News

First large investment fund fully dedicated to the Blue economy under BlueInvest, a joint initiative by the European Commission and the European Investment Fund

Following the COVID-19 crisis and as announced in the Farm to Fork Strategy, the EU intends to step up coordination at European level to ensure citizens do not face food shortages during crises.

The Arctic is where climate change is most visible to the eye. The Arctic region is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet and changes happening there have a knock on effect on the whole planet.

The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) has adopted its new 2030 Strategy for the Mediterranean and Black Sea at the end of the 44th annual session on 6 November 2021. An agreement was also reached on an ambitious package of measures translating strategy into concrete actions.

Today, the Commission published its proposal for the catches of fish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean, Kattegat and Skagerrak. Based on this proposal, EU fisheries ministers will adopt the final fishing opportunities at the Council on 13-14 December 2021, to apply as of 1 January 2022.

Traditionally, unwanted species caught during fishing, were often thrown back over the railing. This wasteful practice negatively affected the sustainable exploitation of marine biological resources, marine ecosystems and the financial viability of fisheries.

The world has a growing appetite for fish and seafood. For biodiversity and stock preservation reasons, this demand cannot be satisfied by fisheries alone. This is where aquaculture comes into play, but conventional fish farming has its own built-in challenges.

Maritime transport is today responsible for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According a study from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), shipping emissions could increase between 50% and 250% by 2050, under a business-as-usual scenario.

Ecosystems knowledge is essential to assess the state of marine resources, such as fish stocks, and underwater environment, thus enable sound decision- and policymaking.