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  • Scientist videos: Ending Overfishing is Climate Action

    Scientist videos: Ending Overfishing is Climate Action

    More than 300 scientists have signed a statement calling for action by the European Commission, European Parliament and EU member states to end overfishing “as an urgent and necessary response to biodiversity and climate crises”. The scientists are urging the EU to set fishing limits within scientific advice, and recognise that “ecosystem-based fisheries management is critical to the health of the ocean and its capacity to respond to climate change”

    Read press release: Scientists Launch Call to EU: Ending Overfishing Is Climate Action

    If you are a scientist and would like to sign onto the statement, please submit your details on the statement page here.

    Professor Didier Gascuel, head of the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Center, Agrocampus Ouest, Institut Agro, France: Ensuring Sustainability for Fisheries is Climate Action

     

    Erica M. Ferrer, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, San Diego Fellow, Aburto Lab, Scripps Institution of Oceanography: Climate Change is Made Worse by Overfishing

     

    Alex Rogers, Science Director, Rev Ocean: Overfishing and bycatch are largest drivers of biodiversity loss in the ocean

     

    Farah Obaidullah, Director, Women4Oceans: Ending overfishing would reduce the pressure on the ocean

     

    Rainer Froese: Overfishing means taking more fish than can grow back… that’s pretty stupid

     

    Hans Otto Pörter, Professor and Section Head, Alfred-Wegener-Institut: We need to reduce fishing pressure and overfishing

    If you are a scientist and would like to sign onto the statement, please submit your details on the statement page here.

    For more information, see www.our.fish/science

  • Scientist Statement of Support: Ending Overfishing Is Climate Action

    Scientist Statement of Support: Ending Overfishing Is Climate Action

    End Overfishing: 300 Scientists Urge EU To Protect Ocean Health As Climate Action

    Note: As of 28 October 2020, 320 scientists have signed this statement.

    The Statement: Ending Overfishing Is Climate Action:

    Having regard to:

    1. The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services1
    2. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate2
    3. Council of the European Union, Council’s Conclusions on Oceans and Seas3

    We are calling on the European Commission, European Parliament and EU member states to recognise that ecosystem-based fisheries management is critical to the health of the ocean and its capacity to respond to climate change and that fishing limits must be set accordingly.

    Fish are an important part of the marine ecosystem, playing a critical role in ocean health. Marine ecosystem goods and services are under severe pressure from fishing and human accelerated climate change.

    Overfishing reduces fish biomass, impacts biodiversity, alters the marine food web and degrades marine habitats. This makes the marine ecosystem more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

    In the EU it is estimated that at least 38 percent of fish stocks in the North East Atlantic and Baltic Sea4, and 87 percent in the Mediterranean and Black Sea5, are being overfished.

    The combined effects of climate change and overfishing are accelerating the decline of ocean health. Ending overfishing would reduce the cumulative pressures on the ocean, increase its resilience and contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change. It would be decisive and important climate action and it can be taken today.

    1. IPBES, 2019: The global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. 56 pages. https://ipbes.net/global-assessment
    2.  IPCC, 2019: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/
    3.  Council of the European Union, OUTCOME OF PROCEEDINGS, General Secretariat of the Council, Brussels, 19 November 2019, 14249/19, Council conclusions on Oceans and Seas: https://www.consilium.europa.eu//media/41384/st14249-en19.pdf?utm_source=dsms-auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Oceans+and+seas+threatened+by+climate+change%3a+Council+adopts+conclusions
    4.  STECF, 2020: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) – Monitoring the performance of the Common Fisheries Policy (STECF-Adhoc-20-01)
    5.  STECF, 2019: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) – Monitoring the performance of the Common Fisheries Policy (STECF-Adhoc-19-01)

    Add Your Support

    While we value everyone’s passion, skills and expertise, this particular statement is specifically for scientists to endorse action from EU institutions and member state governments. Not a scientist? Not a problem – take action by adding your voice here. If you are a scientist, we invite you to fill in the form below.
    Note: By adding your voice, you consent to adding your name, title and institution to a public list of signatories.
    [contact-form-7 id=”6291″ title=”Scientist Statement 2020″]

     

    Ending Overfishing is Climate Action - 300 Scientists Calling for EU to End Overfishing - Signatures

     

     

  • EU Biodiversity Strategy Adds Grease To The Wheel: Now We Need Some Serious Pedaling

    EU Biodiversity Strategy Adds Grease To The Wheel: Now We Need Some Serious Pedaling

    Make the #GreenDeal Blue logo

    The EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 sends a strong signal that a just transition to low-impact fishing, ecosystem-based management, and ensuring no fishing is carried out above Maximum Sustainable Yield levels, are crucial to ending the destructive impact of fishing on ocean health. These are good signs that the Commission has an appetite for more ambition when it comes to preserving our marine resources and restoring our ocean. The next step is for member states to progress from prioritising the interests of a select few, to prioritising our life support system and the future of dependent coastal communities.

    In contrast, the EU’s Farm 2 Fork strategy lacks appreciation of the critical role that a healthy ocean plays in a safe and sustainable future for all Europeans, and is bereft of the ambition necessary to transform current fisheries management into a more just and successful model. It appears that a flawed old-world view of fish as a resource to be extracted still pervades, which is completely at odds with the European Green Deal; correcting this will require strong leadership to deliver on the Commission’s commitment to transform it’s relationship with nature and become climate neutral.

    So, while Farm 2 Fork lacks direction, the Biodiversity Strategy adds much-needed grease to the wheel of the existing Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which is struggling to deliver on its objectives to end all EU overfishing, improve data collection, and integrate ecosystem and social considerations to quota allocation. But on its own, the Biodiversity Strategy cannot change the world as we know it – the wheels of the bicycle are going in opposite directions. It is now up to the Parliament and Council to confirm and adopt this strategy, and for the Commission to start delivering the low-hanging fruit. It can start by proposing fishing limits for 2021 that lie within the boundaries recommended by scientists.

    Rebecca Hubbard is the Programme Director of Our Fish

  • Why The EU Must Build Back A Better Blue

    Why The EU Must Build Back A Better Blue

    Euronews; The EU COVID-19 response must foster sustainability to support fishing incomes and ecosystems

    Our relationship with nature is our link to life; and that link is under strain. The Covid-19 global pandemic demands emergency action from our political leaders to address the immediate health concerns and to cushion the economic impacts. Yet, such emergency action must be taken in the context of a wider plan for Europe’s future – guided by an ambitious European Green Deal and EU Biodiversity Strategy – in order to avoid exacerbating the pre-existing climate and nature crises. We need to remedy the broken relationships that endanger our planet and deepen inequalities within our society.

    The ocean is the source of all life on this planet – including bacteria that is used in tests to detect COVID-19 – yet we are putting it under relentless pressure and undermining its capacity to support life on the planet. By easing that pressure and restoring ocean health, we can deliver enhanced resilience to the impacts of climate change, while safeguarding key natural elements that may equip us with countless more solutions to future and unexpected challenges.

    The Covid-19 crisis has caused disruption in seafood supply chains, bringing temporary relief to some wild fish populations, but this should not be celebrated. Any environmental improvement has not come about due to a deliberate transition plan for fisheries workers, nor will any such respite prove lasting once the public health crisis passes. Improving the health of ocean ecosystems is clearly essential, and it needs to be done in a socially just manner.

    The EU has numerous potential fisheries support policies that it could employ in response to Covid-19 that would also have long-term benefits for the sector, and for the ecosystems on which it depends. For example, it could enhance remote electronic monitoring, by putting cameras onboard instead of human observers, to ensure that essential data is collected and that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) does not undercut law-abiding fishers and the marine environment; and they could improve traceability to ensure that efforts to develop new, localised supply chains can support EU fishers and prevent IUU seafood from entering the supply chain, through digitisation.

    Alternatively, some policies that have been publicly advocated for by elements of the EU fishing industry should be avoided as they fail to meet a series of principles. For example, the proposed rollover of 25% of this year’s fishing quotas to next year could worsen the existing climate and biodiversity crises, and the proposed VAT exemption does not address any specific Covid-19 related problems. However, governments should pursue existing flexibilities in the quota management system to allow fishers the opportunity to utilise their quota allocations, ensure that lost fishing income due to the Covid-19 public health crisis is compensated for through income support schemes, and condition any support for fixed business costs on improved environmental performance such as the adoption of fishing gear that has a lower impact on ocean ecosystems

    Fundamentally the Covid-19 economic crisis is about incomes, costs, and livelihoods. Improvements to incomes will be larger and longer-lasting if fish populations are allowed to replenish: if there are more fish in the sea then the subsequent fishing quotas would be larger. Fishing costs also decrease as more abundant fish populations would be harvested with less effort, while better prices can be secured by ending the ‘boom and bust’ of quota-setting cycles and fish grow to larger sizes.

    A path to “build back better” should invest in the marine environment, secure a more resilient labour model for marine fisheries, and shift financial support away from damaging subsidies, towards a system where the industry pays for the costs of management, for access to a limited public resource, and for environmental damages.

    Critically, while Covid-19 response measures may offer support for one year, a sustainable marine environment will support livelihoods for years to come. The new EU Biodiversity Strategy acknowledges this, and emphasises the need for a just transition to low-impact fishing to restore ocean health. The big challenge now is to make this real; the EU needs to stop making decisions about short-term profits that further damage our life support system and undermine the future of coastal communities.

    With the climate and biodiversity crises as the setting, all EU policy proposals need to answer the fundamental question: how does this policy allow us to “build back better”? 

    To help answer this question, 12 international NGOs have published the briefing Setting the Right Safety Net: A Framework for Fisheries Support Policies in Response to Covid-19, as a framework for governments to assess whether fisheries support policies in response to Covid-19 will aid the path towards a healthier fishing sector, public, and marine environment.

    Rebecca Hubbard is the Program Director of Our Fish, an EU-wid campaign to end overfishing and restore a healthy ocean ecosystem.

    First published on May 22, 2020, on Euronews: The EU COVID-19 response must foster sustainability to support fishing incomes and ecosystems

  • Our Fish om coronakrise: Miljøpolitik hænger sammen med sundhedspolitik

    Our Fish om coronakrise: Miljøpolitik hænger sammen med sundhedspolitik

    Our Fish om coronakrise: Miljøpolitik hænger sammen med sundhedspolitik

    DEBAT: Covid-19-pandemien viser, at miljøpolitik hænger uløseligt sammen med sundhedspolitik, og at naturens sundhedstilstand er afgørende for hele menneskeheden. Der er brug for ambitiøs handling fra verdens regeringer, skriver Berit Asmussen i Altinget.

    Af Berit Asmussen
    Kampagneansvarlig, Our Fish

    Vi lever i en vanskelig tid, vi for alt i verden skal tage ved lære af. For covid-19 pandemien er mere end en alvorlig virus, den er en direkte besked fra naturen. Sådan lød budskabet fra FN’s miljøchef, danske Inger Andersen i avisen The Guardian, og det er værd at lytte til.

    Den krise, vi oplever nu, er tæt knyttet sammen med menneskets globale ødelæggelse af naturen.

    Derfor har vi hos Our Fish et stærkt håb om, at 2020 bliver året, hvor vi mennesker endelig indser og respekterer, hvor tæt vores skæbne og helbred er forbundet med naturen, det globale klimas stabilitet og ikke mindst havets sundhed.

    Havet skal prioriteres
    Havet mangler i den grad at blive prioriteret som et afgørende led i vores klodes generelle sundhedstilstand.

    Det varetager nemlig en række yderst vigtige funktioner, som vi mennesker er afhængige af.

    Eksempelvis genererer havet hvert andet af vore åndedrag, regulerer klimaet, absorberer over 90 procent af varmen fra den globale opvarmning og fungerer som verdens største aktive CO2-lager ved at optage over en fjerdedel af den menneskeskabte CO2.

    Et sundt hav dæmper således effektivt ​​klimaforandringernes ellers alarmerende acceleration, men havets helbredstilstand er alvorligt presset. Ligesom på land er vigtige leveområder til havs negativt påvirket af menneskeskabte stressfaktorer. Værst af alt af årtiers voldsomme overfiskeri.

    Alligevel valgte EU’s fiskeriministre under de seneste fiskekvoteforhandlinger for Østersøen og senere for det Nordøstlige Atlanterhav – herunder Nordsøen, Kattegat og Skagerrak – at lade overfiskeriet fortsætte i 2020. Det skete, selvom EU’s fælles fiskeripolitik kræver, at alle EU’s fangstgrænser sættes på et bæredygtigt niveau senest 1. januar 2020. En deadline, der jo nu er overskredet.

    En dybt problematisk beslutning
    Fiskeriministrenes beslutning er dybt problematisk af flere årsager.

    Dels fordi det på sigt svækker fiskerierhvervet økonomisk, når vigtige fiskebestande presses i bund, og dels fordi det er skadeligt for havets generelle sundhedstilstand og dermed for havets vigtige rolle i reguleringen af det globale klima.

    Der er akut behov for at stoppe menneskets omfattende overudnyttelse af klodens ressourcer og ødelæggelse af dyrenes levesteder både på land og i havet. Det er nu, vi alle må lytter til den besked, som naturen giver os i disse covid-19-tider.

    EU’s positive tiltag
    Heldigvis er der taget skridt i den rigtige retning, og det er blandt andet dem, der er behov for at sætte endnu mere gang i nu. EU arbejder i øjeblikket med flere positive tiltag som for eksempel den nye biodiversitetsstrategi og “Farm to Fork”-strategi, der skal kortlægge, hvordan man producerer sund mad uden at skade naturen.

    Det overordnede formål er at levere handling, der matcher med målene i EU’s nye grønne aftale, der anerkender at; “varige klimaløsninger kræver større opmærksomhed på naturbaserede løsninger, herunder sunde og modstandsdygtige have og oceaner”.

    En vigtig milepæl i år er derfor i vores øjne, at EU’s grønne aftale sætter gang i en proces, der sikrer gennemførsel af ambitiøse klimahandlingsplaner og som effektivt omfatter havets rolle.

    Fokus på havets rolle for første gang
    Også globalt set sker der noget. FN’s seneste klimakonference, COP25, skulle for første gang i historien sætte fokus på havets rolle i forhold til klimaet.

    Det lykkedes godt nok ikke at nå til enighed om tilstrækkelige, konkrete klimatiltag, der omfatter havbeskyttelse, men mødets aftaletekst anerkender ​​havets vigtige rolle og sætter ord på konsekvenserne af fortsat svækkelse af havet. Det er et skidt i den rigtige retning.

    Desværre er aftaleteksten upræcis i forhold til, hvordan havets rolle skal indgå i fremadrettede klimatiltag. En vigtig, global milepæl i vores øjne er derfor, at der ved næste FN-klimatopmøde, COP26, kommer ambitiøse, nationale klimahandlingsplaner på bordet fra alle lande, der omfatter en styrkelse af havets sundhedstilstand.

    Miljø- og sundhedspolitik hænger sammen
    Alt i alt er ovenstående en god begyndelse, men ord er som bekendt sjældent nok.

    Covid-19-pandemien viser med al tydelighed, at miljøpolitik hænger uløseligt sammen med sundhedspolitik, og at naturens sundhedstilstand er afgørende for hele menneskeheden.

    Der er brug for ambitiøs handling fra alle verdens regeringer nu. Kun på den måde kan vi for alvor håndtere den krise, som vi side om side med naturen står overfor i dag.

  • Origami Fish: Save the Ocean. Save the Climate

    Origami Fish: Save the Ocean. Save the Climate

    Origami Fish
    #EndOverFishing

    We love fish.

    Sure, they aren’t cute like cats or dogs, but out of sight, fish are helping to save the world. The ocean is our biggest protector against climate change, having absorbed over 90% of human made heat in the last 50 years, and fish play a critical role in keeping ocean ecosystems healthy.

    We think these unsung heroes deserve a little love. If you agree, why not make some fish origami using the instructions below? All you need to get started is a square piece of paper.

    Step 1

    1. Fold the paper in half both ways, then unfold it

     

    Step 2

    2. Fold the left and right sides in to the centre

    Step 3

    3. Fold the top and bottom edges to the centre, then unfold just these two

    Step 4

    4. Grab the centre points on the left and right and pull them out to the side.

    Step 5

    5. Press the bottom fold into the centre

    Step 6

    6. Repeat this for the top section

    Step 7

    7. Fold the left points out as shown

    Step 8

    8. Fold the corner with the blue dot up to the pink dot

    Step 9

    9. Fold the right flap down from the centre

    Step 10

    10. Fold the corner with the blue dot down to the pink dot

    Step 11

    11. Fold the flat up from the centre

    Step 12

    12. Fold the top and bottom corners to the right as shown

    Step 13

    13. Your folded fish should look like this

    Step 14

    14. Turn it around

    Step 15

    15. Optional: cut a little mouth in the front

    Step 16

    16. Optional: decorate your fish!

    17. Optional: take a picture of your fish and put it on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with #EndOverfishing

    Tweet your origami picture

     

  • The EU must seize this chance to deliver a fairer and more sustainable food system

    The EU must seize this chance to deliver a fairer and more sustainable food system

    Atlantic cod, Paulo Oliveira / Alamy Stock Photo
    Atlantic cod, Paulo Oliveira / Alamy Stock Photood

     

    We are living in extraordinary and difficult times. EU leaders are taking tough decisions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, decisions informed and driven by scientific and expert advice and projections. The crisis we face because of climate change and biodiversity loss is no less existential, and the response should be no less scientific, which is why the EU Commission is in the process of developing strategies which could be pioneering in how we respond to these crises.

    The Farm to Fork strategy, expected to be released by the end of the month, should lay-out how we put in place systems to deliver healthy food which does not harm the environment. Also in the pipeline is a new biodiversity strategy, which should complement and work in tandem with the Farm to Fork Strategy to deliver on the EU’s Green Deal.

    The need to transform how we use and produce food has been clear for decades, yet political decisions have been made which have ignored this reality. We have been farming and fishing – and consuming – as though everything will be fine. This clearly needs to stop. We must decide upon what is necessary in order to achieve a truly sustainable food system.

    Our oceans and fisheries are key to driving a truly ambitious and timely agenda for food production and consumption in Europe, and the science is clear. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere states that having a healthy ocean is part of any mitigation and adaptation to the climate emergency, while last year’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) report highlights fishing as the biggest pressure on our ocean ecosystem.

    We must enact fundamental changes in fisheries management by moving from an obsession with maximising resource [fish] extraction to prioritising ecosystem health – an ecosystem that will continue to provide fish in the future. Accomplishing this means acknowledging and minimising the true carbon footprint of fishing, such as from bottom trawling and aquaculture which can be greater than land-based animal proteins. The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy must set ambitious new targets to reduce seafood consumption, as well as prioritise the immediate implementation of existing targets and proven strategies to make seafood production ecologically sustainable.

    In the coming weeks and months, we will learn to adapt our lives. The Farm to Fork and biodiversity strategies are an opportunity to ensure a similar adaptation. Business as usual is not an option. Our relationship with food must be based on a healthy environment.

    The EU has committed to lead on the Sustainable Development Goals but achieving these aims will not be possible if we continue with the same attitude that has got us to where we are. A new, fairer and more sustainable approach to food systems is needed; the Farm to Fork Strategy is a major opportunity for us to contribute to Europe’s climate change agenda, protect the environment and preserve biodiversity. It has the potential to ensure fishers’ position in the value chain and to encourage ecologically sustainable food consumption that delivers affordable, safe healthy food for all. Now is the time for the EU Commission and the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG Mare) to deliver this.

    First published by Euronews: The EU must seize this chance to deliver a fairer and more sustainable food system

  • The EU’s Green Deal plans to restore nature must include our largest ecosystem – the ocean

    The EU’s Green Deal plans to restore nature must include our largest ecosystem – the ocean

    European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius meets Ocean Avengers

    On 19 December, as he entered the European Council building for environmental talks, EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius tweeted, “We are ready to discuss our plans for transformative change to protect and restore our Nature.

    Yet, a day earlier, Commissioner Sinkevičius announced during an early morning press briefing that he had agreed with the Council of Fisheries Ministers that they would continue destroying nature – that is, the EU member states would continue overfishing in the northeast Atlantic in 2020. He even posted a celebratory tweet, claiming: “That is why tonight we put the long-term interest of the European fisheries first!

    While we appreciate that all-night EU AGRIFISH negotiations may necessitate tough political decisions, agreeing to continue overfishing is in the long-term interest of no-one – least of all the fishing industry – and should be lamented, not celebrated.

    By agreeing to another year of destructive overfishing, the EU is embarking on a retrograde change, not a transformative one. Fish are more than a menu item, more than a commodity to be extracted. They are a critical part of the most important ecosystem on Earth – the ocean. Overfishing remains the largest threat to ocean biodiversity, and is not consistent with the European Commission’s strategy for responding to the crisis facing the planet and our life support system.

    “We must put an end to this cognitive dissonance: we cannot claim to be saving nature or to be taking impactful climate action while celebrating continued ocean destruction.”

    Before the AGRIFISH negotiations had kicked off, Commissioner Sinkevičius, along with a representative of Executive Vice-President Timmerman, had accepted half a million signatures and thousands of personal messages from EU citizens, calling for the EU to end overfishing and deliver climate action. Despite this, the Commission and EU fisheries ministers chose to miss this opportunity to rebuild ocean health and combat climate change.

    The EU Commission cannot hope to deliver real world change with an EU Green Deal if it simply facilitates or rewards the same behaviour that created the problem in the first place, such as overfishing. We must put an end to this cognitive dissonance: we cannot claim to be saving nature or to be taking impactful climate action while celebrating continued ocean destruction.

    Commissioner Sinkevičius and Executive Vice-President Timmermans, you know what needs to be done; just like our scientists, firefighters, health professionals and students know. If you truly wish to deliver transformative change for nature and life on the planet, you must prioritise the preservation of our life support system.

    We must stand together to put a decisive and immediate end to overfishing.

    • Rebecca Hubbard is the Programme Director at Our Fish.

    First published on Euronews Views, 28 January 2020.

  • Video: Ocean Avengers Meet European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius

    Video: Ocean Avengers Meet European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius

    As EU Fisheries Ministers gather today in Brussels to set fishing levels for the North East Atlantic for 2020, 13-year-old Farrah Delrue and 10-year-old Josephine Seton – representing current and future generations – presented European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius with more than half a million signatures from EU citizens who are calling for an end to overfishing by EU member states. EU Member states are required to end overfishing by 2020, under the Common Fisheries Policy. Go here to learn more: http://www.climateocean.com