April 3, 2020 — A new set of measures designed to help the European Union’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been proposed by the European Commission through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
With fishers forced to stay in port and fish farmers facing the prospect of having to dispose of unused products, the E.C. said the new measures could provide immediate aid during the coronavirus crisis.
March 24, 2020 — Acknowledging that fishing and aquaculture have been “among the hardest hit” sectors by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission has introduced a temporary state aid framework that enables E.U. member states to provide financial support to affected operators.
Seafood demand across the bloc has declined dramatically in recent weeks as retailers, restaurants, canteens, and other large-scale buyers have been reducing or temporarily closing down their activities. At the same time, supply chains have been affected by various logistical disruptions.
January 28, 2020 — The Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC), which is partially funded by the European Union, has released its second recommendations on how to bolster sustainable aquaculture in the E.U.
The recommendations come as the European Commission is planning to draft new guidelines for sustainable aquaculture development in 2020. That new draft is in the wake of multiple other reports that showcased the lack of growth in E.U. aquaculture.
January 9, 2020 — Failure to grant the European Union access to British fishing waters after Brexit could lead to an outbreak of cod war style hostilities, the EU has warned.
Brussels is demanding continued access to British waters as a condition of the trade deal but Boris Johnson has warned the European Commission that Britain will take back control of its waters once Britain leaves the EU.
“We want to avoid any fisheries skirmishes in the Atlantic. We have seen them before we don’t want to see them again,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a press conference with Charles Michel, the European Council president in Zagreb
September 5, 2019 — A new report commissioned by the advocacy group Our Fish suggests that ending overfishing will help the oceans weather the effects of climate change.
Overfishing is weakening the oceans’ ability to adapt, the report argues. Healthier oceans will better withstand the disturbances wrought be climate change.
July 24, 2019 — Emergency measures to save the ailing eastern Baltic cod stock from impending collapse have been announced by the European Commission. With immediate effect, commercial fishing for cod is banned in most of the Baltic Sea until 31 December, 2019.
The ban covers all fishing vessels and applies in all those areas of the Baltic Sea where the largest part of the stock is present, namely subdivisions 24-26, except for some specific targeted derogations.
It follows measures that have already been taken by some European Union member states, but given that these measures have not ensured a uniform approach in all areas where the eastern Baltic cod stock is found, and that not all member states intended to adopt national measures, the Commission decided that further emergency action was warranted.
“The impact of this cod stock collapsing would be catastrophic for the livelihoods of many fishermen and coastal communities all around the Baltic Sea. We must urgently act to rebuild the stock – in the interest of fish and fishermen alike. That means responding rapidly to an immediate threat now, through the emergency measures the commission is taking. But it also means managing the stock – and the habitat it lives in – properly in the long term,” E.U. Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs, and Fisheries Karmenu Vella.
July 17, 2019 — Six months after the rules took effect, the U.K. government does not know the extent of compliance with the E.U.’s landing obligation and the fact that the anticipated challenges have not arisen raises concerns that illegal discarding may still be taking place, according to the House of Lords E.U. Energy and Environment Sub-Committee’s new report, “The E.U. fisheries landing obligation: six months on.”
The committee has found that the new rules seem to have had little impact since they came in to full force six months ago. If the landing obligation were being complied with, the committee heard that some vessels would have to stop fishing halfway through the year, and that storage facilities and supply chains would struggle to cope with the amount of undersized fish being brought to shore. It stated that neither of these eventualities have occurred, suggesting fishers are continuing to discard fish illegally.
In its report, the committee highlights that if fishing is permitted above the maximum level that scientific advice states is sustainable, the long-term damage to fish stocks could pose a serious threat to the fishing industry. Given the important ecological reasons for the introduction of the landing obligation, it is concerning both that the government believes illegal discarding is still taking place and that it does not know the extent of compliance, it said.
June 28, 2019 — The European Commission (EC) has lifted the yellow card issued to Taiwan in October 2015 for not fully cooperating in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, acknowledging the progress made by the country over the past three and a half years.
“I welcome the considerable efforts undertaken by Taiwan to reform its fisheries legal framework, implement new control tools and improve the traceability of marine fisheries products. The European Union’s dialogue with Taiwan has shown again that international cooperation is a key driver towards healthier ocean management,” said Karmenu Vella, EU commissioner for environment, maritime affairs and fisheries.
Measures taken by Taiwan in cooperation with the E.U. include:
May 14, 2019 — Diplomatic relations in Southeast Asia have been strained in recent weeks following alleged encroachments by Vietnamese fishermen in Malaysian and Indonesian territorial waters.
Tensions have flared as inspectors from the European Commission are expected to visit Vietnam later this month or early June to review the “yellow card” given to Vietnam in 2017, imposed in part due to Vietnam’s failure to curb its fleet’s participation in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
On 8 May, Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Vietnam’s ambassador to demand an explanation of the large number of encroachments of Vietnamese vessels into Malaysian territorial waters. Ministry Deputy Secretary-General Raja Datuk Nushirwan Zainal Abidin received ambassador Le Quy Quynh and handed over a protest note expressing the Malaysian government’s objection to the encroachments, according to a statement from the ministry.
“The Vietnamese government was urged to take measures to rectify the situation,” the statement said.
A total of 748 vessels and 7,203 Vietnamese crew members have been detained by Malaysian authorities on suspicion of illegal fishing since 2006. The encroachments into Malaysian waters by Vietnamese fishermen are not only a threat to Malaysian citizens, but also a violation of Malaysia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and contravene international law, including relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the ministry’s statement said.
April 25, 2019 — A class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of U.S. direct purchasers of Norwegian farmed salmon is accusing multiple Norwegian firms including Mowi, Grieg Seafood, Lerøy Seafood, and SalMar of conspiring to fix the prices of farmed salmon.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, 23 April, alleges the major players in Norway’s farmed salmon industry exchanged competitively sensitive information among themselves, with the aim of artificially controlling the price of farm-raised salmon bought by U.S. seafood buyers, a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
The lawsuit is largely based on an ongoing investigation by the European Commission into “suspected anti-competitive practices” in the farmed Atlantic salmon sector in Europe, first made public in February 2019. The investigation included raids by E.C. officials of the Scottish and Dutch corporate offices of several seafood companies based in Norway, including Mowi, Grieg Seafood, Lerøy Seafood, and SalMar.
A letter sent by the E.C. to one of the companies, obtained by SeafoodSource, revealed the E.C. approved a decision on 6 February, 2019, to investigate information received “from different actors operating at different levels in the salmon market” alleging that some Norwegian producers “participate or have participated in anti-competitive agreements and/or concerted practices related to different ways of price coordination in order to sustain and possibly increase prices of farmed Norwegian Atlantic salmon.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida (Miami Division) on behalf of Mentor, Ohio-based Euclid Fish Company, according to Arthur Bailey of Hausfeld LLP, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Numerous other similar suits have and will continue to be filed containing similar allegations, including by Schneider’s Seafood & Meats of Cheektowaga, New York, and by Euro USA Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, Bailey told SeafoodSource. Within the next month, the cases will be combined into one larger class-action suit including all direct purchasers of Norwegian farmed salmon, Bailey said. The case will be heard by James Lawrence King.