Month: January 2018

  • France 24/AFP: Defying Brussels, EU parliament calls for ban on electric pulse fishing

    France 24/AFP: Defying Brussels, EU parliament calls for ban on electric pulse fishing

    January 16, 2018: Defying Brussels, EU parliament calls for ban on electric pulse fishing

    The European Parliament called Tuesday for a ban on electric pulse fishing in the European Union, defying Brussels which wants the experimental practice in the North Sea done on a larger scale.

    Rebecca Hubbard, director for the activist group Our Fish, praised the vote as a “huge win” for European seas, low-impact fishing and the public.

    EU Parliament Calls for Ban on Electric Pulse Fishing

    Original story on AFP: EU Parliament Calls for Ban on Electric Pulse Fishing

    EU Parliament Calls for Ban on Electric Pulse Fishing

    Euractive: EU Parliament Calls for Ban on Electric Pulse Fishing

  • The Times, UK: Trawlers Head for ban on shock fishing

    The Times, UK: Trawlers Head for ban on shock fishing

    The Times, UK, January 17, 2018: Trawlers head for ban on shock fishing by Ben Webster.

    MEPs voted by 402 votes to 232 yesterday for a total ban on “pulse fishing”, which the European Commission says needs to be used partly in order to study its impact.

    Our Fish, which campaigns for sustainable fishing, said: “Today’s vote by the European parliament is a huge win for European seas, low impact fishers and the public. It also shows that new fishing methods must be studied on the basis of independent science before they can be pushed out for commercial use.”

  • Respaldo del PE a una prohibición definitiva de la pesca eléctrica

    Respaldo del PE a una prohibición definitiva de la pesca eléctrica

    January 17th 2018: Respaldo del PE a una prohibición definitiva de la pesca eléctrica

    El Parlamento Europeo (PE) ha apoyado las reivindicaciones de las organizaciones ecologistas y ha pedido la prohibición definitiva de la pesca eléctrica en aguas comunitarias. En la Unión Europea (UE) solo está permitida para buques del mar del Norte, sobre todo holandeses.

    Organizaciones ecologistas, agrupadas en la iniciativa “Our Fish“, valoraron hoy el voto del PE “para detener la agresiva expansión de la pesca con impulsos eléctricos” y lo consideraron “una tremenda victoria para los mares europeos” para los pescadores a pequeña escala y para el público.

    “También demuestra que los nuevos métodos pesqueros deben ser estudiados sobre la base de estudios científicos independientes antes de poder ser impulsados para su uso comercial”, añadió una portavoz de la organización.

  • Respaldo del PE a una prohibición definitiva de la pesca eléctrica

    Respaldo del PE a una prohibición definitiva de la pesca eléctrica

    Respaldo del PE a una prohibición definitiva de la pesca eléctrica

    January 17th 2018: Respaldo del PE a una prohibición definitiva de la pesca eléctrica

    El Parlamento Europeo (PE) ha apoyado las reivindicaciones de las organizaciones ecologistas y ha pedido la prohibición definitiva de la pesca eléctrica en aguas comunitarias. En la Unión Europea (UE) solo está permitida para buques del mar del Norte, sobre todo holandeses.

    Organizaciones ecologistas, agrupadas en la iniciativa “Our Fish“, valoraron hoy el voto del PE “para detener la agresiva expansión de la pesca con impulsos eléctricos” y lo consideraron “una tremenda victoria para los mares europeos” para los pescadores a pequeña escala y para el público.

    “También demuestra que los nuevos métodos pesqueros deben ser estudiados sobre la base de estudios científicos independientes antes de poder ser impulsados para su uso comercial”, añadió una portavoz de la organización.

  • Guardian: European parliament to decide future of pulse fishing

    Guardian: European parliament to decide future of pulse fishing

    By Fiona Harvey in the Guardian, January 16th, 2018:

    Rebecca Hubbard, programme director of Our Fish, one of a group of conservation groups lobbying for the EU pulse fishing ban to be reinstated, told the Guardian: “Pulse fishing is not proven to be better than bottom trawling in terms of ecological impacts. It just uses less fuel, so is more profitable for vessels to run. It is an indiscriminate method of fishing with ten times more discards than low impact methods, and there is no independent science on impacts to marine life living in the sediment, or species such as sharks and rays. Beam trawls are extremely destructive, but replacing them with electric pulse trawling is not the answer.”

    Read more: European parliament to decide future of pulse fishing

  • Undercurrent: EU votes to ban pulse fishing

    Undercurrent: EU votes to ban pulse fishing

    From Undercurrent, 16 January 2018:

    Members of European parliament have voted in favor of prohibiting electric pulse fishing in European waters, at the technical measures regulation vote on Jan. 16.

    MEPs voted 402 to 232 for the prohibition, according to NGO Our Fish.

    “Today’s vote by the European Parliament to stop the aggressive expansion of electric pulse fishing is a huge win for European seas, low impact fishers and the public,” said Our Fish program director Rebecca Hubbard.

    “It also shows that new fishing methods must be studied on the basis of independent science before they can be pushed out for commercial use. Instead of developing another industrial fishery with high exploitation capacity, EU governments must get back to the urgent job of ending overfishing, and deliver truly sustainable fisheries management that benefits our marine ecosystems and coastal fishing communities.”

    Continue reading “EU votes to ban pulse fishing”

  • EU Parliament Votes to Ban Electric Pulse Fishing – Our Fish Response

    EU Parliament Votes to Ban Electric Pulse Fishing – Our Fish Response

    Brussels, 16 January 2018: – Responding to news that MEPs voted 402 to 232 for a prohibition on electric pulse fishing in European waters as part of Technical Measures Regulation, Our Fish Programme Director Rebecca Hubbard said:

    “Today’s vote by the European Parliament to stop the aggressive expansion of electric pulse fishing is a huge win for European seas, low impact fishers and the public. It also shows that new fishing methods must be studied on the basis of independent science before they can be pushed out for commercial use. Instead of developing another industrial fishery with high exploitation capacity, EU governments must get back to the urgent job of ending overfishing, and delivering truly sustainable fisheries management that benefits our marine ecosystems and coastal fishing communities.”

    Notes:

    French-based NGO BLOOM has led the campaign to end electric pulse fishing in Europe, with 18 NGOs and fishing groups. For more information see http://www.bloomassociation.org/en/media/blooms-press-releases/

    European Parliament press release: New fisheries rules: add a ban on electric pulse fishing, say MEPs

    See also: Electric fishing: new revelations on a European scandal

    Contacts

    Dave Walsh, Our Fish Communications Advisor, dave@our.fish +34 691826764
    Rebecca Hubbard, Our Fish 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://our.fish

    Follow Our Fish on Twitter: @our_fish

  • Totaalverbod op puls visserij

    Totaalverbod op puls visserij

    Op 16 januari 2018 stemde het Europees parlement – met 402 stemmen voor en 232 stemmen tegen – in met een totaalverbod op puls visserij. Met deze stemming laat het parlement zien voorzichtig om te willen gaan met het toestaan van nieuwe en mogelijk schadelijke visserijtechnieken. Er wordt een signaal afgegeven dat de deur naar grootschalig en commercieel gebruik van nieuwe visserijtechnieken pas mag worden opengezet als afgerond onafhankelijk onderzoek aantoont dat de techniek veilig is. Op dit moment loopt het nieuwe vierjarige onderzoeksprogramma nog tot en met het jaar 2019, waardoor duurzaamheidsclaims over de effecten van puls nog niet te maken zijn. Nederland heeft het aantal vergunningen in rap tempo uitgebreid naar 84 vergunningen voor ‘onderzoek’ en zat daarmee al boven de uitzonderingen die in eerste instantie zijn afgegeven vanuit Europa. Onderzoek naar deze visserijtechniek had ook plaats kunnen vinden met een handje vol vissersschepen in plaats van 84. Ook heeft de Nederlandse sector in verschillende Europese lidstaten de puls naar voren geschoven als dé nieuwe duurzame vistechniek, terwijl deze claim op dit moment nog niet te maken is. Dit besluit geeft aan dat Nederland een pas op de plaats moet maken als het gaat om de uitbreiding van deze vistechniek.

  • EU Parliament Votes to Ban Electric Pulse Fishing – Our Fish Response

    EU Parliament Votes to Ban Electric Pulse Fishing – Our Fish Response

    Brussels, 16 January 2018: – Responding to news that MEPs voted 402 to 232 for a prohibition on electric pulse fishing in European waters as part of Technical Measures Regulation, Our Fish Programme Director Rebecca Hubbard said:

    “Today’s vote by the European Parliament to stop the aggressive expansion of electric pulse fishing is a huge win for European seas, low impact fishers and the public. It also shows that new fishing methods must be studied on the basis of independent science before they can be pushed out for commercial use. Instead of developing another industrial fishery with high exploitation capacity, EU governments must get back to the urgent job of ending overfishing, and delivering truly sustainable fisheries management that benefits our marine ecosystems and coastal fishing communities.”

    Notes:

    French-based NGO BLOOM has led the campaign to end electric pulse fishing in Europe, with 18 NGOs and fishing groups. For more information see http://www.bloomassociation.org/en/media/blooms-press-releases/

    European Parliament press release: New fisheries rules: add a ban on electric pulse fishing, say MEPs

    See also: Electric fishing: new revelations on a European scandal

    Contacts

    Dave Walsh, Our Fish Communications Advisor, dave@our.fish +34 691826764
    Rebecca Hubbard, Our Fish 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://our.fish

    Follow Our Fish on Twitter: @our_fish