The European Union needs a sea change in fisheries policy

This is the story about a farmer who had a vast fertile piece of land where to grow multiple vegetables; the farmer sold the vegetables in the market and had a nice living. But one day the farmer burnt half of the land and started picking the vegetables from neighboring fields. Then he burnt a bit more and started picking and buying vegetables from fields which were further away. This was quite costly so he had to rely on taxpayers' money who happily helped him to continue in this absurd journey. 

And this is exactly the story of EU fisheries. Possibly the best example of under-performing asset. We could be managing our fish stocks sustainably ensuring a long-term flow of food, income and employment but instead we chose to keep 72% of them over-exploited; and source fish from elsewhere by sending our highly subsidized EU vessels to fish further away; and by importing it. 

Today is fish dependence day, the day in the calendar when the EU runs out of fish and starts depending on fish from elsewhere. This date is one month earlier than in 2000 which shows how this damaging trend is increasing. A radical change is needed, we need to get our fish stocks back in shape and reconcile consumption with available resource. The reform of Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) a great opportunity to do so and we are working to make the most of it.

Photo by Gastev via Flickr