News
May 29, 2009
Reactions: Encouraging, but still cause for caution
Swedish reactions to the ICES TAC advice for 2010 were guardedly positive, from NGOs as well as from the government administration. ”The important thing now, for the cod recovery to remain permanent, is for EU fisheries politicians to continue following the management plan”, said Svante Axelsson, Secretary General of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation … Continued
May 27, 2009
Commissioner urges ministers to act “head-on” on discards
In a sharp attack on the “wasteful” practice of discards, Commissioner Jorge Borg told the Union Ministers that “there is absolutely no excuse not to tackle this problem head-on now”. Stressing that “discards is an issue that I personally attach great importance to”, he added in a statement to the May Agriculture and Fisheries Council … Continued
May 27, 2009
FISH gets younger
The Fisheries Secretariat has admitted Youth and Nature Sweden (Fältbiologerna) as a new member organisation. “The Field Biologists” is an organisation founded in 1947 for youth up to 25 that offers activities ranging from bird watching to conservation campaigning. Its basis consists of a network of local clubs that ”make excursions to bird lakes and … Continued
May 22, 2009
EU Ministers in for new, deeper discussions on CFP Reform
The EU Council meeting on Monday, May 25, will provide Union ministers with a first opportunity to dig deeper into the Green Paper on CFP reform introduced a month ago. Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg will also make a statement to the Council on the controversial discards issue. This practice is “no longer acceptable” and the … Continued
May 22, 2009
Heat is on, fisheries sweat
Sixty-one of the world’s 64 Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) show a significant increase in surface temperature, a new UN report says. LMEs with the sharpest increase included the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Mediterranean. The change in surface temperature had led to smaller catches in some fisheries, and bigger in some other, according … Continued
May 22, 2009
WWF eco-labelling plan meets angry NGO protest
In a letter to leading WWF members, more than 70 environmental and human right groups are protesting the World Wildlife Fund’s plans to launch a certification label for aquaculture products. Claiming that the WWF rejects invitations to discuss the issue with representatives of affected communities in six different aquaculture regions across the world, the letter … Continued
May 22, 2009
Control Reform urgent, says EU Body
The EESC, a consultative body within the EU structure, has urged the Commission to press for reform of the fisheries control system without waiting for the debate on a new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2010. At a plenary session in May, the European Economic and Social Committee adopted an opinion which stressed the urgent … Continued
May 22, 2009
How to use the CFP – Download it here!
In an information drive accompanying the debate leading up to a new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2012, the European Commission has published a free User’s guide to the CFP. The guide, published in English, French and German, can be downloaded from the Internet, but also ordered from the EU bookshop.
May 14, 2009
Yellow Light for most Baltic cod
”OK – but caution!”, is the new WWF advise to Scandinavian customers lusting for cod from the East Baltic stock. In the fifth edition of the Swedish WWF Fish Guide, published simultaneously with similar local guides in Finland, Denmark and Norway, the red-listing was changed for the first time ever for the Eastern stock, while … Continued
May 12, 2009
Worries – and some hope – in Commission paper on 2010
Catch quotas have consistently been set at levels too high for the fish stocks to sustain, the European Commission noted as it released a consultation document outlining its views on how to set fishing possibilities in EU waters for 2010. In a press release, the Commission points out that slow progress has been made in … Continued