Europêche, the leading trade body representing the fishing industry in Europe, has hit back at claims in an article published in the Guardian on Thursday 10th of March that states that a leaked European Commission plan concerning the Baltic Sea would open the gates to overfishing. The article claims that that cod in the Baltic may become extinct and that some fish stocks are in such a poor condition that scientists are even unable to carry out a proper evaluation.
The European Commission has presented proposals for new conservation measures in European waters. So far, these have been decided at EU level through a long adoption process that has frequently resulted in regulation that is cumbersome, complex and often contradictory.
Australian fishing company Austral Fisheries, producers of Glacier 51 toothfish and Skull Island prawns, chose today, Sustainable Seafood Day Australia 2016, to announce that they have become the world’s first carbon-neutral seafood business.
Members of Europêche today met DG MARE director general Joao Aguiar Machado to express their concerns over the current negotiations regarding possible restrictions on bottom trawling in the deep sea which could see a ban from 800m introduced, even for already regulated areas in international waters.
In an open letter to the Boston Globe, Shannon Eldredge and Niaz Dorry of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance have stated that the fishing fishing industry is becoming one ‘beset with corruption,’ and have pointed to the case of Carlos Rafael who was arrested recently after a sting by the tax authorities.
Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington has accused Dr. Geoff Shester, California campaign director for Oceana, of ignoring science to pursue a pre-arranged agenda.
Ireland’s fishing industry has erupted in anger after Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney signed a new Statutory Instrument designed to derail the recent High Court decision that had discredited the system of penalty points applied to fishing vessels, shunting the issue back into the the spotlight.
The NFFO is offering to provide assistance for UK fishermen who have been told that their under 10 metre licences will be capped as DEFRA attempts to reduce the under 10 metre fleet’s latent capacity.
A call by Greenpeace for the British retailers to stop buying seafood originating from the northern Barents Sea contrasts with a report by Seafish that paints a very different picture.
With small scale fishing constituting more than 80% of Black Sea and Mediterranean fishing fleets, a conference to examine the future of these regions takes place in Algiers next week, organised by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Department.
ADS
