Beginning on 8 March, the European Parliament will debate and vote on proposed revisions to the fisheries Control Regulation, which determines how fishing activities in the EU are controlled.
The Members of the European Parliament can set Europe on the right track towards a more sustainable seafood system by voting for four key measures:
- Mandate the use of onboard cameras to make EU fisheries truly sustainable
- Keep track of unwanted catches, including of protected and sensitive species
- Ensure that all the fish we catch are accounted for
- Shine a light on how Member States manage our fisheries resources
Their vote offers the opportunity to contribute to a post-pandemic recovery that is more aligned with the balance of nature and can empower citizens to make better informed and more responsible seafood purchases.
The sustainability of Europe’s seafood hangs in the balance.
Send a tweet to Members of the European Parliament to ask them to vote to for legal and sustainable seafood.
For accurate records of everything we catch, including sensitive and protected species, the use of Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) must be mandatory and introduced for purposes extending beyond ensuring compliance with the landing obligation. REM is internationally proven to be a reliable, cost-effective and scalable means to support well-managed, accountable and sustainable fishing.
Dolphins, seabirds, turtles and other sensitive species die by the thousands each year due to incidental capture in EU fishing nets. Fishers are not currently required to record where and when this ‘bycatch’ takes place.
Knowing the exact amount of fish caught can be difficult at first glance, so fishers have a margin of error for estimating and recording their catches. However, the Fisheries Committee proposal to increase this flexibility will allow up to 40% of catches to go missing from the records.
Members of the European Parliament, fishers and civil society have the right to know how shared fisheries resources are managed. However, Member States can currently veto the disclosure of fisheries information without any reason. MEPs will be kept in the dark as long as Member States control the light switch.
Send a tweet to Members of the European Parliament to ask them to vote to for legal and sustainable seafood.
Progress towards a sustainable EU seafood system
