EU Adopts Stricter Fishing Legislation to Prevent Overfishing

The European Union (EU) has reached agreement on a set of common inspection rules for commercial fishing vessels in their latest attempt to promote transparency and prevent overfishing.

The commission hopes the new rules will make it possible for the government to be able to trace commercially caught fish “from net to plate.” The rules will include a point system used to discipline illegal fishing activities; possibly resulting in full loss of license and privileges.

"We can no longer allow even a small minority of fishermen to ignore the rules,” said Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki.

Although each member nation of the EU is responsible for regulating their own waters, Ms. Damanaki explained that the new legislation would allow authorities to crosscheck offenders across Europe and punish them equally. This renovated Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) will take full effect by 2012, as part of the EU’s plan to homogenize European fishing legislation and abate over fishing.

For more information on these new laws, visit the official press release.