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Dear readers,
This week, on October 5th and 6th, many ministers, some presidents, celebrities, civil society and CEOs of businesses will gather in Malta, where the EU will host the Our Ocean conference, continuing a tradition started in 2014 in the US. At previous Our Ocean conferences bold commitments on Ocean protection were made by states, foundations and civil society and included billions of euros and millions of km2 of new marine protected areas. This year the European Commission hopes to get more commitments from businesses. The spotlight will be on problems like plastic pollution and overfishing.
At the Our Ocean conference, Seas At Risk will launch a mini-campaign to encourage European governments to keep to their legal commitment to achieve ecologically diverse, clean and healthy seas by 2020 under the EU Marine Directive. A video, social media and petition should provide sufficient support for meaningful steps by the EU Member States.
Ahead of the conference, Malta’s beaches will be cleaned, but the next tide will simply bring in more plastic pollution. Strong legislative measures to reduce the source of the problem and stop the flow of plastic into our seas need to be agreed, starting with a reduction of single use plastic items.
On World Maritime Day environmental NGO's criticised proposals from the International Chamber of Shipping that would mean no reduction in the shipping industry's carbon footprint until at least 2050 and 4 degrees of warming.
On the agenda of the European Parliament two positive votes: a vote to stop overfishing in the North Sea and a vote to allow insects as fish feed ingredients in aquaculture which could ease pressure on wild fish.
Enjoy the reading!
Seas At Risk's team
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Seas At Risk launches a campaign to save EU seas by 2020 #emojiocean
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The EU Marine Directive requires Member States to achieve clean, healthy and productive EU seas by 2020 - a much needed holistic approach to marine management. However, 2020 is only two years away and NGOs are concerned that action by Member States is too slow and Programmes of Measures too weak. Seas At Risk has therefore launched a campaign to get European citizens involved to encourage EU Ministers to take further action to achieve their noble commitment.
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Commission and Council claim they are green, yet why are there single use plastics everywhere?
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In response to the letter sent by Seas At Risk and 6 other NGOs calling on the EU institutions to give up their addiction to single use plastics, the Commission and the Council both claim they are working towards greener public procurement. The Parliament has to date provided no response to the letter sent on 31st March, raising questions on their commitment to the Circular Economy.
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European Parliament wants to end overfishing in the North Sea
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Seas At Risk welcomes the decision of the European Parliament for a robust North Sea multiannual management plan that will effectively see an end to overfishing of species living near the sea bottom in that region. The plan covers fish stocks that represent almost 70% of the North Sea catch.
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Recommendations to EU fisheries ministers on Baltic Sea fishing quotas in 2018
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Ahead of the next Agrifish Council, Seas At Risk and the Fisheries Secretariat published their recommendations to EU fisheries ministers on Baltic Sea fishing quotas in 2018.
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Insects as fish feed ingredient - the way forward for a more responsible aquaculture
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Today 24% of all seafood consumed in the European Union comes from aquaculture. In order to reduce environmental pressures by aquaculture on marine ecosystems, aquaculture needs to become more sustainable. A cornerstone in achieving this goal is to introduce alternative feeds, which do not use fishmeal and fish oil. For this, protein-rich insect larvae have particularly great potential.
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Almost three-quarters of new ships carrying consumer goods already exceed IMO's post-2025 energy efficiency requirement - new study
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The efficiency of the 10% best ships reveals how stringent the requirements should be. Almost three-quarters of all new containerships, which emit around a quarter of global ship CO2 emissions, already comply with the post-2025 requirements of the IMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), a new study reveals. Additionally, the best 10% of new containerships are already almost twice as efficient as the requirement for 10 years time.
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Message for the shipping industry on World Maritime Day
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Shipping industry proposals for "carbon neutral growth" would mean 4 degree of warming and climate catastrophe. Which shipping companies support that?
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The race to explore the deep sea accelerates
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During its annual meeting, the International Seabed Authority(ISA) set a target date of 2020 to finalise the regulations for the exploitation of minerals in the deep sea, bringing the start of large-scale mining within close range. During the meeting, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition called on the member statesto open closed doors, bring transparency to the heart of its workand to put into place an Environment Committee.
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The MARE Foundation calls on Polish government to cease its support for deep sea mining
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Ahead of the annual meeting of the International Seabed Authority, Seas at Risk member the MARE Foundation called on the Polish government to cease its sponsorship of deep-sea exploration in areas beyond its national jurisdiction. Poland, however, ignored this appeal, instead continuing with its application for a new deep-sea mineral exploration contract in an area that the UN Convention on Biodiversity has declared to be of special importance for the health of oceans. This new contract was approved by the International Seabed Authority on 10th August.
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New mobile app transforms any smartphone into a tool for ocean protection
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A smartphone app from Project AWARE®, member of Seas At Risk, will enable scuba divers around the world to record levels of marine debris now causing increasing problems for wildlife and ocean habitats.
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