700-800 vessels in the Dutch herring fleet with 11,000- 12,000 crew with an annual catch of about 50,000 tons – today one trawler with a crew of 10-11 men could catch the same amount.
Get involved! For a list of Fish Week activities in Europe, see the links below.