Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




WATER WORLD
Global powers sign declaration on sustainable fishing
by Staff Writers
Athens (AFP) March 14, 2014


Officials from some of the world's top fishing powers signed a declaration in Greece on Friday to promote sustainable management of fish stocks.

The signatories -- the EU, United States, Japan, Philippines, Colombia and Indonesia -- pledged to support measures to address fishing overcapacity.

These include developing international fishing vessel records, limiting the number of licenses and vessel tonnage and eliminating fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.

"We bear responsibility for the conservation of living marine resources and thus for addressing overcapacity when it undermines conservation and sustainability objectives," the statement said.

The event was organised in Thessaloniki under Greece's rotating EU presidency.

According to the European Commission, the EU imports 70 percent of its fish intake. Overall, the bloc accounts for a fourth of the world's seafood resources.

Some progress has been made.

In 2013, 25 stocks were fished sustainably in the North Sea and Atlantic, five times more than in 2009, the European Commission says.

This is expected to increase to 31 stocks in 2015.

But environmental group Greenpeace stressed that more action is needed.

"EU countries should start by scrapping the largest and most destructive industrial fishing vessels, initiating a shift towards small-scale low-impact fishing, which is more environmentally sustainable, creates jobs and supports local communities," the group said in a statement.

The organisation's oceans policy advisor Sebastian Losada added: "Better management of fishing capacity is critical and long overdue. Governments must ensure that excess fishing capacity is removed and not just dispatched to new fishing grounds."

EU Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki conceded in an online article this week that enforcing compliance by states has been a "struggle".

"To achieve the right balance between fishing power and natural resources, all global actors need to pull together," she wrote in a Huffington Post article.

But she noted that scrapping fishing vessels piecemeal was not in itself an answer to the problem.

"The solution must be a well-designed mix of structural and conservation tools, rights-based management systems, tighter controls and, especially, incentives for diversification," Damanaki said in the article, jointly written with former World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy and South African national planning minister Trevor Manuel.

.


Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WATER WORLD
EU mackerel deal with Norway and Faroes angers Iceland
Reykjavik (AFP) March 13, 2014
The European Union has reached an agreement over controversial mackerel quotas with Norway and the Faroe Islands, prompting an angry reaction from Iceland on Thursday. The deal, agreed in London on Wednesday - a week after negotiations with Iceland broke down - is aimed at ending a four-year "mackerel war" over north Atlantic mackerel quotas with Iceland and the Faroe Islands, an autonomou ... read more


WATER WORLD
Spacesuits And Moon Notes Among The Stars At Bonhams NYC Auction

Russia to launch three lunar rovers from 2016 to 2019

Control circuit malfunction troubles China's Yutu

China's Lunar Lander Still Operational

WATER WORLD
NASA Orbiter Safe After Unplanned Computer Swap

Mars name-a-crater scheme runs into trouble

Concerns and Considerations with the Naming of Mars Craters

Lava floods the ancient plains of Mars

WATER WORLD
Global patent filings jump 5.1% in 2013: WIPO

Jack Kinzler, savior of Skylab, dies at 94

London makes new push to rival Silicon Valley

First space tourists to fly around Mars and Venus in 2021

WATER WORLD
"Space Odyssey": China's aspiration in future space exploration

China to launch first "space shuttle bus" this year

China expects to launch cargo ship into space around 2016

China capable of exploring Mars

WATER WORLD
Japanese astronaut becomes ISS commander

Station Crew Preps for Return to Earth, Repairs Recycling System

NASA says US-Russia space ties 'normal'

Cancer Targeted Treatments from Space Station Discoveries

WATER WORLD
ASTRA 5B delivered for integration on Ariane 5 launcher

Launcher assembly begins for Ariane 5 Flight VA218

ILS And ISS Reshetnev Announce Proton Dual Launch Agreement

Arianespace in spotlight at Satellite 2014: expects another record-breaking year

WATER WORLD
UK joins the planet hunt with Europe's PLATO mission

X-ray laser FLASH spies deep into giant gas planets

Crashing Comets Explain Surprise Gas Clump Around Young Star

Every red dwarf star has at least one planet

WATER WORLD
Getting rid of bad vibrations

A brake for spinning molecules

Researchers Describe Oxygen's Different Shapes

MUSE Envisions Mining "Big Code" to Improve Software Reliability and Construction




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.