RSSCategory: EU Government News

Longliners must return tope

| January 29, 2012
Longliners must return tope

Commercial fishermen using longlines, which are thought to take a huge amount of tope bycatch, must now return tope (and other sharks) to the sea unharmed in most European waters. From the official journal of the EU catches taken from EU and international waters of I, IIa, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, XII and XIV [...]

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EU Consultation on invasive alien species

| January 29, 2012
EU Consultation on invasive alien species

Invasive alien species (IAS) are species whose introduction and/or spread, outside their natural past or present distribution, threatens biological diversity. They may cause serious damage not only to ecosystems but also to crops and livestock, disrupting the local ecology, impacting on human health and producing serious economic effects. While some EU instruments are dealing with [...]

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EC CFP Reform ‘at a glance’

| January 20, 2012
EC CFP Reform ‘at a glance’

The EC has released a quick overview to the proposed reform of the CFP, naturally it’s long on ‘what’ and short on ‘how’ and of course the focus is on maximising commercial exploitation rather than maximising the regeneration of species. It’s key proposals are : Take action against over-fishing and in favour of the sustainable [...]

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Clyde nephrops discards

| December 30, 2011
Clyde nephrops discards

Approximately 80 tonnes of biomass are discarded every working day by nephrops  trawlers in the Clyde Sea area (Scotland) compared with only 0.7 tonnes in the Central Adriatic.  On a fleet basis that means that every year a minimum of 25,000 tonnes is discarded in the Clyde Sea area and 35,000 tonnes in the Central [...]

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Commercials to be paid to change their ways – again

| November 3, 2011
Commercials to be paid to change their ways – again

According to Commissioner Damanaki, the EU is to pay fishermen during the “very difficult period” while the practice of discarding over-quota fish is banned. She told a recent conference at Fishmongers’ Hall in London that a discard ban was “an absolute must” and that she would produce a plan for financing the transition to it [...]

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Damanaki on EU seas

| October 31, 2011
Damanaki on EU seas

In a recent communication Ms Damanaki said: “Our seas and oceans are in crises: ocean ecosystems are deteriorating, and this poses a direct threat to the coastal communities and sea-based economies that depend on them and that are the key pillars of European economy and quality of life. “By contrast to that, if protected and [...]

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Politicians ignore advice–again.

| October 2, 2011
Politicians ignore advice–again.

Once again conservation efforts have been over-ridden by political interests. At last week’s annual meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), fishing powers agreed to cut international quotas for threatened skates by just half the amount advised by scientists. They also decided to require reporting of incidental shark catches by broad category rather than [...]

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EU to stop cod fishing off West Scotland

| September 30, 2011
EU to stop cod fishing off West Scotland

According to Mike Parks, from the Scottish White Fish Producers Association, based in north-west Scotland, a “state of anarchy” still exists in parts of the fishing industry where everyone is out for what they can get from a diminishing stock. As a result, stocks have collapsed – 88% of European stocks are overexploited and 30% [...]

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