Protecting seas in the European Union 

EU member states have committed to end overfishing by 2020 at the latest; to fight IUU fishing; and to restore marine ecosystems. Although these commitments exist on paper and are quite strong, they are far from being fully implemented. Highly damaging bottom-trawling still happens in many MPAs designated by member states. Several fish stocks are still overfished, and at risk of collapsing. And IUU fishing remains rampant, both within EU waters and in other areas where EU vessels operate, such as the Indian Ocean.  

We will draw lessons from good practice examples in Blue Marine projects which show that restrictions to damaging fishing practices can be adopted in collaboration with, and to the benefit of, small-scale, low-impact fishers (ie the Channel Islands, Greece and Italy). We will work with our scientific partners to demonstrate the benefits of sustainable fisheries and of well-managed MPAs. We will secure the adoption of more effective fisheries management responses from the EU. We will challenge the EU and its member states to adopt effective regulation of harmful activities, including in MPAs.

We are using the unique nature of our projects in Italy, Greece, France, Germany, the Netherlands and UK waters to support the development of wider marine conservation measures. Using legacy work from our European collaborations over the past five years, we intend to target individual MPAs to increase their protection, alongside wider ecosystem recovery. We will also work to secure better fisheries management over issues such as quotas and quota allocations, harmful subsidies and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.