News

December 18, 2012

North Sea cod recovery plan shelved?

Ministers agreed a roll-over of Black Sea catch limits today, despite continued problems with illegal fishing of turbot. They also came to an agreement that essentially scraps the 2008 cod recovery plan which is widely judged to be ineffective.


November 30, 2012

Deep sea quotas set – business as usual at the Council

The Council has agreed TACs for deep sea stocks for the coming two years. While most quotas will be reduced next year, a lack of caution has been exercised for these vulnerable species. There was more good news for sharks though, for which no quotas were assigned.


November 29, 2012

Basic regulation compromise amendments agreed

The Fisheries Committee (PECH) has moved a step closer to finalising its position on the CFP reform basic regulation. 104 compromise amendments have been agreed by the political groups on the Rodust (S&D, DE). The vote will take place on 18 December.


November 29, 2012

Fisheries Committee in European Parliament vote to change the Baltic cod management plan

PECH has voted in favour of two significant changes to the management plan, to allow gillnet fishing during the summer and also to drastically lower the fishing mortality target for the western cod stocks to F=0.25.


November 29, 2012

Over 800,000 people campaign to save the ocean

As of today, Thursday, November 29, 2012 over 838,120 people have signed a petition to stop wasteful discards.


November 27, 2012

Upcoming Council meeting will focus on deep sea fishing opportunities

The Council on 28-29 November will fix fishing opportunities for certain deep sea stocks for 2013 and 2014 (COM(2012)579). Discussions on the annual consultation between EU and Norway will also take place and the Danish delegation will brief the Council on the Norway pout stock.


November 23, 2012

EP charts a sustainable course

The European Parliament has voted yes to new Baltic salmon management plan, to ban shark finning and gave overwhelming support to the report from Isabella Lövin (Greens/EFA, Sweden) on the external dimension of the CFP.


November 20, 2012

Swedish television examines the Baltic salmon crisis

The flagship investigative journalism series “uppdrag granskning” from Swedish public broadcaster SVT1 will show a film on the collapse of the Baltic wild salmon population and the management failures that have caused the situation ahead of Thursday’s European Parliament plenary on the salmon management plan.


November 19, 2012

Balanced Harvesting – an alternative interpretation of selectivity

At a workshop in the European Parliament organised by Struan Stevenson (ECR, UK), the theory of balanced harvesting was discussed. Its proponents argue that fishing across a range of species, stocks and sizes could increase yields, address food security better than selectively avoiding juvenile fish and bycatch. However, they warn that the state of fish stocks and scientific research would need to be greatly improved before such a management system could be implemented.


November 15, 2012

”Stop bankrupting our oceans” – WWF and 150,000 people demand sustainable CFP

At the European Parliament on 6-8 November, WWF handed over their peition to Ulrike Rodust (S&D, DE), rapporteur for the European Parliament on the basic regulation of the CFP reform.