Seas At Risk is deeply disappointed by the decision on fishing limits for deep sea fish stocks for 2019-2020 taken by the Fisheries’ Council of Ministers tonight. This was the final opportunity for fisheries ministers to end overfishing of deep sea species by 2015 or at the latest by 2020, as legally required under the Common Fisheries Policy. In their decision, however, the ministers have reneged on that obligation.
In 2016, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a new deep-sea regulation, bringing outdated EU legislation in line with international agreements and scientific developments. To ensure that the new objectives are being achieved as foreseen, Seas At Risk and allied NGOs have written to Commissioner Vella, calling for an effective implementation of the deep sea regulation, to protect deep-sea ecosystems from the harmful impacts of deep-sea fishing.
Seas At Risk welcomes the adoption by the European Parliament of the deep sea regulation, which includes a ban on bottom trawling below 800 metres in EU waters and the obligation to close areas to bottom trawling below 400 metres where vulnerable marine ecosystems are present or likely to occur.
Brussels 15.11.2016: Seas at Risk, The DSCC and Bloom are disappointed by the decisions on fishing limits for deep-sea fish stocks taken by the Fisheries’ Council of Ministers yesterday evening. Ministers did reduce the total allowable catch for most of the deep-sea stocks but this decision will not stop overfishing. Most of the quotas are set well above the levels recommended by the scientific community to achieve sustainable fishing and will consequently allow continued overfishing of vulnerable deep-sea species.
Seas At Risk and the Fisheries Secretariat sent their recommendations for the upcoming bi-annual Council decision for deep-sea species. The organisations ask fisheries ministers to adopt precautious fishing opportunities in line with scientific advice and the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy to complement the recently agreed deep-sea access regime in the protection of the deep sea.
Brussels - The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (of which Seas At Risk is a steering group member) has welcomed the agreement reached on 30 June by the European Parliament, Council of Ministers, and European Commission on key provisions for a new European Union (EU) regulation on deep-sea fishing.
London - The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) this week agreed to close six new areas totalling around 11,000 square kilometres to bottom fishing to protect vulnerable deep-sea species ecosystems and extended its prohibition on the catch of several shark species.
Brussels - The EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council today agreed on deep sea fisheries quotas for 2015 and 2016 that will allow for the continuation of overfishing of these particularly fragile species.
Brussels - The Commission has released its proposal for bi-annual deep sea quotas for 2015 and 2016.
Vigo - The 36th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) closed today in Vigo, Spain.
The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, or NEAFC, this week has adopted stronger regulations for the management of deep-sea fisheries and the conservation of deep-sea species and habitats in the North East Atlantic.
The new economics foundation (nef) today released a study that shows how deep sea trawling is too much of a cost to pay.
During a Fisheries Committee debate in the European Parliament on 18th June, the European Commission presented new evidence showing that the economic dependence on deep sea fisheries in Europe is low.
The European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee has decided at the last moment to delay the adoption process of a new deep sea access regime. This may leave the EU stuck with its outdated deep sea legislation for several additional years, putting deep sea fish stocks and vulnerable ecosystems at further risk.
Today the Council agreed on deep-sea fishing quota for 2013 and 2014, and set them higher than proposed by the Commission for half of the stocks, ignoring the vulnerability of these stocks.
In a letter sent ahead of the November Fisheries Council meeting, Seas At Risk and the Fisheries Secretariat are calling on EU Ministers to set quotas for deep sea species that reflect the vulnerability of these stocks given their unique life traits.
The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) today welcomed the proposal by the European Commission to phase out destructive deep-sea bottom trawling and bottom gillnetting by EU fishing fleets in the Northeast Atlantic.
A United Nations (UN) meeting on oceans biodiversity has heard how poorly high seas fishing nations have performed in implementing their commitments to ground breaking resolutions adopted in 2006 and 2009, designed to protect biodiversity in the deep sea.
After complaints from Seas At Risk member Danmarks Naturfredningsforening (DN), the European Commission has written to the Danish government over violations concerning dredging permits in a Natura 2000 site.
At the Fisheries Council meeting which concluded last night, EU Ministers gambled that deep-sea stocks will survive another two years of overfishing, adopting only minor reductions in the allowable catches for deep-sea fisheries.
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