Europe

22 November, 2018

Source: Slow Food

Slow Food regrets that instead of setting sustainable catch limits for 19 deep-water stocks, the Agriculture and Fisheries Council withdrew six stocks from the quota, and agreed on the fishing opportunities for only 13 deep-sea stocks in the EU and international waters in the North-East Atlantic, for 2019 and 2020.

Continue reading Slow Food Worried about Newly Adopted Decisions on Marine Environments

20 November, 2018

Source: Undercurrent News

The EU Council has agreed on the total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for certain deep-sea stocks in the EU and international waters in the North-East Atlantic, for 2019 and 2020.

The fish stocks concerned are deep sea sharks, black scabbardfish, alfonsino, roundnose grenadier, and red seabream.

“In view of the vulnerability of deep-sea species to human activity, and in order to prevent their over-exploitation, the Council decided to raise the TACs for the two stocks and to reduce the TACs for ten stocks as proposed by the Commission.”

It said it had decided to make cuts to fishing opportunities to protect the maritime environment and help the industry in the longer term.

Continue reading here.

18 January, 2018

Source: Seas At Risk

Seas At Risk welcomes the European Parliament’s resolution on international ocean governance  adopted on 16th January, particularly its strong stance on deep-sea mining. In calling for an international moratorium, the European Parliament becomes a primary custodian of the deep sea, hopefully prompting the European Commission and Member States to follow suit.

Continue reading European Parliament calls for international moratorium on deep-sea mining

5 September, 2016

Source: Euronews

Scientists fear that even before one of the last frontiers of exploration, the ocean deep, has been properly studied it will already have been exploited by commercial deep-sea mining looking for rare metal and minerals on the ocean floor, leaving its unique ecosystems badly damaged.

Continue reading Scientists fear deep-sea mining

16 August, 2016

Source: Virgin Unite
Author: Claire Nouvian

Hundreds of thousands of citizens, who added their voices to a hard-fought campaign to end one of the most absurd and abominable of all fishing practices, can finally celebrate a major peoples’ victory: the European Parliament, Council and Commission have agreed to a ban on deep-sea bottom trawling.

Continue reading Defending the deep: the new EU deep-sea bottom trawling ban

30 March, 2016

The giant retail group “Les Mousquetaires” (owner of Intermarché, Netto, Bricomarché brands etc.) announced earlier today that its fishing fleet, “Scapêche”, an important player in deep-sea fishing in Europe, will progressively phase out fishing for deep-sea species, as well as the sale of deep-sea fish in its supermarkets by 2025. The group also announced stopping the MSC ecolabeling certifying scheme that the Intermarché fleet had started for its deep-sea fisheries and that BLOOM had harshly denounced in 2015.

Continue reading Intermarché Group Announces Phasing Out All Deep-Sea Bottom Trawling And Sales of Deep-sea Fish by 2025

17 April, 2015

Source: Greenpeace International

Recent changes to EU fishing and seafood legislation means that the financing of fishing operations reliant on overexploited stocks, or the use of destructive or unselective methods will prove a high risk to investors, Greenpeace warned today.

Continue reading Risky Business

20 October, 2014

Source: Environment 360

Author: Mike Ives

For years, the idea of prospecting for potentially rich deposits of minerals on the ocean floor was little more than a pipe dream. Extractive equipment was not sophisticated or cost-effective enough for harsh environments thousands of feet beneath the ocean’s surface, and mining companies were busy exploring mineral deposits on land.

Continue reading Drive to Mine the Deep Sea Raises Concerns Over Impacts