News

February 19, 2015

New roadmap for MSFD descriptor 3.3

ICES hosted a workshop on Descriptor 3 under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Particular emphasis was made to finalise the advice for indicators under descriptor 3.1 and 3.2 and to establish a roadmap for how to move forward with Descriptor 3.3.


February 10, 2015

North Sea multiannual management plan open for public consultation

Today the European Commission opened a public consultation on the development of a regulation establishing a multi-annual plan for the management of North Sea demersal fisheries.


January 29, 2015

Provisional political agreement on the omnibus regulation reached

The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement today on the implementation of the landing obligation and the so called omnibus regulation. The agreement was made during the second informal trilogue meeting held on the issue.


January 26, 2015

Baltic Sea mutiannual plan discussed at Council

The proposed multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea was discussed in a public exchange of view at yesterday’s Council meeting. During the meeting the Commission also took the time to brief the Council. The proposed multiannual plan includes stocks of cod, herring and sprat


January 26, 2015

Fisheries priorities under Latvian EU presidency

Last week the Fisheries Committee exchanged views with Jānis Dūklavs , Latvian Minister of Agriculture, on the priorities during the Latvian Presidency for the first half of 2015.


December 18, 2014

Motion to reject Baltic discard ban plan failed

A move to reject the Baltic discard ban plan because of a reduction of the minimum landing size of Baltic cod failed to gain enough support in the European Parliament.


December 17, 2014

Fishing opportunities for 2015 – still along way to go to end overfishing

Fisheries Ministers yesterday evening agreed on fishing opportunities for 2015 for the main commercial species in the Northeast Atlantic. An agreement that did not follow scientific advice or end overfishing in all cases.


December 15, 2014

Could bottom trawling be one of the factors behind the skinny Baltic cod?

A new study correlates smaller sized fish to bottom trawling in heavily trawled areas. Scientists have previously presumed that fish that who escaped and did not get caught in the trawler became skinny due to hunger, this new study indicates that this is not the case instead the study points towards altered food sources to be the cause.


December 15, 2014

Omnibus delay likely after negotiations break down

The first attempt to reach agreement on the omnibus regulation failed, as Council and Parliament could not agree on a number of issues. It is highly unlikely that the regulation will be adopted before the introduction of the discard ban begins on 1 January 2015.


December 5, 2014

Snapshots from Marine Centre seminar

Marine Centre in Simrishamn invited to a one-day conference to discuss current issues facing the Baltic Sea ecosystem. With focus on marine litter, ecosystem services in coastal areas and the problems associated with pharmaceuticals reaching the sea.