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Success stories (125)
RSSSmall-scale fisheries often dominate the livelihoods of coastal communities and local economies. This is certainly true on the Swedish island of Gotland, whose fishing communities fishers date back generations. In recent years, however, stocks of Baltic cod, salmon and herring have declined and
In Europe, seaweed farming is not exploited to its full potential, due to the usually small scale of the enterprises, the limited number of seaweed species and traditional growing techniques.
Today, 25% of seafood consumed in Europe comes from aquaculture, but only 10% comes from EU aquaculture. There is a huge growth potential. Aquaponics Iberia benefited from the EU BlueInvest mentorship programme to develop its business.
The little island of Læsø sits between Denmark and Sweden. There, seaweeds are an intrinsic part of the island’s history and landscape, being traditionally used as a roofing material.
The trade of the fishers is many things: It is challenging yet fascinating, it can be exhausting yet it is rich of rewards, too. But it is not a trade that can be usually learnt in schools: in fact, most of the transmission of skills and competences in the trade come from older fishers teaching
Europe still needs to face the legacy of the wars of the 20th century. Coastal waters around Europe are scattered with unexploded weapons (such as bombs, grenades, naval mines, known as UXO (UneXploded Ordnance)), and their quantity is unbelievable.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has severely disrupted the energy market in Europe. To deal with this emergency, the EU is reducing its needs for energy imports and speeding up its green energy transition, as laid out in the REPowerEU plan of the European Commission.
Vessel-based surveys are important in assessing and managing fishery stocks. However, vessel surveys are usually a very time-consuming, expensive affair. Moreover, working conditions at sea can be very rough, and for safety reasons even a small vessel needs a crew of at least two.
Plastic pollution in our ocean has devastating consequences for biodiversity, fisheries, tourism and coastal communities. EU has taken many steps to address this problem, either by direct legislative initiatives, by awareness-raising campaigns (such as the ongoing #EUBeachCleanup),
Farming finfish, shellfish and aquatic plants in the sea or inland waters is one of the world’s fastest growing food sectors. It already provides the planet with more than half of all the seafood and fish we eat.