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European Fish Week: Fisheries must go
On 2 June 2011, OCEAN2012 launched a photo and documentary exhibit at ZSL London Zoo Aquarium. The event is one of more than 100 being organized by the OCEAN2012 coalition to launch the second annual European Fish Week (June 4 – 12, 2011), which will engage citizens across Europe to call for an effective reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). These collective actions coincide with World Oceans Day on June 8 and the anticipated publication of the European Commission’s proposal for a reformed CFP in mid-July.
tDiscards: A typical "bycatch" from a prawn trawler shows the wastage involved in current fishing practice.
Most EU fish stocks are now overfished, many of them below safe biological limits. It was not always like this. In the recent past, stocks were healthier and fishing communities were wealthier, with more fish, boats, fishers and communities dependent on fisheries in Europe.
During this week of action, OCEAN2012 member groups are inviting EU citizens to witness the impact overfishing has had on the marine environment and learn how the EU’s CFP reform is an opportunity to go back to the future.
“During European Fish Week, we will be collecting stories and evidence of the past richness of our seas and fishing communities and telling Richard Benyon, Minister for Natural Environment and Fisheries, that we want it back,” said Ian Campbell, OCEAN2012 UK co-ordinator at nef (the new economics foundation).
“The story of fishing in Europe to date is a tragic tale of overexploitation of the seas that has reduced their abundance and productivity and weakened the fishing communities dependent on them. The current process to reform the Common Fisheries Policy could reverse this trend and ensure a sustainable future for fishing communities across Europe.”
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Census of Marine Life’s History of Marine Animal Populations project, evidence of Europe’s lost fisheries is clear:
- In 1900, the average length of cod landed in the North Sea was 1 to1.5 metres, and the average age was eight to 10 years. Today, the average length of landed cod is a mere 50 centimetres long, and the average age is less than three years.
- In 1949, the bluefin tuna fishery in northern Europe peaked with an annual catch of 5,485 tonnes. Today, the commercial fishery for bluefin tuna in northern Europe is closed because the fish are gone.
- In the 1640s, the Dutch herring fleet had 700 to 800 vessels manned by a total crew of 11,000 to 12,000, with an annual catch of about 50,000 tonnes. Today, one trawler with a crew of 10 to 11 can catch the same amount of herring.
Fish dependence - 2011 update
The increasing reliance of the EU on fish from elsewhere
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