EU’s Fishing Industries Likely To Feel A Bite If Newly Proposed Sustainability Plans Are Adopted
August 20, 2011 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis The European Union has been overexploiting its fish populations for decades, bringing its fishing industries to the brink of collapse.
Cartoon courtesy of redgreenandblue.org.Some may wonder what will likely feel worse – the demise of these industries under their current practices or the proposed plans to bring them back to sustainability.
In the EU’s latest attempt to turn the tide on unsustainability, Maria Damanaki, European commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, has introduced a set of new proposals to reform the current Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
The proposed plan will deal with issues including catch limits; banning discards (tossing back fish that are too small); decentralizing the fishing system; providing financial assistance for those that implement sustainable eco-friendly fishing practices, and ending subsidies for unsustainable fishing practices.
Damanaki made her case before the European Parliament’s fisheries committee, explaining that, “75 percent of EU stocks (fish populations) are still overfished and a third of them are in a worrying state. Europe has to rely on imports for two-thirds of its fish.”
To further highlight the economic costs, she added that, “Too many fleet segments live on low profits, depending on subsidies for survival,” and that “sustainability is at the heart of proposed reform.”