Monday, 6th October 2008
Discarding 7 million tonnes of fish an obscenity
Globally, an estimated 7.3 million tonnes of fish are dumped, dead, into the sea every year. At a time when there are 850 million people in the world starving, this is an obscenity, according to a Scottish Euro MP.
Opening a major conference on marine conservation in Barcelona, Struan Stevenson MEP will say:
“According to the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) around 7.3 million tonnes of fish are being dumped overboard by fishermen around the world every year. Although this is a dramatic fall from the estimated 27 million tonnes that FAO calculated was being dumped a decade ago, it is nothing to celebrate. The number of fish being discarded has fallen because global fish stocks are collapsing. Fishermen are catching fewer fish and therefore they are dumping fewer fish.
“There are an estimated 850 million people in the world today suffering from hunger. It is an obscenity that we stand idly by and watch the wanton destruction of global fish stocks and the dumping of unwanted and juvenile fish on this appalling scale.”
The Scottish Conservative Euro MP and former President of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee will speak at the opening ceremony of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) World Conservation Congress in Barcelona on Saturday 4th October. The Congress, co-hosted by the Spanish Government and the Government of Catalonia, will be attended by 7,000 delegates from around the world to discuss marine conservation. Struan Stevenson will welcome over 20 tall ships and schooners who are 'SAILING TO BARCELONA' to demonstrate their support for better protection of our oceans, seas and coasts. The arrival of this armada in Barcelona harbour will mark the official start of this huge world congress.
Note: During fishing operations, fish are often caught that were not targeted. When the species in question are of low value, or fishermen could be prosecuted for landing out-of-quota or juvenile fish under fisheries management regulations such as those in the EU, they are thrown overboard as ‘discards’.
