Sustainable fishing practices in the EU are under threat from member state governments, a leading environmental NGO has claimed.
According to the WWF, European Union governments are lining-up to reject a recent European Parliament report aimed at ending the practice of discards and overfishing.
Fisheries ministers are due to gather in Brussels on 25-26 February ahead of talks between the council and parliament aimed at bringing the legislation to a conclusion. Member states will negotiate discard timelines and compliance with existing environmental legislation.
The discussions will form the basis of the Irish presidency’s negotiating mandate with the parliament. However, rumours are circulating that the presidency is seeking to reject the parliament’s position.
Ahead of the discussions next week, the WWF have urged the council to adopt the parliament’s position, which, according to Tony Long, director of the WWF European Policy Office, will deliver a fisheries model in the EU that is not only sustainable but that functions better ensuring the safeguard of jobs, businesses and fish stocks.
Sustainable fisheries’ is a reality, he said, the majority vote by MEPs in the plenary two weeks ago showed us that. Allowing fish stocks to recover, following scientific advice, proper planning and management, eliminating wasteful practices, ensuring that public money is used to promote better enforcement, monitoring and control of Common Fisheries Policy rules, and making sure that the same laws for EU fisheries are applied abroad. These are not impossible or unreasonable asks. This is just plain common sense and something which we are sure fisheries ministers will want to follow.