News
November 28, 2008
Sweden and Denmark to launch no-fishing zone to save cod
In a ”historic” move, Sweden’s and Denmark’s Ministers for Fisheries have decided on a no-fishing zone in the Kattegat. There was no set date for the ban, but Axel Wennblad, Director General of the Swedish Board of Fisheries, said the “extremely gratifying” step would be implemented “as soon as possible”. “The plan is necessary in … Continued
November 27, 2008
Critical subsidies report summarised in English
In a highly critical report earlier in November, Sweden’s Auditor General described her government’s support to the fishing industry as “artificial breathing”. A summary of the report is now available in English, the full report to be presented in translation in late January.
November 26, 2008
EU Parliament highlights discards
Responding to the EU Commission’s latest cod recovery plan, debated in the Council earlier in November, the European Parliament chose to emphasise the issue of discards. MEPs called for all cod caught to be landed, rather than discarded, so as to enable proper scientific evaluation of stocks. They also agreed to the inclusion of the … Continued
November 26, 2008
Commission launches roadmap on spatial planning
Calling it ”a new tool to address the challenges emerging from the growth in competing uses of the sea”, the EU Commission has adopted a “roadmap on maritime spatial planning”. In order to realise the growth potential of EU maritime sectors in a sustainable way, the roadmap will facilitate the development of spatial planning for … Continued
November 26, 2008
New round of consultations on aquaculture certification
Renewed consultations with EU stakeholders will follow the recent tentative rejection of a FAO draft of technical guidelines on aquaculture certification. During the October meeting of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) Aquaculture Sub-Committee held at Puerto Varas, Chile, concerns were voiced surrounding the adoption of the draft Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification submitted by … Continued
November 21, 2008
Cod recovery plan adopted
A new recovery plan for the cod stocks of the North Sea and surrounding waters was agreed on as the EU Fisheries Ministers met in Brussels on December 18-19. “We have used as a model the recovery plan for the Baltic Sea, which has proved to be successful,” said Sweden’s Minister of Agriculture Eskil Erlandsson, … Continued
November 21, 2008
New Report on MPA’s in Europe/USA
A European environmentalist group and its US partner hope a joint report on marine protected areas will have impact on the EU review of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) next year. Presenting the report published by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and its American partner The Natural Resources Defense Council(NRDC), IEEP spokesman Jonathan … Continued
November 19, 2008
NE Atlantic fisheries still a threat, NGO’s say
”Too little, too late” was the Seas At Risk network’s comment on the outcome of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission’s (NEAFC) recent annual meeting. Seas At Risk has been an observer at the annual meetings of the NEAFC, an organisation of five contracting parties, since 2002. At the UN in 2006, high seas fishing … Continued
November 19, 2008
Certification of Baltic herring moves on
The assessment of the Western Baltic spring spawning herring fishery for a future MSC certification is now entering the information gathering phase, and meetings to that end will be held in Rostock, Germany, December 9-10. The certification body, Moody Marine Ltd, added in the announcement that “a key purpose of this stage is to collect … Continued
November 18, 2008
Extinction threats on the rise, comparison says
A comparison of the IUCN Red Lists of 1996 and 2007 show a considerable rise in the number of threatened fish species, a lecturer at a recent FishBase symposium in Stockholm said. Dr. Rainer Froese, FishBase coordinator at the University of Kiel, said there had been a 77 per cent increase in the total of … Continued