News
July 16, 2008
Adopted fuel emergency measures contradicts long-term policies
On 15 July, the Fisheries Council adopted an emergency package to tackle the fuel crisis in the fisheries sector, providing an extra €600 million in support of the European fishing industry. According to the Commission, the current crisis in the fishing sector is caused by falling fish prices, delays in reducing the size of the … Continued
July 4, 2008
Mixed outcome at Fisheries Council
Environmental groups welcome the Fisheries Council’s decision on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fisheries, but regret that no precautionary measures to freeze the footprint of deep water fisheries have been adopted. The much debated increase in fuel subsidies was regrettably not discussed at the Fisheries Council’s meeting 23-24 June 2008. Regulation on Illegal, Unreported and … Continued
July 2, 2008
The Kattegat cod stock probably even lower than calculated
The Kattegat cod stock is estimated to be at its lowest level since 1971. The biomass of reproducing fish has been reduced by as much as 95%. There are no signs of recovery and since the year 2000 this stock has been considered by ICES to be outside of safe biological limits. This is concluded … Continued
June 27, 2008
Situation for cod still troublesome
Scientists from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) announced today that the situation for the cod stock continues to be problematic. The advice from ICES shows that the cod stock is overfished in almost all EU waters due to high levels of discards and overexploitation. According to ICES, the situation for … Continued
June 24, 2008
European Commission open for harmful fuel subsidies
Fishermen in several Member States are pressing their governments for additional public aid to help with rising fuel costs. Fuel for the fisheries sector is already heavily subsidized and this is a controversial issue. To tackle the fuel crisis the European Commission has agreed in principle on the contents of an emergency package of measures. … Continued
May 23, 2008
ICES advice
Today, ICES’ Advisory Committee (ACOM) published their advice regarding the exploitation of the Baltic Sea fish stocks in 2009. FISH has made a summary of the ICES advice regarding the two Baltic cod stocks, which can be found under hot topics.
May 20, 2008
Polish Ministry of Agriculture announces cod fishing ban for Polish fishermen, starting 22 May
Polish fishing vessels larger than 12 meters will not be fishing for cod in the Baltic Sea this summer. The Minister of Agriculture, Marek Sawicki, signed a legally binding order which limits cod fishing activities from 22 May until 30 September. Kazimierz Plocke, the Polish Vice-Minister of Agriculture, released this information at a press conference … Continued
May 19, 2008
NGO fisheries Workshop in Warsaw
On 8-9 May, FISH organised a workshop in Warsaw, Poland, to address current NGO work efforts with fisheries in the Baltic Sea. The programme of the workshop included: Discussions on strengthening and broadening the Swedish-Polish and the regional cooperation on marine and fisheries issues. Information-sharing about ongoing and planned activities and current fisheries policy issues. … Continued
May 16, 2008
Swedish Board of Fisheries suggests ban on high grading
In the struggle against high grading the Swedish Board of Fisheries has put forward a proposal to ban the discarding of fish that is suitable for landing. As with fisheries world wide, discarding of unwanted fish is one of the main problems plaguing Swedish fisheries. Each year, huge amount of fish is thrown over board … Continued
May 12, 2008
Parsêta River Clean-Up 2008
On May 10, 2008, FISH was invited to the Parsêta River Clean-Up 2008 event in Zabrowie near the coastal city of Kolobrzeg. Parsêta River flows into the Baltic Sea and is one of the most important habitats for salmon in Poland. The river clean up was arranged as a part of the Agreement for Parsêta, … Continued