Saving Seafood

EU fuel fight ignites as WTO subsidies negotiations enter final week

July 12, 2021 — Daniel Voces, the managing director of the European Union’s primary fishing industry advocacy group, Europêche, believes members of the World Trade Organization will reach a deal on curbing illegal fishing subsidies this week.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has pleaded with negotiators in Geneva, Switzerland, to come to an agreement before the deadline for negotiations arrives on 15 July. Negotiators are currently considering a draft version of an accord, but differences remain due to sparring over exemptions for developing nations as well as fuel subsidy definitions and enforcement mechanisms.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ICCAT lowers catch limit, reduces FADs for bigeye tuna

November 29, 2019 — At its annual meeting earlier this week, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas took steps to reduce fishing effort for bigeye tuna.

The regional fisheries management organization lowered the total allowable catch for bigeye tuna in 2020 and 2021 from 62,500 metric tons (MT) to 61,500 MT, and reduced the allowed maximum number of fish aggregating devices (FADs) from 500 to 350 in 2020 and to 300 2021. It also implemented a FAD fishing closure period for the entire Atlantic area for two months in 2020 and three months in 2021. In addition, ICCAT increased coverage by its observer program from 5 percent to 10 percent and moved to develop minimum standards for electronic monitoring.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

EU reaches agreement on deep-sea fisheries

July 5, 2016 — A consensus has been reached by the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission regarding how to best protect deep-sea fish, sponges and corals while also preserving the viability of the European fishing industry.

This latest agreement updates the previous EU rules placed upon deep-sea fisheries – which were last amended back in 2003 – bringing them up to par with the sustainability goals laid out in the reformed Common Fisheries Policy.

“I am glad that an agreement was reached today. As Commissioner in charge of both fisheries and the protection of the environment, I believe that we have achieved a balanced compromise that will protect our deep-sea environment and deep-sea fish stocks while finally putting an end to the uncertainty faced by European fishermen looking to run a successful and sustainable business,” said EU Commissioner Karmenu Vella in a prepared statement.

Among the provisions applied in the agreed upon text stipulates that fishers may only target deep-sea fish in areas where they have fished in the past (their so-called ‘fishing footprint’), thereby ensuring that pristine environments remain untouched. Moreover, trawls below 800 meters will be banned completely in EU waters, and areas with vulnerable marine environments (VMEs) will be closed to bottom fishing below 400 meters, according to the EU; to further protect VMEs, fishers will also have to report how many deep-sea sponges or corals they catch and move on to other fishing grounds in case a certain maximum amount has been reached.

Organizations such as Europêche have come forward criticising the ban on 800 meter trawls, arguing that the measure lacks scientific basis.

“According to Europeche the ban, agreed yesterday by Parliament, the Council and the European Commission is arbitrary and only responds to political interests and not to real environmental threats. The ban is included in the regulation of deep-sea fisheries agreed upon yesterday,” said the group in a statement.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Europêche hits back at Pew response

November 23, 2015 — In a further letter to Pew, Javier Garat, President of Europêche and Pim Vasser, President of EAPO, said: “It is disappointing that your response fails to address the issues that we have raised. We drew attention to the startling divergence between the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) view and Pew’s claims about fishing pressure and the state of the stocks off North Western Europe.”

Just last week an initial open letter to Pew, Europêche accused the report of making the assertion that fishing in pursuit of food and profit off North West Europe in recent decades has dramatically expanded.

Read the full story at World Fishing & Aquaculture

Fresh exchanges in international war of words over fishing

November 23, 2015 — An environmental giant has hit back after being accused of making “misleading and untrue” statements about the fishing industry in order to influence policy-makers.

Pew Charitable Trusts insists there is still a major problem with over-fishing in EU waters, pointing to recent data showing mortality rates are above the levels required by the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

But industry body Europeche, which last week published an open letter attacking Pew over a controversial report – Turning the Tide: Ending Over-fishing in North Western Europe – says the pressure group’s response has failed to address the issues it raised.

Pew’s report claimed fishing in north-west Europe had expanded rapidly in recent decades, and that calls by scientists and environmentalists to reduce it had been ignored. It also said many of the region’s fish stocks had collapsed.

Read the full story at The Press and Journal

EU fishing sector accuses Pew of knowingly publishing misinformation

November 19, 2015 — The following is an excerpt from a story originally published on November 18 by Undercurrent News:

European fisheries industry body Europeche has issued an open letter to Pew Charitable Trusts, warning that statements which are “demonstrably untrue and contrary to scientific opinion” can cause damage.

Javier Garat, Europeche president, pointed to the Pew report ‘Turning the Tide: Ending

Overfishing in North Western Europe’ as containing such misleading inofrmation.

The report makes the assertion that:

  • Fishing in recent decades, in pursuit of food and profit, off North West Europe has dramatically expanded
  • Calls by scientists and environmentalists to reduce fishing pressure have been ignored
  • Many fish stocks collapsed throughout the region
  • The reformed CFP should prove a successful first step in restoring and maintaining the health of the fisheries and fish stocks

The unambiguous view of the scientific community has been clearly stated, most recently at the State of the Stocks Seminar in Brussels, said Garat, quoting Eskild Kirkegaard, chair of the ICES advisory committee:

“Over the last ten to fifteen years, we have seen a general decline in fishing mortality in the Northeast Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. The stocks have reacted positively to the reduced exploitation and we’re observing growing trends in stock sizes for most of the commercially important stocks.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News 

European fishing body takes aim at environmental group

November 14, 2015 — A European fishing body has accused an environmental pressure group of making “misleading and untrue” statements” about the industry in an attempt to influence policy-makers.

The open letter from Europeche – whose members include the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation – is addressed to the Pew Charitable Trusts, which earlier this year published a report called Turning the Tide: Ending Over-fishing in North Western Europe.

“That report contained a number of statements which are demonstrably untrue and contrary to scientific opinion,” Europeche president Javier Garat said yesterday.

He added: “The motives for Pew to publish misleading and untrue statements remain obscure, but this is not a matter of misinterpretation of data or different opinion.

Read the full story at The Press and Journal