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Earth Day, April 22, 2021:- As EU leaders gather for today’s Leaders Summit on Climate, the Our Fish campaign called on the EU and member states to incorporate protection of the ocean – including the ending of overfishing – into EU and national climate commitments. 

“During today’s Leaders Climate Summit, EU leaders must act on the findings of the United Nations Second World Ocean Assessment (WOA II), launched yesterday, which finds that we are still failing to manage human use of coasts and the ocean, and there are increasing risks to food safety and security, human health, coastal safety and other key ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration”, said Our Fish Programme Director Rebecca Hubbard. “Ending destructive fishing will prevent this risk to ecosystem and human health and should be pursued as a key climate action”.

Contacts:

Dave Walsh, Our Fish Communications Advisor, dave@our.fish, +34 691 826 76

Notes:

Leaders Summit on Climate, 22 April 2021

https://www.state.gov/leaders-summit-on-climate/

Launch of the Second World Ocean Assessment (WOA II), 21 April 2021

https://www.un.org/regularprocess/woa2launch?fbclid=IwAR2lD9i-nlPg9dda7LzfsiSzoq2HyMTrSvAS1pqZ0x423VVRjd7V4X0fBPA

https://www.un.org/regularprocess/sites/www.un.org.regularprocess/files/2011859-e-woa-ii-vol-i.pdf

About Our Fish

Our Fish is working to end overfishing and restore a healthy ocean ecosystem. By collaborating with others, and deploying robust evidence, we are calling for an end to overfishing as a critical and significant action to address the biodiversity and climate crisis. https://our.fish

More Robust Response Urgently Needed for Long Term Problems Facing Ocean Health, say NGOs 

Brussels, 17 March 2021:- The conclusion of the first post-Brexit trilateral negotiations over shared fish stocks in the North Sea between the EU, Norway and the UK has demonstrated some progress to end overfishing, but gives little cause to celebrate said Our Fish and ClientEarth today. The three Parties missed opportunities for joint rebuilding of North Sea cod, establishment of effective controls and monitoring of catches, and greater transparency.

The NGOs welcomed the setting of fishing limits at, or below the maximum advised by scientists for four out of six fish species. But they warned that a failure by all parties to stop overfishing in the North Sea overall, or to take action to prevent illegal discarding, continues to undermine the urgently needed progress to restore ocean health.

Our Fish and ClientEarth strongly recommend that fisheries management by all three parties must become more precautionary [1], especially where data are limited and compliance low, and more effectively safeguard healthy, resilient marine ecosystems [2], in order to minimise the dangers of biodiversity loss and climate chaos.

“While we welcome the agreement made by the EU, UK and Norway to follow the scientific advice for the majority of fishing limits for shared fish stocks in 2021, we remain perplexed as to why the UK did not more strongly advocate for a rapid rebuilding of the North Sea cod population, which is suffering from persistent overfishing, especially because its recovery could support a thriving coastal UK fishing community,” said Rebecca Hubbard, Our Fish Program Director.

“Setting fishing limits in line with scientific advice is crucial – but not enough unless everybody plays by the rules. In reality, while throwing dead fish back into the ocean is now largely illegal in the EU, it’s still happening at sea. To ensure actual catches are sustainable, the EU, Norway and the UK also need proper fisheries control and monitoring [3],” said Jenni Grossmann, Science and Policy Advisor at ClientEarth. “Turning a blind eye to illegal discards will lead to unsustainable catches at sea, even if fishing limits seem to follow the science on paper. Tools such as remote electronic monitoring can help fill the compliance gap.”

The EU, UK and Norway agreed to 2021 fishing limits for six jointly-managed North Sea species – cod, haddock, saithe, whiting, plaice and herring [4]. Total Annual Catches (TAC) for saithe, whiting, plaice and haddock were set at or below the maximum advice from scientists. However, Our Fish and ClientEarth called the setting of the limit for North Sea cod 8% above scientific advice “deeply concerning”, due to the long-term overfishing of this population and the three parties’ acknowledgement that illegal discarding poses an ongoing risk to the health of all fish populations. In addition, some of the herring TACs jeopardise the vulnerable Western Baltic Spring Spawning herring for which scientists advised zero catches.

 

Behind Closed Doors

Transparency of, and privileged industry influence to, the negotiations between the EU and third countries remain an issue of concern for NGOs. As in previous years, the EU Commission rejected NGO applications to officially join the EU delegation for the negotiations, suggesting that NGOs instead ask Member States to include them. However, while members of the fishing industry retain exclusive access to all Member State delegations, no Member State agreed to include civil society organisations. NGOs instead receive separate briefings from the Commission and UK delegation.

“The failure of the EU to grant NGOs equal access to these negotiations, while allowing the fishing industry carte-blanche involvement, is a blight on the otherwise improving EU reputation for fisheries management. We cannot have true transparency and accountability for setting fishing quotas if industry has an unquestioned place at the negotiating table, while civil society can only gain access at the whim of individual Member States. While Commissioner Sinkevičius has signalled support for equal stakeholder access going forward, Member States continue to refuse, and the issue remains unresolved,” said Ms Hubbard.

“The reality is that small-step improvements will not rebuild fisheries overnight – chronic overfishing and increasing impacts from climate change mean that the EU, Norway and the UK must all make extraordinary efforts to urgently transition to ecosystem-based management, if we are to restore ocean health and ensure sustainable fisheries help protect us from worsening climate change,” Hubbard concluded.

ENDS

Contacts:

Dave Walsh, Our Fish Communications Advisor, dave@our.fish, +34 691 826 764

Diane Vandesmet, ClientEarth Communications officer, dvandesmet@clientearth.org ; +32 493 41 22 89

Background:

In previous years, the EU and Norway normally agreed the annual fishing limits (Total Allowable Catches) for 17 shared stocks based on a long-term agreement. With the UK leaving the EU, these negotiations have become trilateral negotiations, and a new agreement has been formed to address the changes in access by the three parties. Six species are now shared between the EU, UK and Norway.

Bilateral negotiations are still taking place between the EU and UK to decide 2021 fishing limits for approximately 80 shared fish stocks. It is expected that these negotiations will continue for some weeks, and will be finalised in March.

A recent analysis of joint EU, Norwegian and UK fishing practices, published by Our Fish, demonstrates how for the last 20 years, Norway and the EU, including the UK, have consistently set annual fishing limits for shared stocks above scientific advice. On average, Total Allowable Catches (TACs) as part of the EU-Norway Agreement exceed scientific advice by an average of 11% between 2001 and 2020.

Ending the Blame Game Carousel: 20 Years of EU, Norway and UK Overfishing

https://our.fish/publications/ending-the-blame-game-carousel-20-years-of-eu-norway-and-uk-overfishing/

 

Notes:

[1] ClientEarth (2020). Caution! A TAC-Setter’s Guide to the ‘Precautionary Approach’. December 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/caution-a-tac-setter-s-guide-to-the-precautionary-approach/

ClientEarth (2020). How (not) to implement the ecosystem-based approach when setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs). December 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/how-not-to-implement-the-ecosystem-based-approach-when-setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs/

“Fisheries management under the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has to follow the ‘precautionary approach’. This means that uncertainty or a lack of knowledge or data cannot justify delaying or failing to take action to conserve fish stocks and the ecosystems they depend on. Decision-makers need to be more, not less, cautious when information is more limited.”

[2] ClientEarth (2020). How (not) to implement the ecosystem-based approach when setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs). December 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/how-not-to-implement-the-ecosystem-based-approach-when-setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs/

[3] ClientEarth (2020). Setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the context of the Landing Obligation. July 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs-in-the-context-of-the-landing-obligation/

ClientEarth (2020). (Lack of) catch documentation under the landing obligation and how exemptions may defeat rather than prove the rule. December 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/lack-of-catch-documentation-under-the-landing-obligation-and-how-exemptions-may-defeat-rather-than-prove-the-rule/

AGRIFISH Press Briefing: How EU Decisions On Fishing Quotas Will Set Tone for 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw783NtRdCg&feature=youtu.be This short 5 min presentation (starting at 15:35) visualises the risk that catch-based TACs pose in combination with illegal discards.

[4] AGREED RECORD OF FISHERIES CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION, NORWAY AND THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR 2021, 16 MARCH 2021,

https://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/international/agreements/norway

 

Brussels, Belgium – Thursday, 11 March

The EU Fisheries Control Coalition applauds the positive steps taken by the European Parliament towards more transparent fisheries and traceable seafood. With their vote in plenary this week, EU parliamentarians have called for all fishing vessels to report everything they catch, including sensitive and protected species, which will make data for over 49,000 EU vessels available for the first time. Further, EU vessels will be tracked through electronic monitoring tools, seafood available in the EU market will be digitally traceable from net to plate, and EU Member States will be required to report more transparently on their control measures.

At the same time, the decision to significantly backtrack on accurate reporting of seafood catches casts a dark shadow over the voting outcome, as up to 40% of catches (and up to 50% in the case of tuna) may now be omitted from the EU fleet’s records. This would undermine scientific data to evaluate the status of fish stocks, could render fisheries control efforts ineffective, and will put the last decade of progress for seafood sustainability and marine species’ recovery at serious risk – as the European Commission itself has warned.

On behalf of the The EU Fisheries Control Coalition, Marta Marrero Martin, Director of Ocean Governance at The Nature Conservancy said: “Today, MEPs displayed the courage needed to turn the tide on overfishing by voting to make Remote Electronic Monitoring mandatory on vessels that are at a high risk of not complying with the rules. This is unfortunately overshadowed by the vote to extend the so-called ‘margin of tolerance’ for fishers, which will allow up to four in ten fish to go missing from the records, signaling a huge blow for sustainability. MEPs and Member States must urgently reverse this course in their upcoming negotiations, while also going one step further by ensuring that cameras record the incidental catch of sensitive and protected species.”

Andrea Ripol, Fisheries Policy Officer at Seas At Risk said: “Today’s vote is a mixed bag for dolphins, seabirds and turtles across the EU. Even though the mandatory collection of data on incidental catches in logbooks is a bold and promising step to help reverse biodiversity loss, the rejection of Remote Electronic Monitoring for data collection on sensitive species undermines its effectiveness, as it is an essential tool to ensure the data is recorded accurately.”

Katrin Vilhelm Poulsen, Senior Seafood Policy Officer at WWF European Policy Office said: “As the EU imports the majority of its seafood, the introduction of digital traceability from sea to plate will bolster the EU’s fight against illegal fishing and lay the groundwork for providing clear information to European consumers. However, this milestone achievement in the fight against illegal fishing internationally is undermined by the parallel decision to legalise underreporting for European vessels.”

Vanya Vulperhorst, Campaign Director, Illegal fishing and Transparency at Oceana said: “We welcome the outcome that all EU vessels – including 49,000 small-scale vessels – will have to report their catches and track their location, and that Member States can no longer hide information about their control efforts from the public. But MEPs’ foolish vote in favour of fishers underreporting up to 40% of their catches risks reversing decades of recovering fish populations.”

Steve Trent, Executive Director at the Environmental Justice Foundation said: “More transparent reporting by EU Member States on their fisheries controls and abolishing their veto to publish fisheries information mean the EU can continue to be a pioneer in the effort for a transparent global fisheries sector. Yet, crucially, the giant misstep of allowing four in ten fish to go missing from the records must now urgently be remedied by MEPs and Member States in their upcoming negotiations.”

Positive outcomes from the European Parliament vote include:

• Fishing vessels of 12 metres length or more that are at high risk of discarding unwanted catches (a violation of the EU Common Fisheries Policy) will be required to use Remote Electronic Monitoring, including CCTV cameras.
• Seafood products will need to be digitally traceable from the point of catch to the point of retail, with the same requirements for products sourced from EU and non-EU countries.
• Thanks to more transparent reporting provisions, European citizens and decision makers will have more information on how EU Member States implement EU fishing rules and manage fisheries resources.
• All EU fishing vessels – including over 49,000 small-scale vessels – are required to have a location tracker and to report their catches.

The negative aspects include:

• The increased margin of error that fishers have to estimate their catches will allow up to 40% of caught seafood to go missing from the EU fleet’s records; in the case of tuna, even up to 50% of catches may now never be reported.
• The requirement of Remote Electronic Monitoring (including CCTV) on vessels to monitor and curb the bycatch of sensitive species, including dolphins, seals and seabirds, has been rejected.

With the European Parliament’s position on the fisheries Control Regulation now adopted, Members of the European Parliament, the representatives from EU Member States and the European Commission are scheduled to begin negotiations to finalise the future fisheries control system later this summer.

It is crucial that the gains secured for sustainable fishing and healthy seas in Wednesday night’s vote are maintained in the trilogue discussions. However, both MEPs and EU Member States must urgently remedy the dramatic increase in the margin fishers receive to estimate their catches. The European Commission has warned that the 40-50% of catches missing from fishers’ logbooks could jeopardise the recovery of fish stocks in European seas, putting the future of fisheries at risk and stands in stark contrast to the goals of the European Green Deal. It is now up to EU parliamentarians, EU Member States and the Commission to make sure the robustness of our fisheries control system will not be undermined by this giant misstep.

ENDS

The EU Fisheries Control Coalition – The Environmental Justice Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Oceana, Seas At Risk, and WWF, together with ClientEarth, The Fisheries Secretariat, Our Fish and Sciaena –  is working to ensure that fisheries management in the EU safeguards ocean health and marine life for generations to come.

Notes to editors: 

The fisheries Control Regulation is the cornerstone of how fisheries are controlled and monitored in the EU. This helps to ensure seafood is caught within sustainable limits and follows legal procedures, with direct impacts for Member States, fishers and consumers, as well as the health of marine ecosystems.

The current revision process of the Regulation offers opportunities to make fisheries management more sustainable, address the lack of transparency on how the EU fleet is regulated and, as a result, increase profits for the sector. In addition, a strong future Control Regulation is key to stopping illegal fishing activities, which hurt fishers operating within legal boundaries.

For further information:

Larissa Milo-Dale
EU Fisheries Control Coalition Communications Coordinator
Senior Communications Officer for Marine, WWF European Policy Office
lmilodale@wwf.eu
+32 483 26 20 86<

Brussels, Belgium – Friday, 5 February
In a mixed bag of voting outcomes, the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee (PECH) has called for more transparency around fisheries activities and traceability to seafood supply chains, while simultaneously weakening the existing rules for controlling EU fishing activities.

The Committee voted on a package of amendments to the EU fisheries control system, which have been under their voting consideration since last Monday. The result of the voting process is a significant number of loopholes that will make it more difficult to manage fisheries sustainably and make it easier for illegal catches to enter the EU market, putting the future of fisheries and marine health at risk.

In a move that signals a clear lack of ambition to improve at-sea monitoring and data collection, MEPs also failed to ensure that cameras will be placed on fishing vessels. By voting to retain a voluntary regime for their use – for which uptake has been extremely low – authorities will continue to be left without the high-quality fisheries and environmental data needed to ensure that EU fisheries are managed sustainably and conducted legally.

The positive outcomes from today’s vote on the EU fisheries Control Regulation − including on vessel tracking, catch reporting and sanctions − could mark a pivotal step to secure sustainable seafood and healthy marine ecosystems in the EU, provided next month’s European Parliament plenary vote fixes the loopholes created.

On behalf of the The EU Fisheries Control Coalition, Vanya Vulperhorst, Campaign Director Illegal Fishing and Transparency at Oceana in Europe said, “We strongly welcome the PECH Committee’s position to require tracking systems and catch reporting for all EU fishing vessels. But such efforts to help ensure healthy fish stocks must not be undermined by weakening the rules which oblige fishers to count what they catch. In the upcoming plenary Session, MEPs must align the future Control Regulation with the EU’s blue ambition and the EU Green Deal”.

Andrea Ripol, Fisheries Policy Officer at Seas At Risk said, “No one wants to eat fish that comes at the expense of killing dolphins and seabirds. By rejecting mandatory onboard cameras, MEPs have voted to deepen this stain on our seafood supply chains. If the European Parliament is serious about meeting the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy targets, it must amend this oversight in the upcoming vote in plenary.”

Marta Marrero Martin, Director of Ocean Governance at The Nature Conservancy said, “Today’s vote has ignored the fact that fishers are already able to install cameras on their vessels voluntarily, yet the vast majority decide not to do so. Until these systems are required across the fleet, authorities will remain without the high-quality data needed to ensure our fisheries are managed legally and sustainably. We call upon MEPs to reverse this decision at plenary. The EU should lead global fisheries management and control by example and not lag behind”.

Katrin Vilhelm Poulsen, Senior Seafood Policy Officer at WWF said, “Traceability is a cornerstone for sustainable seafood supply chains. We commend the Committee vote confirming the EU’s commitment to this value and call on all MEPs to do the same in next month’s plenary.”

Nick Goetschalckx, Fisheries Lawyer at ClientEarth said, “Today’s vote was not just about writing rules, it was also about ensuring that these rules will be effectively implemented and enforced afterwards. The important steps MEPs took today for more transparency on fisheries control activities and towards a standardised sanctions regime across the EU will ensure environmental accountability, but only provided they are upheld in plenary next month.”

Positive outcomes from the PECH Committee vote include:

• Vessel monitoring systems to be installed on all EU fishing vessels
• Mandatory reporting of all seafood catches
• Standards for sanctions to be harmonised across the EU
• Member State activities on fisheries controls to be published annually and available to the public
• Better monitoring of Marine Protected Areas
• Traceability of all seafood products from point-of-catch to point-of-sale

The negative aspects, weakening of current provisions and loopholes created by the Fisheries Committee vote include:

• No mandatory requirement for uptake of onboard cameras across the EU fleet, marking a failure to improve fisheries data, ensure compliance and monitor bycatch of sensitive species
• No mandate to report incidental catches of sensitive species and impacts of fisheries to sensitive habitats
• Weakening the rules of reporting and controlling the amount of fish caught and landed, which significantly increases opportunities for illegal fishing
• Weakening the rules for weighing catches, making it easier to under-declare
• Failing to remove Member States’ ability to veto submission of information on their control efforts

In next month’s plenary vote, the European Parliament is called upon to:

• Lock in the positive outcomes from the PECH Committee vote for vessel monitoring systems, reporting and sanctions;
• Introduce mandatory measures for onboard cameras (including CCTV), strengthen transparency provisions, and require measures to report and prevent bycatch of sensitive species; and
• Close the loopholes introduced by the PECH Committee to weaken fisheries controls, including for rules on catch reporting and verification.

ENDS

The EU Fisheries Control Coalition – The Environmental Justice Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Oceana, Seas At Risk, and WWF, together with ClientEarth, The Fisheries Secretariat, Our Fish and Sciaena – is working to ensure that fisheries management in the EU safeguards ocean health and marine life for generations to come.

Notes to editors:

The fisheries Control Regulation is the cornerstone of how fisheries are controlled and monitored in the EU. This helps to ensure seafood is caught within sustainable limits and follows legal procedures, with direct impacts for Member States, fishers and consumers, as well as the health of marine ecosystems.

The current revision process of the Regulation offers opportunities to make fisheries management more sustainable, address the lack of transparency on how the EU fleet is regulated and, as a result, increase profits for the sector. In addition, a strong future Control Regulation is key to stopping illegal fishing activities, which hurt fishers operating within legal boundaries.

Larissa Milo-Dale
EU Fisheries Control Coalition Communications Coordinator
Senior Communications Officer for Marine, WWF European Policy Office
lmilodale@wwf.eu
+32 483 26 20 86

What: Media briefing held on January 14, 2021, by NGOs, followed by a Q/A session, to announce publication of a joint paper detailing 10 recommended EU actions on marine biodiversity in response to the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, and the preparation of the EU Parliament’s position on the Strategy.

Why: On January 14th, both the Environment and Fisheries Committees of the European Parliament (EP) discussed a first draft of the EP response to the European Commission’s EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, issued in May 2020. The EP will be finalising and voting on its position in the coming months, and this Strategy is fundamental to driving the EU’s ambition to halt the extreme loss of biodiversity in Europe and globally, from 2021 onwards.

Speakers and Presentations:

1. Rebecca Hubbard, Our Fish – Saving Europe’s Biodiversity and Maximising Climate and Ecosystem Benefits of Fisheries
2. Andrea Ripol, Seas at Risk  – Fisheries bycatch of sensitive species and harmful fisheries subsidies – Biodiversity Strategy 2030
3. Nicolas Fournier, Oceana – Protecting marine habitats, Tackling bottom-trawling in Europe
4. Eleonora Panella, IFAW – Underwater noise and using EU influence globally
5. Matthew Gianni, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition – deep-sea fisheries (more EU) and deep-sea mining

This event saw the launch of a joint NGO paper on EU marine biodiversity to learn about how key marine policy gaps in the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 can be overcome, and NGO recommendations for areas of improvement to the EU Parliament draft Own Initiative (INI) report on the Biodiversity Strategy – which was presented in the ENVI Committee on Thursday January 14th.

Back to the Source – Saving Europe’s Biodiversity Starts in the Ocean, jointly published by BirdLife Europe, BLOOM, ClientEarth, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Greenpeace European Unit, IFAW, MEDASSET, Oceana in Europe, Our Fish, Sciaena, Seas At Risk, The Nature Conservancy, WDC – Whale and Dolphin Conservation, provides a toolkit of 10 ocean-related actions that EU decision-makers, including the European Commission, EU Member State ministers and MEPs, can use to translate this strategy into tangible and binding actions to ensure the long-term health of our ocean, in order to sustain ourselves, our communities and livelihoods.

The Leaders Pledge For Nature, UN Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement, European Green Deal have all set a path towards transforming the way we do things in order to save life on the planet. But the planet needs more than promises.  Life originated in  the ocean, and continues to depend on the ocean – it provides every second breath we take. Without a healthy and functioning ocean, life would be impossible.  Back to the Source provides guidance on how the EU can rapidly accelerate progress towards this urgent goal.