» Campaigns » Fisheries

 
See below the contents for a brief synopsis of each item on this page
 



Despite what EU Fisheries Ministers may say, CFP reform is failing

The reality is that EU fish stocks can now only meet the EU’s requirements for fish for six months of the year due to depleted stocks and over-fishing, and the reform process has failed to recognise that a cardinal principle of CFP reform must the restoration of “food security” – namely, the ability to meet our need for fish for all twelve months of the year, and to do so year after year.

Serious Shortcomings in the Definition of MFSD Descriptor 3 : MARINET Statement, October 2012

MARINET has informed the OSPAR Committee considering how best to define the “good environmental status” Descriptors of the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive that the definition being advanced for commercial fish and shellfish stocks has serious shortcomings and that they must be urgently addressed.

Establishment of Fish Stock Recovery Areas

A report recommending that “fish stock recovery areas” covering between 10-20% of territorial seas of EU Member States be established.

Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Central to the full implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) — and the genuine reform of the Common Fisheries Policy is the scientific definition of Descriptor 3 which addresses what “good environmental status” means for commercial fish and shellfish populations. MARINET has serious concerns that the scientific definition being prepared by the […]

Briefing on Maximum Sustainable Yield

We provide here a discussion on the definition and meaning of “Maximum Sustainable Yield” [MSY] both within the context of the EU Common Fisheries Policy and fisheries management in general. This discussion reports on a Briefing on this subject by OCEAN2012, and provides the evidence and argument advanced by MARINET for a more practical, as opposed to scientific, definition and usage of this key fisheries management tool. Unless this more practical definition is employed, MARINET believes that neither food security nor genuinely restored fish populations can be achieved in EU seas.

EU Funding for the Common Fisheries Policy : European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)

We provide here the response of MARINET (pdf file) to the UK Government, Defra, in connection with its public consultation on whether the EU’s proposals for reform of the funding of the CFP and the objectives for that funding, via the EMFF, are correct and appropriate. Date, April 2012.  

EU Court of Auditors’ 2011 Report on Over-capacity in the EU Fishing Fleet and the failure of the Common Fisheries Policy to respond

We provide here the full text of the 2012 Report by the EU Court of Auditors into whether the Common Fisheries Policy and the European governmental institutions are properly addressing the question of overcapacity in the EU fishing fleet. The Court of Auditors concludes that there are serious failings and shortcomings in the CFP in […]

House of Commons EFRA Committee consultation on CFP Reform

We provide here (pdf file) MARINET’s submission made to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee in connection with the Committee’s request for public submissions about the adequacy or otherwise of the EU Commission’s draft proposals announced on 13th July 2011 for reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy.

Food Security is central to CFP reform, supported by the correct policy and management objectives

We provide here (pdf file) a summary of the essential objectives that reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) must implement in order to achieve the primary aim of CFP Reform, namely the re-establishment of Food Security. Presented here is our graph, researched from scientific papers, which plots the decline in the North Sea […]

MARINET has made a submission to the EU Commission

MARINET has made a submission to the EU Commission in connection with the Commission’s public consultation on how fishing quotas should be set for 2012 and beyond, and how over-fishing can be eliminated — “Fishing Opportunities : COM (2011) 298 final”. Our submission explains precisely how these to key issues of CFP Reform should be […]

Defining the compliance of Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy with EU law

We provide here (pdf file) a short statement, agreed with Ocean 2012, (www.ocean2012.eu) which explains how to determine whether the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, and its reform, operates in compliance with EU law. This compliance is essential not just in terms on legal principle, but also because such compliance will ensure the use of the […]

Wild Salmon Under Threat

Wild Atlantic salmon under severe threat — We provide here the text of an article by Robert MacDougall-Davis, a biologist and writer specialising in fish ecology, about the severe threat to the survival of the Wild Atlantic Salmon, the causes of that threat, and the management strategies needed to bring the Wild Atlantic Salmon back from the brink of commercial, if not actual, extinction.

The Decline in North Sea Fish stocks between 1880 and 2010

We provide here our Briefing (pdf file) which records the severe decline that has taken place in most stocks of commercial fish species in the North Sea between 1880 and 2010. 1880 marks the advent of the introduction of steam powered fishing practices which have been further developed throughout the subsequent 120 years to result […]

MARINET’s Report to Marine Scotland (Scottish Government) on whether fish farming is acceptable, or not

This report (pdf file) outlines the severe stress that farming of carnivorous species — salmon, cod — places on both wild populations and the wider marine ecosystem, and examines the serious threat posed by genetic modification of farmed fish, and the serious inadequacies in the current regulatory regime for the assessment of the environmental impact […]

Why The Boom Times Ended

A fascinating history of the rise and fall of the fishing industry as told in Ian Robb’s book ‘Memories of the East Anglian Fishing Industry’.

Fisheries monitoring via the use of Fisheries Log Books and Geographical Information Systems

Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform can nowadays be greatly assisted by electronic, computer-based aides that record in detail a boat’s location and its fishing activity. This means that compliance with quotas can be accurately recorded and logged and this information can, in turn, be used to manage fish stocks and their related quotas with a […]

Ecological Meltdown in the Firth of Clyde

We provide here (pdf file) the article published July 2010 by Dr. Ruth Thurstan and Prof. Callum Roberts, York University, titled Ecological Meltdown in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland: Two Centuries of Change in a Coastal Marine Ecosystem. This article records how overfishing in the Firth of Clyde has brought its marine ecosystem close to […]

MARINET’s Briefing on its Common Fisheries Policy Reform Campaign

We reproduce here our briefing (pdf file) which explains in simple terms the urgent need for CFP Reform and, most importantly, how the our CFP Reform Campaign will deliver a result which guarantees, firstly, that commercial fish stocks will be restored to historic population levels, and secondly, their future management will maintain these restored population […]

The effects of 118 years of industrial fishing on UK bottom trawl fisheries

We publish here a study (pdf file), published in Nature Communications 4th May 2010, by Prof Callum Roberts and Ruth Thurstan (York University) and Dr. Simon Brockington (Marine Conservation Society) which shows that developments in the UK’s trawling fleet have masked an “extraordinary” decline in the amount of fish in our waters over the past […]

MARINET makes submission to EU Fisheries Reform public consultation

The EU has commenced a process which will lead to reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Up until now, the CFP has been determined by the Council of Ministers, with MEPs and the Parliament having no say in the matter. However, following the passing of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament is now a party in constitutional terms to the formulation of the Common Fisheries Policy. This means there there is now a wider democratic input, and the new Common Fisheries Policy will have to reflect the wishes of the European Parliament.