“Environmental NGO Oceana has urged Mediterranean countries to preserve young and undersized fish in a bid to restore fish stocks in “the world’s most overfished sea”.
As FAO’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) is to meet in Athens next week, Oceana has called for all new management plans to protect spawning and breeding grounds. “Additionally, it is vital that minimum landing sizes are set for all commercial species as part of the post-2020 strategy of this international body,” it said.”
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Fonte: Undercurrent News, 1 de novembro de 2019
“On April 2019, the former European Parliament adopted a disastrous position on the next European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF, 2021-2027) that, if finally adopted, would further damage the future of our ocean and fishers.
“Após décadas de sobrepesca e políticas de pesca ineficazes, o Parlamento Europeu e os governos dos 28 Estados Membros da União Europeia chegaram a acordo em 2013 sobre reformas ambiciosas à Política Comum das Pescas da UE (PCP). O objetivo: tornar a pesca sustentável fixando objetivos para recuperar unidades populacionais, manter ecossistemas saudáveis e assegurar estabilidade e lucros para as frotas da UE.”
“Os livros infantis não precisam de ser sempre com histórias de encantar. Aqui pede-se aos miúdos que arregacem as mangas e ponham mãos à obra para salvar o mundo e os oceanos. Um desafio que está à altura de todos. São 50 missões para miúdos, com dicas práticas e simples. Bastam dois minutos, diz o surfista e escritor inglês Martin Dorey. Miúdos Contra o Plástico, da editora Nuvem de Letras, e lança missões simples como: combater o plástico nas datas festivas, nos dias de passeio, ao almoço, mochila, na sanita ou no parque.”
“As artes e utensílios de pesca abandonados são responsáveis pela maior percentagem de plástico nos oceanos, revela um relatório do Greenpeace.
“The largest synthesis of important marine areas conducted to date reveals that a large portion of earth’s oceans are considered important and are good candidates for protection. A first of its kind, the study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers including 
“The oceans have helped slow climate change as they absorb and store carbon for thousands of years. The IPCC Special Report on the Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, researchers identify the critical role that the oceans play in the regulation of our climate.
“Conservationists have expressed frustration that an international commission for protecting marine life in Antarctica has failed for the eighth consecutive time to create a marine park across 1 million sq km on the continent’s east.
“Bolsa de Investigação Cientifica (grau mestre) no âmbito do Projeto n.º 16-01-04-FMP-0005: CRUSTAPANHA – Contributo para a gestão sustentada da pequena pesca de CRUSTACEOS (pequenos caranguejos): Estudo da ecologia, biologia e dinâmica populacional dos pequenos caranguejos com interesse comercial existentes ao longo da costa Portuguesa.”
“The European Union and member-countries including Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Group (ACP), have partnered to support the integration of the fishing and aquaculture sector’s economic, environmental, and social components through a USD 44.5 million (EUR 40 million) project.
“Conservation groups are calling for reform of marine protected areas after it was revealed that a “monster trawler” was allowed to fish in one in the English Channel.
“The Silent Spring prophecy that pesticides could “still the leaping of fish” has been confirmed, according to scientists investigating the collapse of fisheries in Japan. They say similar impacts are likely to have occurred around the world.
“The United Nations had set a goal that 10 percent of the oceans were to be made Marine Protected Areas (MPA) by 2020.
“Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are at risk of losing their homes as entire cities sink under rising seas over the next three decades, according to researchers.
“On 24 October, the EU tabled plans to significantly reduce total allowable catches (TACs) in the North-East Atlantic and the North Sea for fish stocks such as cod, which are at risk of collapse. The restrictions would start in 2020, but would not mark the end of over-fishing in Europe, EURACTIV’s partner le Journal de l’Environnement reports.
“The complaint concerned the transparency of the decision-making process in the Council of the EU, leading to the adoption of the annual regulations setting total allowable catches (TACs) of certain fish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic for 2017, 2018 and 2019. The complaint was submitted by an environmental law organisation.
“Researchers from the University of Plymouth have contributed to a new book addressing some of the most pressing challenges in marine conservation.
“As informações sobre os cavalos-marinhos em Portugal são escassas e baseiam-se sobretudo nas populações da ria Formosa, no Algarve, que estão em declínio. Com o objectivo de aumentar o conhecimento sobre as espécies de cavalos-marinhos no país e promover a sua preservação, acaba de ser lançado o projecto de ciência-cidadã Cavalos-Marinhos Desconhecidos.
“How do we agree on conservation laws in areas outside national jurisdiction? Carolina Hazin, our Global Marine Policy Coordinator, recently spoke up for marine life at a global meeting that will decide the future of conservation in international waters. Here, she recalls the experience, and explains what needs to happen next.”
“South Africa’s approach to managing its fishing industry is supposed to include all interested parties. Fishers and government should work together to make decisions. But this has proven to be easier said than done.
“No âmbito das actividades de educação ambiental Bandeira Azul 2019, a Marina do Funchal e o Clube Naval do Funchal exibem, amanhã (dia 25 de Outubro), na Quinta Calaça, a exposição ‘Mar de Vida ou… Mar de Plástico?’. Os trabalhos foram criados pelos alunos do curso de Design da Universidade da Madeira que, em articulação com a Estação de Biologia Marinha do Funchal, colaboraram com um projecto de investigação sobre a poluição nos oceanos.”
“Jannis Athinaios is preparing to sell his merchandise, an assortment of fresh red mullets, red snappers, white sea bream and blunt-snouted mullets, at the sun-washed port of Nea Makri, a coastal town 25km northeast of Athens. For 31 years he has been fishing in the South Euboean Gulf, mainly at night, heading to Nea Makri’s port at noon to sell his catch, either to local restaurants or his many loyal clients.”
“Saving the oceans is key to fighting the climate crisis, according to Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a Brooklyn-born marine biologist and activist, who is a rising figure in the climate movement.
“In the Blue Economy, governments and the private sector see enormous potential for marine industries old and new – from fishing to sea-bed mining, energy extraction to bio-prospecting. The ocean economy, conservatively valued at over US$2.5 trillion each year, is predicted to double in size by 2030.
“A União Europeia vai anunciar esta quarta-feira compromissos no valor de 540 milhões de euros para manter os oceanos limpos, bem como um mapa para acompanhar o que se faz nesse sentido, na abertura da conferência “Our Ocean”, em Oslo.
“A diretora de missão Emily Penn – cuja embarcação tem a bordo apenas mulheres, e chegou hoje a Ponta Delgada, na ilha de São Miguel, na primeira paragem do navio, que zarpou de Plymouth, na Inglaterra – declarou à agência Lusa que “um dos grandes objetivos do projeto é desenvolver pesquisa científica” para “realmente compreender-se de onde vem o plástico e como se pode evitar que chegue ao mar, a partir de terra”.”
“(CNN) Ocean acidification caused a mass extinction of marine life 66 million years ago, research into tiny shell fossils has shown. This could have implications for the current climate crisis, which is also making the oceans more acidic.
“At 407,000 square meters, the world’s largest wholesale seafood market is in Tokyo, Japan. This comes as no surprise given that Japan is the world’s largest consumer of high-value fish, such as bluefin tuna, and the third largest seafood importer after the European Union and the United States. This voracity makes Japan vulnerable to importing large amounts of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) seafood, and according to a recently published study, its lax traceability requirements all but guarantee that illegal seafood has a market in the island nation.”
“Conservation NGOs have expressed their anger with the EU, as Baltic Sea fishing quotas were set late on Oct. 14 at levels above the EU’s own legal requirements for sustainable fishing levels in 2020.
“History is written in no small part through the conflicts over shared resources between neighboring countries, as each party tries to maintain its share of the pie. But in the ocean, these issues tend to be exacerbated. One of the key ocean resources is fish, which are out of sight and mobile, swimming long distances to find optimal breeding or feeding grounds. Now, with rapidly warming ocean waters due to climate change, the stakes are even higher as fish shift out of areas where they’ve traditionally been found, often crossing international boundaries.”
“Europe’s seas are home to some of the world’s most productive fisheries, and the European Union (EU) is the world’s largest trader of seafood products. (1) What we do with fish matters; as well as providing food and jobs for the fishing industry – fish keep our marine ecosystems functioning. Fish and marine life are the engines of our global ocean, the ocean that supplies us with every second breath drives our climate and has absorbed 90% of the excess heat produced from accelerated climate change. You could say the ocean is the heart and lungs of the planet. So with fish populations coming under severe pressure from both climate change and overfishing, the question arises – by ending one problem, can the other be alleviated? And can we do it fast enough to make a difference?”
“New international guidelines are being developed to confront substandard working conditions in the seafood industry by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.The FAO is creating the guidelines in response to increased scrutiny on labor violations and human rights abuses in the seafood industry. The guidelines, which were presented at the Conxemar 
“Each year, thousands of commercial fishing vessels ply the world’s high seas, hauling in catch ranging from sardines to giant tunas. In 2014, the most recent year for which data are available, vessels operating in these areas beyond national jurisdiction caught 4.4 million metric tons of fish, valued at $7.6 billion.1 To ensure that fishing on this scale is sustainable, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) must be able to accurately track this catch and other vessel activities in the areas they oversee.”
“One of the whale populations taken to the edge of extinction by commercial hunting in the early 20th Century has essentially recovered its numbers.
“O ex-eurodeputado socialista Ricardo Serrão Santos vai ser o novo ministro do Mar, no executivo de António Costa, confirmou o DN, depois da notícia avançada pela Antena Um/Açores.
“France, Denmark and Spain are failing to enforce the EU ban on fish discards, threatening European fish stocks and the health of our ocean.
“Microplastic pollution is no small issue. Defined as any plastic debris measuring less than five millimeters in length, these tiny particles are having a sizeable impact on environmental, and possibly now, human health. According to a study published by the International Solid Waste Association last year, the production of plastic in 2016 reached 335 million tonnes. It has been estimated that nearly ten per cent of plastic produced each year ends up in the natural environment. As a result, microplastic particles, which emerge from the breakdown of larger materials, are ever-present in soil, oceans, waterways and the air.”
“Luxembourg, October 15, 2019: Following news that the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) has today set five out of ten fishing limits for fish caught in the Baltic Sea far above the EU fisheries legal requirements for sustainable fishing levels in 2020, conservation NGOs have expressed their outrage, accusing EU governments of acting with no regard to the law, and ignoring the ongoing overfishing and devastation of the Baltic Sea’s ecosystem.”
“Today, the Council agreed on next year’s total allowable catches (TACs) and member states’ quotas for the ten most commercially important fish stocks in the Baltic Sea. This agreement therefore sets out how much European fishermen will be able to fish and under what conditions.
“With the AGRIFISH meeting set to discuss the establishment of catch limits for the Baltic Sea’s native commercial species for 2020, Oceana has cautioned that unsustainable fishing of Eastern Baltic cod must be strictly limited under the new catch quotas. The European Commission introduced a temporary ban on Eastern Baltic cod fishing earlier this year in recognition of dwindling stocks; however, the Commission’s recommended catch limit of 2,000 tonnes for 2020, along with its recommended quotas for Baltic salmon and Western Baltic herring, fall well above the limits recommended by scientists.”
“With 2020 just around the corner, we’ve reached the deadline set in the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) to end overfishing. Due to years of delay in which fishing ministers set fishing quota – quantity limits on the amount of fish that can be caught – above scientific advice, dramatic cuts to fishing quotas are now inevitable. The opportunity for early action has been lost, but the power is in the hands of fishing ministers and their national governments to secure good livelihoods for fishers despite the necessary reductions. Indeed, there are lessons here for setting ambitious policy deadlines – and sticking to them – in delivering a just transition.”
