The Pew Environment Group today encouraged the European Commission to implement significant reforms to EU deep-sea fishing regulations. The Commission is preparing to release its deep-sea access regime proposal before the end of the first quarter of 2012.
In a new policy analysis, “Out of the Abyss: Transforming EU Rules to Protect the Deep Sea,” which summarizes current problems in the oversight and control of EU deep-sea fisheries in the northeast Atlantic, Pew offers viable solutions to ensure the sustainability and protection of threatened deep-sea biodiversity.
Key reforms include:
• Phasing out the use of destructive bottom fishing practices and gear;
• Requiring impact assessments to be performed prior to permitting deep-sea fishing;
• Implementing area closures where deep-sea fishing is likely to cause harm to vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as cold-water corals and sponges; and
• Reducing bycatch (the capture of non-target wildlife) of deep-sea species and ending discarding.
“With one of the largest deep-sea fishing fleets in the world, the EU is in a unique position to assert global leadership in protecting vulnerable deep-sea species and ecosystems from the harmful impact of bottom fishing ,” said Matthew Gianni, deep sea policy adviser to the Pew Environment Group. “Commissioner Damanaki must stand strong in her beliefs and use this proposal as a means to phase out destructive fishing practices, such as deep-sea bottom trawling.”
Read the complete press release from The Pew Environment Group