Non-governmental organisations are urging the European Union to stick to its commitments to decarbonise the fishing sector.
The Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, is meeting council body, Agrifish, today in response to an emerging crisis in the EU fishing industry over increasing fuel prices.
“The European Commission and EU member states must steer away from fossil fuel subsidies and instead set a course that will take EU fisheries beyond environmental destruction towards a more resilient marine environment and fishing sector,” said Flaminia Tacconi, fisheries lawyer at ClientEarth.
“Fossil fuels will always be vulnerable to price shocks and instability and fishers need a long-term solution to protect them from this.”
Programme director of Our Fish, Rebecca Hubbard, points out that, unlike sectors such as agriculture and transport, the EU does not have a plan for decarbonising the fishing fleet.
“With oil prices fluctuating and vulnerable to geopolitical uncertainty and disruption, the European Commission and member states must use the current crisis as an opportunity to wean the fishing sector off fuel subsidies and develop a transition plan to low carbon, low impact fishing once and for all,” she said.
