“End overfishing” - that’s the message delivered to Virginijus Sinkevičius, the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, by 309 scientists on Thursday 10 September.
At the initiative of the NGO Our Fish, 309 scientists signed a statement calling on the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU Member States to end overfishing “as an urgent and necessary response to the biodiversity and climate crises”.
The scientists are urging the EU to set total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas in line with scientific advice and believe that “ecosystem-based fisheries management is critical to the health of the ocean and its capacity to respond to climate change”.
The statement will be delivered to the fisheries ministers of the EU Member States, who will need to set 2021 catch limits at the end of this year.
Last April, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and Our Fish called on the EU and the Member States to “include an end to overfishing in their climate legislation”. A study showed that EU countries have exceeded fish catch limits by 8.78 million tonnes over the last 20 years.
The statement can be found at: https://bit.ly/3ifCDQ4 (Lionel Changeur)