An international environmental group said yesterday that EU subsidies to the fishing industry have worsened overfishing in EU waters.
The EU spends an average of 54 million euros (US$73 million) in annual subsidies meant to stabilize fish stocks and strengthen EU fisheries’ competitiveness in foreign markets.
The EU tries to limit fishing by paying fisheries to destroy some of their ships — but, the group says, fisheries have received more money to build new ships and modernize existing ones than they have to reduce their fleets, giving fishermen the ability to catch even more fish.
“Public moneys have funded overfishing with devastating effects on the marine environment,” Pew Environment Group policy and research director Markus Knigge said. “There should not be any more financing for these measures.”
The report said 10 EU nations received 95 percent of EU fishing subsidies from 2000 to 2006. Spain received the most with 46 percent, and Italy, France, Greece, Denmark, Britain, Portugal, Germany, Poland and Sweden received another 49 percent.
The report said Spain spent more than 90 percent of its funds on projects that had a neutral or negative effect on fish such as threatened bluefin tuna. Poland was the only country that spent most of its subsidies on projects that benefited fish populations, the report said.
About 88 percent of stocks are overfished in EU waters, according to estimates for last year. The Pew report said at least nine of the EU’s key stocks of bluefin tuna, hake and monkfish are in decline because of newly installed nets that let fishermen catch larger numbers of fish.
The EU’s fisheries program no longer funds the construction of new ships, but continues to fund ship renovations. EU spokesman Johan Reyniers said the EU disagrees with the idea that these projects inherently cause overfishing.
“Support for vessel modernization fosters the use of more selective fishing gear and fishing techniques reducing the negative impact on the environment,” Reyniers said.
He said many of the issues in the report have already been addressed in the current fisheries program and the EU will continue to improve its policies to make fishing more sustainable.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is constructing a new counter-stealth radar system on a disputed reef in the South China Sea that would significantly expand its surveillance capabilities in the region, satellite imagery suggests. Analysis by London-based think tank Chatham House suggests China is upgrading its outpost on Triton Island (Jhongjian Island, 中建島) on the southwest corner of the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), building what might be a launching point for an anti-ship missile battery and sophisticated radar system. “By constraining the US ability to operate stealth aircraft, and threaten stealth aircraft, these capabilities in the South China Sea send
HAVANA: Repeated blackouts have left residents of the Cuban capital concerned about food, water supply and the nation’s future, but so far, there have been few protests Maria Elena Cardenas, 76, lives in a municipal shelter on Amargura Street in Havana’s colonial old town. The building has an elegant past, but for the last few days Maria has been cooking with sticks she had found on the street. “You know, we Cubans manage the best we can,” she said. She lives in the shelter because her home collapsed, a regular occurrence in the poorest, oldest parts of the beautiful city. Cuba’s government has spent the last days attempting to get the island’s national grid functioning after repeated island-wide blackouts. Without power, sleep becomes difficult in the heat, food
Botswana is this week holding a presidential election energized by a campaign by one previous head-of-state to unseat his handpicked successor whose first term has seen rising discontent amid a downturn in the diamond-dependent economy. The charismatic Ian Khama dramatically returned from self-exile six weeks ago determined to undo what he has called a “mistake” in handing over in 2018 to Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who seeks re-election tomorrow. While he cannot run as president again having served two terms, Khama has worked his influence and standing to support the opposition in the southern African country of 2.6 million people. “The return of
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected a plan for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to visit Kyiv due to Guterres’ attendance at this week’s BRICS summit in Russia, a Ukrainian official said on Friday. Kyiv was enraged by Guterres’ appearance at the event in the city of Kazan on Thursday and his handshake with its host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Guterres, who called for a “just peace” in Ukraine at the BRICS event and has repeatedly condemned the invasion, discussed a visit to Ukraine with Zelenskiy when they met in New York
RSS