Brussels urges full fisheries policy review

Too many European fishing boats are going after too little fish. This assessment comes from EU regulators calling for a full-scale review of EU fisheries policy.

The European Commission said that short-term decision-making was not helpful. This, with irresponsible behaviour by certain parts of the fishing industry has penalised those fishermen following the rules for the common good, it said.

In May, the Commission reported that 88 percent of EU fish stocks were overexploited. The global average is 25 percent, according to Brussels.

Each year, the Commission tries to tighten quotas or trim the rules. But the fisheries ministers of the EU member states have the last word, and in a sector already hit hard by fuel costs governments are reluctant to add further constraints. The ministers are due to study the Commission’s latest proposals at the end of this month.

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