August 2017

NGOs call on Baltic Governments to stop driving overfishing

Copenhagen, 31 August 2017: As the BALTFISH meeting to discuss Baltic Sea fishing quotas opened today in Copenhagen, environmental organisations urged government officials to avoid pandering to the demands of big business and instead focus on applying EU fisheries law and ending overfishing [1].

As delegates arrived at the meeting at the Danish Agrifish Agency they were greeted by supporters of the Our Fish campaign dressed in cod costumes, displaying a banner that calls on on Baltic governments to “Stop Overfishing”.

“While the BALTFISH deliberations are taking place behind closed doors, European citizens, as beneficial owners of Europe’s fish stocks, have the right to demand that these fisheries are managed according to the law. Our Fish is calling on Baltic governments to stop endorsing overfishing for the benefit of big trawling interests and instead support science-based quotas that will rebuild our fish stocks”, said Our Fish Program Director Rebecca Hubbard.

BALTFISH is a regional body consisting of government representatives from the eight EU nations bordering the Baltic, and is responsible for cooperating on the development of sustainable fisheries in the Baltic Sea. Today’s meeting is key in the preparations of governments to establish a position on fishing quotas for 2018, which will be decided at the October Agrifish Council meeting in Brussels.

The Council of EU fisheries ministers set 2017 fishing limits for four out of ten Baltic fish stocks above scientific limits, including a staggering 3.5 times the scientific advice for Western Baltic Cod, despite the fact that they were teetering on the edge of commercial collapse (1,2).

On August 29th, the European Commission released a proposal for fishing opportunities in 2018 to be considered by BALTFISH and the Council of Ministers, including a ban on European eel due and a rollover of the western Baltic cod Total Allowable Catch (TAC).

“Unfortunately, recent scandals about mismanagement of the Danish system for distribution of fishing rights by the Ministry for Food and Environment, confirm a tendency to prioritize the interests of a few powerful players in the fishing industry. Not only is this a problem for the future of the fishing industry, but also for the environment, as low impact fishermen have been struggling as a result. We urge the new Fisheries Minister, Karen Ellemann, to start restoring Denmark’s broken reputation by fighting to combat overfishing instead of feeding it,” says Magnus Eckeskog, oceans campaigner at Greenpeace.

“We are grateful to the Commission for finally moving forward on safeguarding the eel. Its now up to the Baltic member states to show how they interpret the Common Fisheries Policy and scientific advice on eel, and to commit to phase out a fishery on this endandgered species. It’s a no brainer that this is also the right thing to do across all EU nations,” said Nils Hoglund, Fisheries Policy Officer Coalition Clean Baltic.

German and Danish Governments are also under intense pressure from the trawler-dominated Baltic Sea Advisory Council, who are proposing a western Baltic cod limit of 8,597 tonnes, which includes an extra 3,000 tonnes under the auspices of eastern Baltic cod mixing in the western baltic zones. Environmental NGOs, the European Anglers Association and the Latvian fishing association voted against this quota transfer in the Baltic Sea Advisory Council, as it further threatens the vulnerable western Baltic cod stock and disenfranchises eastern Baltic countries of their fisheries rights. (3)

“Given that the iconic Western Baltic cod’s population is still at the second lowest levels since the early 1980s and the Commission has acknowledged that ending overfishing sooner will deliver the highest economic and social benefits, we are shocked that they have recommended a rollover of the Total Allowable Catch for 2018 that will perpetuate overfishing of these fish stocks. (4) The European Commission and Baltic governments are reminded that EU fisheries law requires an end to the delay and obfuscation around fishing limits in order to restore all fish stocks to healthy levels in EU waters,” concluded Hubbard.

ENDS

DOWNLOADS
Photo/video can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/BALTFISH17photo

SEE ALSO:
New Report Explores How Denmark Can Make Fisheries Fair and Sustainable
New report highlights Germany’s blind-spot for sustainable fisheries

NOTES:

  1. Western Baltic cod has been overfished for a number of years, so that even after a strong 2016 year class, stocks are still at the second lowest biomass levels since the early 1980s, and outside of safe limits for repopulating to a healthy state. ICES (2017), ICES Advice on fishing opportunities, catch, and effort, Baltic Sea Ecoregion. Published 31 May 2017. Cod.27.22-24
  2. New Economics Foundation (2017), Landing the Blame – Overfishing in the Baltic 2017.
  3. BSAC recommendations for the fishery in the Baltic Sea in 2018, retrieved from http://www.bsac.dk/BSAC-Resources/BSAC-Statements-and-recommendations/BSAC-recommendations-for-the-fishery-2018
  4. Communication from the Commission on the State of Play of the Common Fisheries Policy and Consultation on the Fishing Opportunities for 2018. COM(2017) 368 final

Contacts

Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, dave@our.fish +34 691826764

Rebecca Hubbard, Program Director, rebecca@our.fish +34 657669425

About Our Fish

Our Fish works to ensure European member states implement the Common Fisheries Policy and achieve sustainable fish stocks in European waters.

Our Fish works with organisations and individuals across Europe to deliver a powerful and unwavering message: overfishing must be stopped, and solutions put in place that ensure Europe’s waters are fished sustainably. Our Fish demands that the Common Fisheries Policy be properly enforced, and Europe’s fisheries effectively governed.

Our Fish calls on all EU Member States to set annual fishing limits at sustainable limits based on scientific advice, and to ensure that their fishing fleets prove that they are fishing sustainably, through monitoring and full documentation of their catch.

http://www.ourfish.eu

 

 

New Report Explores How Denmark Can Make Fisheries Fair and Sustainable

Copenhagen, 30 August 2017: A report released today exploring Denmark’s role in overfishing within EU waters, finds that the country often portrayed as a green leader is delaying the environmental, social, and economic benefits that come from restoring and maintaining healthy fish stocks.

The report, How Denmark Can Make Fisheries Fair and Sustainable, co-authored by Our Fish and the New Economics Foundation, outlines how Denmark’s Government can end overfishing, address its quota scandal, and get in step with European fisheries law. Denmark can achieve this by setting fishing quotas according to scientific advice, allocating its fishing quota in a way that incentivises best environmental practices, and using national policy and the quota system to support vulnerable, low-impact fisheries during the transition to sustainable levels.

“The Danish government is the Baltic’s worst culprit when it comes to overfishing – in 2017, it topped the list of countries fishing above scientifically recommended limits, leading the public to believe that this is because of ‘socio-economics’. However, the figures tell a different story; not only would following scientific advice for fishing quotas bring higher economic returns sooner, but the current allocation of quotas benefits destructive trawlers that cause the biggest environmental impact while reaping significantly higher profits than low-impact coastal fishers,” said Our Fish Program Director Rebecca Hubbard.

 How Denmark Can Make Fisheries Fair and SustainableRecent controversies in Denmark have put fishing quotas both on the news agenda and at the centre of Danish politics, after the withholding of information to Parliament on available options to limit the concentration of fishing quotas resulted in Minister Esben Lunde Larsen receiving a ‘nose’ (reprimand) and the fisheries portfolio being moved to a new Ministry in August 2017 [1]. A recent auditors’ report has also confirmed that very little information exists on quota concentration altogether [2].

 

Western Baltic Cod stocks have spend years teetering on the edge of collapse, yet Denmark has consistently set fishing limits above scientific advice (3,4). Danish officials will welcome representatives from all EU Baltic states at BALTFISH in Copenhagen this week to discuss their position on Baltic fishing quotas for 2018. Advice from the trawl industry-dominated Baltic Sea Advisory Council is pushing for western Baltic cod fishing quotas to be more than 3,000 tonnes above the upper end of scientific advice (5).

“With the latest scandal around quota management in Denmark, it appears that a stone has been left unturned, and discussion is now forming around how fishing quota should be managed in the public interest”, continued Hubbard. “Just as fishing limits should be sustainable, they should also be fair. Now is the time for the new Danish fisheries minister Karen Ellemann to seize the opportunity to both set fishing quotas at sustainable levels, and change the quota allocation system to prioritise low-impact coastal fishers, and better ensure their economic viability and ecological sustainability”.

The report, How Denmark Can Make Fisheries Fair and Sustainable can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/DKBaltic2017en

END

 

NOTES:

Jobs, vessels and quota numbers from Table 1 in the released report.

  1. CPH Post Online. (2017). Minister stripper of fishing duties. Retrieved from: http://cphpost.dk/news/minister-stripped-of-fishing-duties.html
  2. CPH Post Online. (2017). Police called in by auditors over fish quota irregularities. Retrieved from: http://cphpost.dk/news/police-called-in-by-auditors-over-fish-quota-irregularities.htm
  3. Western Baltic cod has been overfished for a number of years, so that even after a strong 2016 year class, stocks are still at the second lowest biomass levels since the early 1980s, and outside of safe limits for repopulating to a healthy state. ICES (2017), ICES Advice on fishing opportunities, catch, and effort, Baltic Sea Ecoregion. Published 31 May 2017. Cod.27.22-24
  4. New Economics Foundation (2017), Landing the Blame – Overfishing in the Baltic 2017.
  5. BSAC recommendations for the fishery 2018, retrieved from http://bsac.dk/BSAC-Resources/BSAC-Statements-and-recommendations/BSAC-recommendations-for-the-fishery-2018

Contacts

Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, dave@our.fish +34 691826764

Rebecca Hubbard, Program Director, rebecca@our.fish +34 657669425

About Our Fish

Our Fish works to ensure European member states implement the Common Fisheries Policy and achieve sustainable fish stocks in European waters.

Our Fish works with organisations and individuals across Europe to deliver a powerful and unwavering message: overfishing must be stopped, and solutions put in place that ensure Europe’s waters are fished sustainably. Our Fish demands that the Common Fisheries Policy be properly enforced, and Europe’s fisheries effectively governed.

Our Fish calls on all EU Member States to set annual fishing limits at sustainable limits based on scientific advice, and to ensure that their fishing fleets prove that they are fishing sustainably, through monitoring and full documentation of their catch.

http://www.ourfish.eu

New report highlights Germany’s blind-spot for sustainable fisheries

Bonn, 28 August 2017: Despite its reputation as Europe’s moral leader on environmental issues, Germany’s continues overfishing in the Baltic Sea, thus delaying potentially large environmental, social, and economic benefits for its coastal communities that would come from regaining healthy fish stocks, according to a report published today.

The report, Germany’s blind-spot for sustainable fisheries, co-authored by Our Fish and the New Economics Foundation, outlines how the incoming German Government can end overfishing and get in step with European fisheries law by setting fishing quotas according to scientific advice, and by helping small-scale low-impact fishers with a fairer quota allocation system. Federal elections are due to take place on September 24th.

“The German government has repeatedly supported overfishing of western Baltic cod, leading the public to believe that this is because of ‘socio-economics’. However the figures tell a different story – not only would following scientific advice for fishing quotas bring higher economic returns sooner, but the current allocation of quotas benefits destructive trawlers that have the biggest environmental impact and the smallest contribution to jobs”, said Our Fish Program Director Rebecca Hubbard.

Germany’s blind-spot for sustainable fisheries“Of Germany’s two main fishing fleets who share western Baltic cod, the small-scale low-impact sector has access to just 35% of the quota and employs 747 people, whereas the heavily damaging trawl sector has 59%, but employs one fifth the number of people.” (1)

“By setting fishing limits at sustainable levels and changing the quota allocation system to prioritise small-scale low-impact fishers, the new German government can better ensure the economic viability and ecological sustainability of coastal communities.”

Western Baltic Cod stocks have spent years teetering on the edge of collapse, yet Germany has consistently set fishing limits above scientific advice (2,3). German officials will be meeting with representatives from all EU Baltic states at BALTFISH in Copenhagen this week to discuss their position on Baltic fishing quotas for 2018. Advice from the trawl industry-dominated Baltic Sea Advisory Council is pushing for western Baltic cod fishing quotas to be more than 3,000 tonnes above the upper end of scientific advice (4).

“The incoming German government needs to address this blind spot for sustainable fisheries by applying proper scrutiny to its national fisheries management. Germany needs urgent reform of how it allocates fisheries quotas if it is to comply with the spirit of the EU Common Fisheries Policy and play a leading role in ending overfishing of Europe’s waters”, concluded Hubbard.

The report, Germany’s blind-spot for sustainable fisheries can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/DEFishBaltic0817

END

NOTES:

  1. New Economics Foundation & Our Fish (2017), Germany’s blind post for sustainable fisheries.
  2. Western Baltic cod has been overfished for a number of years, so that even after a strong 2016 year class, stocks are still at the second lowest biomass levels since the early 1980s, and outside of safe limits for repopulating to a healthy state. ICES (2017), ICES Advice on fishing opportunities, catch, and effort, Baltic Sea Ecoregion. Published 31 May 2017. Cod.27.22-24
  3. New Economics Foundation (2017), Landing the Blame – Overfishing in the Baltic 2017.
  4. BSAC recommendations for the fishery 2018, retrieved from http://bsac.dk/BSAC-Resources/BSAC-Statements-and-recommendations/BSAC-recommendations-for-the-fishery-2018

Contacts

Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, dave@our.fish +34 691826764

Rebecca Hubbard, Program Director, rebecca@our.fish +34 657669425

About Our Fish

Our Fish works to ensure European member states implement the Common Fisheries Policy and achieve sustainable fish stocks in European waters.

Our Fish works with organisations and individuals across Europe to deliver a powerful and unwavering message: overfishing must be stopped, and solutions put in place that ensure Europe’s waters are fished sustainably. Our Fish demands that the Common Fisheries Policy be properly enforced, and Europe’s fisheries effectively governed.

Our Fish calls on all EU Member States to set annual fishing limits at sustainable limits based on scientific advice, and to ensure that their fishing fleets prove that they are fishing sustainably, through monitoring and full documentation of their catch.

http://www.ourfish.eu

 

 

 

21 NGOS write to EU Commissioner Vella asking for Closure of Adriatic Jabuka/Pomo Pit

‘Overshoot day’ for over-exploited Adriatic Sea

21 NGOS write to EU Commissioner Vella asking for Closure of Jabuka/Pomo Pit

Rome, August 2, 2017:- August 2 was Earth Overshoot Day, the day of “over-exploitation of the Earth”, when our exploitation of natural resources exceeds what our planet can generate in one year. A day that unfortunately, arrives earlier every year.

It was also overshoot Day for the resources of the Mediterranean Sea, and in particular the over-exploitation of the Adriatic : it is enough to think that Italy’s Fish Dependence Day (the day when a country uses up its share of fish and becomes dependent on the import of fish from abroad) fell on March 31, on a date earlier than previous years.

In response, 21 NGOs representing thousands of citizens (including international, Italian, Greek, Croatian and Slovenian associations) have written to European Commissioner Vella asking him to close trawling in the Jabuka/Pomo Pit between Italy and Croatia, one of the most important areas for the reproduction of species of fish in the Adriatic, such as hake and Norway lobsters (scampi).

Fishing in the Adriatic produces 50% of all Italian fishery products, but catches have collapsed by 21% between 2007 and 2015 from overfishing. In particular, hake has an over-exploitation rate five times higher than the sustainability limits, although catches have almost halved between 2006 and 2014. This is worse for scampi – catches by the Italian fleet have collapsed by 54% from 2009 to 2014.

The current situation is a serious problem for the environment, but also for the economy and small-scale fishing, given that 75% of the marine resources are captured by 20% of the large industrial fishing vessels, while 80% of the small fishermen catch just 25% of the fish.

“We ask for Commissioner Vella’s intervention in order to protect the Jabuka/Pomo Pit and to establish a Fishery Restricted Area (FRA)” said Domitilla Senni, CEO of MedReAct.

In line with the scientific recommendations of international bodies, and with the commitment of the EU during the Convention on Biological Diversity to ensure the conservation of 10% of its coastal and marine areas by 2020, FRAs are essential for the protection of sensitive habitats – and the species that populate them – from overexploitation due to excessive fishing activity.

In May this year, the Scientific Advisory Committee of the General Fisheries Commission of the Mediterranean (GFCM) validated the proposal for the establishment of a closed area for demersal fishing in the Jabuka/ Pomo Pit by MedReAct and the Adriatic Recovery Project. “We are now waiting” continued Senni, “for the European Commission to propose the establishment of an FRA for the Jabuka/Pomo Pit closed to bottom trawling and other demersal fisheries at the next GFCM Conference (Montenegro, 16-20 October 2017), according to the advice by the Scientific Advisory Committee”.

The establishment of a closed trawl area in this area will also be the first test case for the European Commission in the implementation of the MedFish4Ever Declaration, adopted in March this year in Malta to recover Mediterranean fisheries.

Letter from 21 NGOs to Commissioner Vella:
https://tinyurl.com/y8y46s3d

More information, contact:

Domitilla Senni, +39 349 822 5483
Medreact:https://medreact.org

The Adriatic Recovery Project is an alliance of civil society organizations and research organizations to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems and the essential habitats for Adriatic fish species. The project is funded by Oceans5, supported by Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and coordinated by MedReAct – a non-governmental organization engaged in the recovery of Mediterranean marine ecosystems – in collaboration with Legambiente, Marevivo, Stanford University and the Maritime Polytechnic.