News
December 23, 2010
Carp in Ice is nice
Actresses Magdalena Rózczka and Julia Pietrucha, along with chef Robert Maklowicz, will join Klub Gaja as celebrity ambassadors in this year’s “Carp is still alive” campaign to stop pre-Christmas cruelty to this popular holiday treat in Poland. “Carp is still alive” is one of the oldest consumer targeted campaigns of Klub Gaja, an environmental organization … Continued
December 19, 2010
FISH Workshop: Thinking out of the box on affecting public opinion
To put work on fisheries issues in perspective in Poland, and to learn from other examples, FISH organised a December Best Practice Workshop “Hitting the wall: how to affect public opinion on adversarial issues” at the Sea Fisheries Institute (MIR) in Gdynia, Poland. The workshop was attended by 23 people, representing 17 Polish NGO groups. … Continued
December 18, 2010
Screeching halt to mackerel talks
Talks on quota distribution between the EU, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands have broken down completely this month, and some now see a “mackerel war” brewing. The talks aimed at securing a joint total catch level for mackerel in the north Atlantic have come to a screeching halt in December, resulting in great frustration … Continued
December 18, 2010
UK quota distribution questioned
A recent legal briefing on the UK quota distribution system, where allotment rights can be handed over to Fish Producer Organisations, shows that the arrangement is open to judicial challenge. The UK has 12 percent of the EU’s landings and one of the largest exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the EU. For much of the … Continued
December 16, 2010
Governments, industry happy with Council outcome
While environmentalists to various degrees greeted Wednesday’s Council decision on TACs for most EU fish stocks with thumbs determinedly down, governments and sector lobbyists scrambled to claim success. “The UK has secured an agreement to a complete review of the controversial cod recovery plan for 2011, including current days at sea restrictions”, reported British Fisheries … Continued
December 15, 2010
Long day’s journey into early morning conclusion for Fisheries ministers
The EU Council early Wednesday morning reached “unanimous” agreement on 2011 TACs for most stocks under management, allowing much smaller reductions of cod quotas west of the British Isles than the Commission and scientific advice had suggested. For the faltering cod stocks in the Kattegat, the Skagerrak and the North Sea, however, the Council’s 3 … Continued
December 14, 2010
Survival up for Swedish eels
A recent evaluation shows that the number of eels removed by Swedish fishermen has decreased by almost 30 percent since strict conservation measures were enforced in 2007, the Swedish Board of Fisheries claims. The bad state of the eel in Swedish waters has been obvious for many years. Millions of eel migrated up the Göta … Continued
December 9, 2010
Council meeting may be turning-point – or milestone
With TACs for most stocks under management in EU waters – and some of the most threatened stocks – up for a vote, the Council meeting on 13-14 December may be a decisive moment in a tug-of-war over sustainable fisheries between Commissioner Maria Damanaki and some dominant fishing powers that has slowly been building up … Continued
December 8, 2010
New EU-Norway accord to fight discards
The EU and Norway have reached agreement on next year’s catch quotas and fishing rules for common waters that includes extended TACs for fishermen willing to accept onboard surveillance to bring down discards. Trials with extended landing quotas for fishermen who agree to onboard documentation that no discards are made, including camera surveillance, are already … Continued
December 7, 2010
OCEAN2012 going for 200
Just one and a half year after FISH and four other NGOs launched the OCEAN2012 coalition dedicated to wrestling EU fisheries into a more sustainable direction, the membership has passed 100 organisations. Natuurpunt, the largest Belgian NGO working on the protection of nature, was the 100th organisation to join the coalition, with Kalipso of Mauritius … Continued