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Tag ‘IUU’

TOWARDS RIO PLUS 20: THE WAY TO GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
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Rio plus 20

The future we want

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

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ILLEGAL FISHING: WE NEED SHARED COMMITMENT

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
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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!
 

I am ever more convinced and committed that the EU has to play a leading role to stop illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Read the full entry

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BLUEFIN TUNA: A MATTER OF RESPONSIBILITY

Thursday, November 17th, 2011
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The news recently appeared in the media present the situation of bluefin tuna as appalling: we consume about 140% more tuna than what we are supposed to catch, vessels fish where they are forbidden to and by-catches are worrying.

Potential bluefin tuna spawning habitat in the Mediterranean Sea

Potential bluefin tuna spawning habitat in the Mediterranean Sea

Even if allegations have to be investigated and data verified, we must admit that much remains to be done to achieve sustainability and management and control measures for the protection of tuna and tuna-like species are not as effective as they should be.

As the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) holds its annual meeting in Istanbul, the European Union is tabling ambitious proposals for the conservation of Mediterranean swordfish, and tropical tunas and sharks, in line with science recommendations, and promoting mitigation measures against incidental catches of seabirds.

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EU-US: A PARTNERSHIP TO ERADICATE ILLEGAL FISHING

Monday, September 12th, 2011
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Commissioner Maria Damanaki (left) and Dr Jane Lubchenco (right), Commissioner Maria Damanaki and Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator, on their way to sign the EU-US joint statement on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

Commissioner Maria Damanaki and Dr. Jane Lubchenco on their way to sign the EU-US joint statement against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

I am just on my way back from the United States, where I did sign a significant agreement between Europe and the US administration on putting an end to pirate fishing with Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator.

The substantial follow up in the media on this topic shows the importance given to this subject by the public at large, but also that real action is expected to follow soon. We have established an EU-US High Level Dialogue on Fisheries Policy to set out the next steps in the immediate future. Read the full entry

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ILLEGAL FISHING: FIRST POSITIVE SIGNALS

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
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Last week something really new happened. Thanks to an unprecedented cooperation between the European Commission and Spanish authorities, these have seized 500 tonnes of fish probably caught illegally off West Africa, which were being landed in Las Palmas by a refrigeration vessel, owned by a South Korean company and flagged to Panama.

The block on catches of octopus, squid, sole, shrimp and grouper represents the biggest action against the landing of illegally caught fish since the EU regulation against illegal fishing became operational. Read the full entry

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