17 Oct
2006 - Brussels, Belgium - WWF welcomes the advice
released yesterday by the scientists of the International
Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
on fishing opportunities for 2007 in the North
Atlantic. The outlook was positive for spring
spawning stocks of herring as well as stocks of
northern hake. However, news was bleak for shark,
cod, anchovy and sandeel fisheries, for which
closures were strongly recommended. WWF expects
that the emergency will be well understood: it
is now the fifth time over four years that scientists
have been advising a closure on cod fisheries
and that the EU has remained deaf to ICES recommendations.
The scientific body is now also
calling for a dramatic reduction of plaice and
sole catches to maintain the stocks at a sustainable
level. With half the plaice catch thrown overboard,
strict management and control are needed for what
is currently Europe’s most wasteful fisheries.
“ICES advice is coming at the
right time and WWF hope that the European Commission
will endorse this recommendations in its proposal
to the EU Member States for the December Council.
Member States and the Commission need to take
a long-sighted view for the sustainable management
of Europe’s valuable fish stocks. The near collapse
of some of these is not only a concern for human
exploitation but it is also posing a major threat
to the wide European marine eco-systems”, says
Carol Phua, Fisheries Policy Officer at WWF European
Policy Office.
Caroline Alibert, WWF European Policy Office
