Dear Mr. Schulz, dear Mr. Cadec!

As concerned citizens of Europe and of this world we cannot agree with the actual fisheries policy in the EU. The overexploitation of the oceans continues unrestrained, fishing quotas are defined much higher than suggested by experts, economic sectors are promoted which are practicing the overfishing of the oceans.

We do only have these seas, we do only have these inhabitants of the sea. We now need to act before we cannot turn the clock back. The time has come for the policies to be changed. We all depend on the seas, either as a source of food or as a provider of oxygen, if the oceans die, men will die.

Longline fisheries is an industry-driven kind of fishing practice in the high seas where a mainline with many individual baited hooks on branch lines is set out. Longlines can be up to 200 kilometer long with more than 30,000 baited hooks, but the number of hooks and the length of lines can vary a lot. According to a WWF study more than seven million sharks and rays, 34,000 sea birds and more than 4,000 sea turtles yearly die as a matter of by-catch of tuna, swordfish and hake in the southeast Atlantic. The dark figures are estimated significantly higher, because these figures are based on the figures of official fishing, but do not include illegal fishing practices.

The bycatch of commercial longline fishing for tunas can reach up to 90 percent. To avoid creating a market for dead protected animals the landing of those is prohibited and hence dead or insured animals are thrown back into the sea. Experts estimate at 30 million bycatch and discard of the global fishing industries a year. Hence millions of marine animals die annually without any economic benefit. This brings many species to the edge of distinction or leads to the distinction. Because longline fishery is definitively not sustainable and not selective we call for:

Prohibition of longline fishery practices for all EU fisheries

Overfishing, illegal fisheries and to high by-catch rates have led to decimation of several fish species or brought them to the point of extinction. Sustainable fishery means to apply sustainable fishing methods which maintain the reproduction capacity of the target stocks, don’t harm the marine ecosystem and minimizes undesirable by-catches as far as possible.

From the view of experts actually there is not one single seal for sustainable fishery which can be recommended without restriction of any kind. The available certifications are a step in the right direction, but cannot guarantee, that all certified products indeed come from sustainable fishing (including aquaculture). Therefore:

No more EU subsidies for non-sustainable fisheries

The urgently needed fishing fleet degradation in the EU exists on paper only. Till 2011 there was a reduction of only 6,000 fishing boats less than 2002 achieved, which was supported financially by the EU through scrapping programs with premiums amounting to 848 million EUR. What is not mentioned at this point is the fact that the majority of these vessels is below 12 meters and belong to the coastal fisheries whereas in the same time 1.27 billion EUR were invested in the construction of 3,000 new vessels and the modernizing of vessels. Such investments don’t tackle the overfishing of the sea, but even increases it through the increased fishing capacity. Billions of EU-budget is flowing into the extension of fishing fleets and in the same time we complain about the dilemma of overfishing of the sea. For this reason in the future:

No more EU subsidies for the operation of large fishing vessels and those for the longline fishing. No new construction of large fishing vessels at the expense of EU. Decommissioning of vessels, if overcapacities are existent because of quota.

Since 2004 we do not have EU funding for the construction of fishing vessels, but 4.3 billion EUR were provided for environmental friendly measurements like improving of energy efficiency. The improvement of energy efficiency is corresponding with increase in capacity, because a more efficient vessel is able to travel further and longer and hence is able to fish even more which is not taken into account. This again is the promotion of overfishing.

The industrial fisheries in the EU gain profit from being exempt from fuel taxation. Small coastal vessels travel shorter distances and therefore have less consumption of fuel. Only big vessels profit from tax exemption, because without, it wouldn’t be profitable to even leave the port. The abolition of this regulation would promote the local and coastal fisheries.

Various fish species have their defined minimum price, this means that if this price is not achieved on the market, the EU can buy the catch for the guaranteed price and then recycle for animal food or to simply dispose it. Only the industrial fisheries benefit from subsidies for modernizing of the fleets, scrapping incentives, tax-free fuel and definition of minimum prices. Neither the local fisheries, nor the fish population gain any benefit from it. Why should we as EU citizens support this with funds? In the future:

Large-scale enterprises have to stand on their own feet economically.

We call for the European Union to be a pioneer in marine protection and that the above mentioned measures for the fisheries policy are implemented for the benefit of us all.

More stringent monitoring of the countries and the quota have to be carried out by the EU, e.g. through permanent deployment of official inspectors on the vessels. As a result non-marketable by-catch would be recorded and the practice of discarding of non-profitable catches would be terminated. Not the industrial but the local and sustainable small fisheries must be promoted by the EU, same as the promotion of protection schemes and national parks, meaning bigger retreat areas in the North Atlantic.

Sign my petition to Martin Schulz (President of the European Parliament) and Alain Cadec (Chair of the PECH Committee) to achieve a change in the fishing policy of the EU. Sign this petition to show Brussels, that you disagree with the existing policy and that you mind about our sea and its inhabitants.

Thank you for your support!

Further information:

World Ocean Review 2 „The Future of Fish –The Fisheries of the Future“​

Overview of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species on shark population​

Greenpeace-Video about tuna fishing on Youtube​

Video “Ending Overfishing“ on Youtube