News
April 17, 2013
First EU discard ban approved by European Parliament
The proposed discard ban in the Skagerrak, a body of water between the North and Baltic seas, will lead to vessels being obliged to land all fish caught and count these against quotas. These measures will apply to 35 species , will be controlled by a mandatory automated CCTV system, and will apply to vessels of any national flag operating in these waters. The ban will the phased in from 2014-2016.
April 9, 2013
Join the Race for the Baltic!
FISH, Coalition Clean Baltic, Oceana and other stakeholders in the region have come together in a call for action to improve practices and protection in the Baltic Sea. The targets are there; now we have to meet them!
April 5, 2013
Chinese fleet accused of gross misreporting
In a new article academics have sought to re-evaluate the catches of the Chinese distant-water fleet during 2000-2011. They claim that the official figures provided to the FAO represent a mere 9% of their actual catch, and the revised estimate of 4.6 million tonnes per year of fish caught should instead be valued at close to €9 billion per year.
March 25, 2013
EU decision on fish subsidies may pose risk to global negotiations
Today, some Members of the European Parliament and Member States are in favour of bringing back subsidies for construction of new vessels and modernisation measures as part of the new EU fund for fisheries and maritime affairs. This would be contradictory to the UN Rio+20 agreement on subsidies and could harm global negotiations in the WTO.
March 25, 2013
ENVI Committee votes in favour but PECH Committee delays vote
On March 21, 2013 the ENVI Committee voted in favour (58 to 1) of a deep sea trawling ban at depths below 200 m. Unfortunately, the PECH Committee delayed their discussions because of an intervention by the industry as little as 12 hours before they were to meet. This delay tactic enables the deep-sea fishing industry’s desire to weaken or destroy the regulation.
March 22, 2013
FISH hosts third Capacity Building Workshop for Polish NGOs
This week FISH hosted the third workshop on Capacity Building for Polish NGOs. This workshop focused on the Integration of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) with wider marine issues: The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP).
March 21, 2013
Subsidies move into the CFP spotlight
The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), the multibillion euro fund which provides money to Member States and the fishing industry, is becoming the focus of political debate on the CFP reform as the basic regulation package has moved into the trialogue negotiations phase. The proposal is currently being discussed by both Council and the European Parliament. An agreement is expected later this year, with the fund to be operational from 2014-2020.
March 15, 2013
Catch share animation produced
The animation entitled “who owns the fish?” explores catch shares, and is critical of the system as it has led to access to publically owned resources belonging “to a number of private individuals who have traded, bought and sold these rights in unregulated markets….and has cut out thousands of smaller-scale fishermen.”
March 14, 2013
USA to reap $31 billion and 500,000 jobs through rebuilding fish stocks
The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) has evaluated the results of the American change to fisheries management in 1996, in which overfished stocks were to be rebuilt according to the Bmsy principle and scientific advice adhered to. So far, the benefits have been significant with both stocks and revenue growing quickly, and are set to continue.
March 11, 2013
Lack of selectivity leads to fishery closure in the Skagerrak
The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) closed off an area in the Skagerrak from fishing. A large proportion of juveniles were caught by a demersal trawler. This is the first time that Sweden has implemented a real-time closure in its waters.