The EU is refusing to abandon environmentally destructive fishing practices, says climate activist Seas At Risk.
The association is ‘appalled by the lack of ambition’ shown by fisheries ministers who it says have failed to align with the European Commission’s attempt to shift to low-impact fisheries, protect threatened species and end bottom trawling in marine protected areas.
It slams ministers’ conclusions on the EC’s Pact for Fisheries and Oceans, accusing them of using specious arguments to maintain the status quo.
“Using food security arguments to allow destructive fishing practices is a perverse paradox,” said Remi Cossetti, junior fisheries policy officer at Seas At Risk.
“Without healthy marine ecosystems there is no food coming from the ocean.
“Fisheries ministers’ lack of understanding of this basic notion, and their systematic disregard of the health of the seas in favour of short-term economic benefits lead us to worryingly question their actual competence in fisheries management.”
The package proposed by the European Commission addresses both fisheries and environmental elements, but Seas At Risk says only fisheries ministers expressed themselves. It is urging environmental ministers to also comment and ensure national governments take a more balanced approach to safeguard the future of the oceans and the livelihoods that depend on it.
“We are going through an unprecedented ecological crisis,” said Tatiana Nuño, senior marine policy officer at Seas At Risk.
“Marine biodiversity is declining at an even faster pace than on land. Destructive fishing practices like bottom trawling have no place in the ocean, and even less in marine protected areas.
“Negative conclusions by EU fisheries ministers are an act of irresponsibility towards citizens and the ocean,” she concluded.
