News
December 14, 2011
EU fisheries subsidies evaluation shows that they contribute to overcapacity
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) today strongly criticised the use of subsidies in sustaining overcapacity when publishing its investigation entitled “have EU measures contributed to adapting the capacity of the fishing fleets to available fishing opportunities?” The court investigated spending in seven member states (Denmark, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the UK) and found that four had set inadequate targets for reducing their fleet, leading to overcapacity, which the court identify as one of the main reasons behind the “failure of the CFP”.
December 9, 2011
TFCs discussed at hearing in Brussels
At a meeting in which Danish and Norwegian experiences of ITQ systems were presented, the consensus from four MEPs was that such a system of quota allocation should not be mandatory but may be a useful tool to reduce capacity if stringent safeguards are implemented.
December 7, 2011
Multi-Species Plan for the Baltic Sea
At the end of November, the Expert Working Group of the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), an advisory body to the European Commission on fisheries management, met in Edinburgh to establish an initial work plan for an impact assessment for the Multi-Species plan for the Baltic Sea. The plan is suggested to include the Baltic sprat, herring and cod.
December 4, 2011
IUU regulation reviewed by IEEP
On December 2, the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) published an independent review of the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing regulation, which was adopted in the European Union (EU) in September 2008, and came into force more than one year later. Although it continues to be heavily debated —inside and outside the EU— an official review of the legislation has not yet been produced by the European Commission.
December 2, 2011
Commission proposals on new fisheries fund launched
Today, the European Commission published its proposals for the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The subsidy package will run from 2014–2020 and is valued at €6.5 billion, a slight increase on the previous fund.
December 1, 2011
Baltic regionalisation discussed at hearing
Yesterday, a hearing on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region took place. Stakeholders, mainly from the Swedish civil service, met to review the two years since the strategy was initiated under the Swedish EU Presidency, and discuss what the future holds.
November 30, 2011
Scandinavian countries say ‘YES’ to a discard ban: first step to a complete ban in the EU?
On November 23, Ministers of Fisheries in Sweden, Denmark and Norway signed a joint declaration to end the discarding of dead fish in the Skagerrack. The agreement will come into force on 1 January 2013 at the latest.
November 28, 2011
Seminar on Low Impact Fisheries – considerations for the new CFP
On November 22, Seas At Risk (SAR) organised a seminar ‘Making the CFP work for Low Impact Fisheries’ at the European Parliament in Brussels. The meeting took place just before the official SAR launch of their new report on how to integrate Low Impact Fisheries (LIF) into the new Common Fishery Policy (CFP).
November 25, 2011
Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Commission files a case against Poland
Yesterday, the European Commission filed a case against Poland for failure to introduce a strategy for the protection of the Baltic Sea, as part of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
November 22, 2011
EU-Morocco Agreement gets a ‘go ahead’ from the Fisheries Committee
Despite earlier recommendations by the Budget and Development Committees in the European Parliament to reject the extension of the EU- Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement, the vote in the Fisheries Committee (PECH) today approved the extension.