Reacting to the EU’s draft guidelines for trade talks, Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong stated that there cannot be ‘fairer shares’ for fishing communities if existing reciprocal access is maintained.
As the seventh anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the coast of Japan on 11th March 2011 approaches, a group of fishermen has been working to revive one of Tohoku's key industries. The most powerful earthquake ever to hit Japan resulted in gigantic tsunami waves that tore coastal towns and villages apart, carrying ships inland and washing debris out to sea.
The NFFO has highlighted the problem of the distorting effect that devolution is having on UK fisheries management, claiming that the issue is having a distorting effect with fisheries management decisions being compromised by politics. The NFFO states that the fishing industry cannot thrive until fisheries management is depoliticised.
The MMO has announced it has suspended a marine licence for dredging and disposal of materials off the coast of Devon.
Fishing businesses in the Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea are making record profits, thanks to a solid recovery of stocks such North Sea cod. According to the European Commission, this is a sign that the CFP focus on sustainable fishing is paying off.
The announcement yesterday by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that the fisheries agreement concluded between the EU and Morocco is not applicable to Western Sahara and to its adjacent waters has come as a blow to European operators, as around 94% of the catches under the agreement take place in those waters, According to Europêche, this decision disregards the importance of the agreement for the fisheries sector.
Switching the old system of weekly catch allowances for whole-year quotas has opened up a whole new world for Swedish fishermen, according to SFPO chairman Peter Olsson. He also commented that the trawler fleet is under assault from Sweden’s Greens, as green NGOs strive to out-do each other in demonstrating their green values in the run-up to elections later this year.
European fishing industry representatives have told DG Mare at a meeting that workable measures that can realistically be applied need to be adopted – as has not been the case with the Landing Obligation.
Speaking at a Pew-organised event examining overfishing in EU waters, Europêche president Javier Garat has warned that the European fishing industry is facing a combination of challenges that amount to a perfect storm.
The Joint EU-Morocco Commission of Fishing Professionals, which formalised its constitution last Friday in Dakhla (Morocco), has warned of the negative socio-economic impacts for both parties of an unfavourable decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in relation to the current fishing protocol between the EU and Morocco.