Nearly 30,000 people have urged the European Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner, Maria Damanaki, to prioritise the health of the marine environment in the reform of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). In a campaign OCEAN 2012 these people have submitted their signatures. Uta Bellion, director of the Pew Environment Group’s European Marine Programme and OCEAN2012 coordinator, said that from all over Europe people are urging Commissioner Damanaki to conserve valuable marine habitats and ensure the economic vitality of vulnerable coastal communities.
OCEAN2012 is proposing that access to fishery resources be based on a set of transparent criteria for sustainable fishing, which must include: more selective fishing methods, gears and practices that reduce unintentional catches of non-target species and lessen the impact on the marine environment; less energy consume vessels; working conditions should comply with relevant international standards.
Bellion told that the marine environment is a common good. It is in the public interest that activities which impact the state of marine fish stocks, and the larger ecosystem, are carefully managed, opined Bellion.
