common fisheries policy
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Posted by jamie — 13 December 2010 at 6:41pm
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German agriculture minister Ilse Aigner walks past Greenpeace's trawler in Brussels, Belgium
Every year, it’s the same. Despite
evidence and advice from marine biologists that really there aren't plenty more
fish in the sea, European fishing quotas are set way above what's required to
halt and reverse the downward spiral of many commercial species. As Willie
pointed out this time two years ago, it's a pantomime farce which comes
along like clockwork in the week before Christmas. But that may be about to
change.
Posted by Willie — 4 August 2010 at 10:57am
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Not plenty more where that came from © Greenpeace/Cobb
If you're reading this in the UK, you ran out of fish today.
Basically, the UK eats more fish than its waters produce and, thanks to some nifty fish-counting from the clever folks at NEF, that equates to the 4th of August being the day we use up our year's fish supply. In comparison to the EU as a whole, we fair a month better but then we are a country with quite a lot of seas, certainly in comparison with, er, Austria and Romania. Yet, for almost five full months we are relying on fish from somewhere else. And that might be okay, if there was plenty of it to go around. But of course, as the old saying should go, there aren't plenty more fish in the sea.
Posted by Willie — 4 May 2010 at 6:06pm
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The past few days have seen a couple of pretty important
meetings in Spain about the reform of the Common
Fisheries Policy (the CFP). You might not have seen much coverage, which isn't
that surprising when there's an election going on, nor when you appreciate that
very few people know what CFP stands for. Amongst fishy circles, the acronym
is often re-interpreted, but I'm too polite to say what the F would stand
for.
Last edited 19 December 2008 at 3:46pm
Commenting on today's
announcement of the EU fishing quotas, which has flown in the face of science by
allowing an increase in the amount of North Sea
cod which can be caught, Greenpeace oceans campaigner Willie Mackenzie
said:
"Today's announcement is
disastrous for the fishing industry. The cod quota could lead to fishermen
fishing themselves out of a job, because these catch levels could see an end to
North Sea cod.
Posted by Willie — 19 December 2008 at 3:40pm
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In many ways the bluster from Europe's fisheries ministers the week before Christmas is as predictable as a pantomime script, if only it were meant to be funny! They all trumpet a 'fair deal' and talk about 'striking a balance', and most hilariously, 'respecting the science'. But in reality short-term political expediency continues to trump scientific reality. Today the EU announced its fishing quotas for 2009, as usual doing their best to ignore their own scientists' recommendations. Instead they agreed to increase quotas for endangered North Sea cod by 30 per cent, after the scientists had recommended that to be safe they shouldn't be catching any.
It is now a well known fact that fishing has left stocks of popular fish like cod and tuna in serious decline. To help ocean life recover, we need to know more about the fish we choose to eat and try less popular species. But knowing which fish to choose at the supermarket or in a restaurant can be a challenge. 
