25 Mar 2025
Today (March 25) the Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, is hosting an event to launch an EU-wide campaign about aquaculture in the EU. Image description: A row of seven fish farming nets in the sea. Image by Tapani Hellman from Pixabay The campaign is running under the title “EU aquaculture. We […]
11 Mar 2025
The European Commission has published evaluations of two directives on the protection of EU seas: the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Bathing Water Directive. The laws, in place since 2008 and 2006, respectively, have been assessed to measure their achievements so far and identify any gaps and any potential for simplification. The evaluation has found […]
25 Feb 2025
The dispute over sandeel fishing in the North Sea marks the first time the UK and EU have been to court since Brexit in 2020. The outcome of the case could be hugely significant for seabird populations along the east coast and for UK-EU trade relations. A tribunal under the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) […]
21 Jan 2025
Back in early 2024 the UK and Scottish Governments introduced a ban on sandeel fishing in Scottish waters and English waters of the North Sea in a move conservationists hailed as critical for saving the UK’s globally important seabird colonies. Now a challenge from the EU on the ban is set to be heard in […]
22 Dec 2024
EU countries have updated their goals for the deployment of offshore renewable energy up to 2050 in each of the EU’s 5 sea basins, with intermediate objectives to be achieved by 2030 and 2040. At an online meeting of the Directors-General of the Ministries of Energy in the respective countries today, non-binding agreements were reached […]
10 Dec 2024
The trilateral arrangement between the EU, Norway and the United Kingdom on jointly managed fish stocks in the North Sea for 2025 establishes total allowable catches (TAC) of over 958,000 tonnes, covering EU quotas of almost 463,000 tonnes of cod, haddock, saithe, whiting, plaice and herring. The agreement on TACs includes a reduction for cod, consistent with the […]
19 Nov 2024
A coalition of UK and EU NGOs join together to support the closure of the UK sandeel fishery in the North Sea. The full statement: Seabirds are experiencing devastating declines. Just two months ago, five new species were added to the UK Red List of highest conservation concern. Puffins, which depend on sandeels for food, […]
28 Oct 2024
The European Union (EU) has decided to request the establishment of an arbitration tribunal under the dispute settlement mechanism of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) concerning the United Kingdom’s decision to prohibit the fishing of sandeel. The arbitration tribunal would rule on the compatibility of the measure with the TCA. The ban has […]
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