Europe’s fishing policy has failed and nearly nine tenths of its fish stocks are overfished, the European Commission has admitted.
The Commission published a Green Paper proposing radical reforms of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and began an open debate on the proposed measures which will last until the end of this year.
Among the proposals are:
- A ban on the “discarding” of under-sized and unmarketable fish at sea.
- Making the ecological sustainability of fish stocks the paramount objective of European policy, on which economic viability depends, rather than a factor to be weighed off against the survival of the fishing industry, as it is at present.
- Devolving decisions on the management of fisheries closer to the people they affect.
Continue reading ‘EU admits nine tenths of fish stocks are overfished’
