12/05/2021 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 12 May, several NGOs issued key recommendations for the European Commission’s action plan to conserve fisheries resources and protect marine ecosystems. NGOs are specifically calling for a gradual phase-out of bottom-towed fishing gear (e.g. an end to bottom-towed fishing gear in all EU marine protected areas by 2022). The NGOs are also calling for the elimination by 2023 of by-catches of sensitive species through the mandatory introduction of remote electronic monitoring. The objective would be to prohibit, by 2027, “all destructive and unselective fishing gear in order to transition fisheries to low impact fishing, compatible with agreed biodiversity and climate targets”. Link to the position of these NGOs: https://bit.ly/3tHHDBC (LC)