Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society

Fighting for Bass and Bass Anglers’ since 1973

Europe’s seas

 In what has been a busy week regarding the EU fisheries sector, today the EEA has issued the following press release. Please click on the link to read the full article.

©EEA [European Environment Agency] Press Release   24 June 2015

Europe’s seas: productive, but not healthy or clean

[The European Union’s Blue Growth agenda aims to harness further the potential of Europe’s oceans, seas and coasts for jobs, economic value and sustainability. A new report published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA) shows that, despite some improvements, the way we use our seas remains unsustainable and threatens not only the productivity of our seas, but also our wellbeing.]

[Only a very limited number of assessments of marine habitats and species indicate favourable conservation status. Current pressures include, among others, physical damage to the seafloor (due to bottom-trawling in particular), introduction of non-indigenous species, nutrient input (mainly from agricultural fertilisers), hazardous substance pollution and marine litter.]

More than half of the commercial fish stocks assessed are not in good environmental status.

Total catches in all fishing regions have been declining in the past ten years. The EU is increasingly dependent on imports of its most widely consumed species: tuna, cod and salmon.

Europe’s seas