Commissioner Maria Damanaki visits a fish hatchery on the Mondsee (Austria)
I was in Salzburg yesterday. There, with the Austrian Minister of Agriculture Nicolaus Berlakovich, we hosted a conference to discuss the future of European aquaculture.
The sustainable development of aquaculture is crucial for our fisheries reform package to reduce overfishing and provide an alternative source of supply for the growing demand for seafood. So, I very much welcome the participation of several European Ministers, Members of the European Parliament as well as representatives of stakeholders throughout the supply chain and civil society.
Over a third of European total seafood imports are farmed products. This is the main contradiction we have to handle: We are the best, because we respect the highest standards of environmental sustainability and offer real quality products. Though our industry is stagnating. At global level, FAO estimates that today, half of the fish the world consumes comes from aquaculture; by 2030, it will be 65%. We can not miss the opportunity for a second time. Read the full entry
The Atlantic offers specific opportunities, such as strong winds and powerful tides to create green energy; productive fisheries that can sustain their communities if we fish responsibly; potentially vast sea-bed resources to be exploited; opportunities for the tourism industry; motorways of the sea that can bring new development to ports and coastal regions.
To turn these opportunities into economic growth we need to interconnect sectors, administrations and regions across borders and multiply effects. To deliver on the objectives set by the strategy, we need a collective effort and a shared vision. We all have to work together to achieve an ecosystem approach, to reduce our carbon footprint and exploit seafloor resources; to manage risks and emergencies and to achieve socially inclusive growth.
On April 1st, the European Citizens’ Initiative has become reality. It will allow one million citizens from at least seven EU Member States for proposing an initiative to the European Commission.
Far from being an April fools’ joke, this instrument is meant to compensate the EU democratic deficit, the lack of legitimacy that European institutions suffer in the eyes of citizens.
In an ideal world there would be no need for such an instrument: politics would anticipate the needs of society and be able to put together a consensus wide enough to support a common project towards progress. But I am sure that I voice the opinion of many if I say that this is not always reality. Read the full entry
Maritime spatial planning: the right answer to secure and support Blue growth for the European Union
I have already said it on this blog and I repeat it: we have not yet fully grasped the contribution that our seas and oceans can deliver to European economy.
We know that in some fields developments can be stunning: maritime transport grows at an average rate of over 8.5% every year, and cruise tourism alone has tripled its size between 1999 and 2009; offshore wind energy is expected to grow from 4 GW capacity this year to 150 GW in 2030 – this is 4000%! You have to add to this the potential of other sectors now growing up as aquaculture, deep-sea mining or non-wind renewable energies, to have the full picture.
So it is evident that the demand for space is already high and can lead to conflicts between different uses in marine areas. And it is also patent that economic developments can deliver their benefits only if the pressure on marine ecosystems is correctly managed. Read the full entry
When the EU forbade juveniles catches, back in 2006, we knew that it was a first step, but a long way was still ahead: sometimes, putting a rule in writing is not enough to have respected!
And, as a Greek, I know that the fatal taste that we developed for baby-fish in the Mediterranean will be hard to change: almost every taverna in my country continues to serve, at least occasionally, fried juveniles.
It is very much enshrined in our culture: I am a big fan of Andrea Camilleri, the well known Italian writer who created Montalbano, and I intend to write him a letter to pay tribute to his work, but also to ask him to stop having the protagonist of his novels eating small squids: that is unethical!
Moreover, if fishermen let the fish grow, they can catch it the year after, bigger and more valuable: fishing for juveniles is economically irrational. Read the full entry
The contraction of welfare state, due to the economic crisis and recession that we are experiencing in the European Union, add new and complex dimensions to the issue of equality between women and men. The tools of the past may reveal themselves insufficient to address present and future challenges.
The commitment of the entire Commission led, in 2010, to the adoption of a 5-year strategy, with concrete objectives for promoting equality between women and men. This year we are opening a consultation on the actions to counter the imbalance between men and women in positions of responsibility. Fighting unemployment and the impact of economic crisis on equality will also be central for our policies.
But the picture gets even more imbalanced as we move to specific situations in EU countries. We have to address these regional differences and their roots. Read the full entry
In June, the UN Conference on sustainable development will take place in Rio. Oceans are one of the main priorities and I will bring to the “Rio plus 20″ conference the EU commitment to move forward on several fronts, towards ambitious goals.
The impact of our plans to phase out discards will be lessened in the absence of a roadmap for the rest of the world. The same goes for illegal fishing: we have to seize the opportunity to step up international commitment and work toward a worldwide catch certification scheme.
My hope is that our partners’ ambition will match ours and that the contribution of civil society will help us to tackle outstanding issues. To do so, we need to fill the serious governance gap that exists today. Only through concrete actions across borders and sectors we will be able to achieve overarching objectives of the international community, such as biodiversity protection and address the conservation and the sustainable use of marine biological diversity in deep-sea areas, beyond national jurisdiction. Read the full entry
On Sunday evening, two thirds of the Members of the Greek Parliament voted in favour of the new loan agreement between the Greek Government and the representatives of the country’s creditors, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They validated the hard work that Greece has to undertake in order to fulfil its obligations towards its partners and to maintain its membership in the euro-zone. They said a clear “yes” to a process of tremendous sacrifices to be made by the Greek people so that the country can still have a European future. It was not easy. It was not easy for anybody.
The result of the vote was the product of a long-term process, which involved major socially painful challenges. For the first time, the two major parties – the conservatives and the social-democrats – both acknowledged the critical condition of the country and acted in a pragmatic way with regard to Greece’s obligations, stemming from its participation in the European Union and in the euro-zone.
The European decision-makers and broadly the European public opinion should not underestimate this development. Read the full entry
The initiative of making London the first Sustainable Fish City in the world is gaining momentum, also thanks to the Sustainable Fish Forum that took place in London on 24 January.
It was inspiring to see how these people value the future of our oceans and how effective is their action! It shows that restaurateurs, caterers and retailers are ready to engage and to invest in sustainability. Read the full entry
Yesterday, I watched with empathy, in the second episode of Al Jazeera programme “Pirate Fishing“, the adventures of the fisheries ministry inspector Victor Kargbo and the reporter Juliana Ruhfus, chasing the Sea Queen/Ocean-3, caught fishing illegally in Sierra Leonean waters. And I was thrilled when they succeeded!
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