Tag: fish

European Union ministers reached a deal yesterday (15 December) to reduce many of next year's fish quotas for overexploited species, while cautiously increasing others to ensure the livelihood of fishermen.

The European Commission decided to provisionally back a proposed ban on the international trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna on Tuesday (8 September).

Environmental NGOs have called for fish and seafood products to carry labels indicating their level of mercury content, claiming that eating fish can be "hazardous".

EU fisheries policy will be "fully reviewed" with "major reform" proposed by 2012 at the latest, the EU executive announced yesterday (17 September). But environmental groups said "drastic and urgent" change would be required for European fisheries to become sustainable.

The European Commission will restructure its fisheries and maritime affairs department along geographic lines as part of a "far-reaching" reorganisation which includes its re-branding as 'DG MARE', it announced yesterday (27 March).

Beam trawl and cod fisheries should be selected as pilot projects for the elimination of discards with a view to extending the scheme across the entire EU fishing sector, recommends a report adopted yesterday (31 January) in the European Parliament.

The Commission has proposed tough measures to combat pirate fishing and thus protect fragile ecosystems in the high seas. Under the proposed new system, EU vessels would need to ask for permission to fish in waters not governed by international rules and importers would need to prove that their products are not a result of illegal action.

The European Commission yesterday closed EU fisheries for bluefin tuna until the end of the year, in a move aimed at replenishing stocks but which the Greens criticised as being "too little, too late".

In a new study, the Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) argues that climate change is fundamentally altering marine life and that the problem is compounded by human activity such as fisheries, energy production and tourism.