Europe must cut its fishing capacity if stocks are to recover. The EU must favour job-rich small scale, local fishing and scrap the most destructive boats.
Marine reserves are highly protected areas that are off limits to all extractive and destructive uses, like fishing and oil exploration. They are an indispensable tool for building ecosystem resilience and play the joint role of conserving fisheries and biodiversity. If large enough areas are protected and properly enforced, marine reserves help offer vital protection from over-exploitation and ecosystem degradation. They even act against the onslaught of global climate change, as highlighted in a 2007 Greenpeace report.Europe’s coastal states are required under international agreements to complete a national network of marine reserves by 2012. The EU habitats and birds directives and associated Natura 2000 network provide the mechanism for protecting such a network of reserves across the EU waters.Greenpeace wants to see 40% of the world’s oceans set aside in a global network of marine reserves.Greenpeace has drawn up detailed proposals for marine reserves globally and in EU waters: A global Emergency Oceans Rescue PlanA Roadmap to Recovery For the North and Baltic Seas Specifically for the Baltic SeasFor the Mediterranean Sea
Publication