Upcoming Events

National | Environment

no events match your query!

New Events

National

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link This Site Will Soon Be Hosted at anti-em... Sun Sep 22, 2024 17:24 | Anti-Empire

offsite link Ukraine Shoots Down F-16 With Patriot, A... Sat Aug 31, 2024 11:53 | Anti-Empire

offsite link Surprise Offensive Puts 300 km² of Russ... Fri Aug 09, 2024 08:44 | Marko Marjanović

offsite link The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire

offsite link In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire >>

The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.  We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below). 

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Albanian Murderer Wins Right to Stay in U.K. Under ECHR Sat Oct 12, 2024 15:00 | Will Jones
An Albanian wanted for murder in his home country has won the right to remain in the U.K. under the European Convention on Human Rights, renewing calls for the U.K. to quit the treaty.
The post Albanian Murderer Wins Right to Stay in U.K. Under ECHR appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link EU Fingerprint Checks for Tourists Delayed Indefinitely Sat Oct 12, 2024 13:00 | Will Jones
New EU border rules which would force British tourists to submit fingerprints and facial biometrics have been postponed indefinitely amidst concerns about the "resilience of the system".
The post EU Fingerprint Checks for Tourists Delayed Indefinitely appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Irish Elites are Slowly Conceding That Mass Immigration is Damaging for the Nation Sat Oct 12, 2024 11:00 | Will Jones
Ireland's population surged due to immigration by more than 180,000, a 3.5% increase, in 2023, and the many downsides are becoming impossible even for liberal Dublin elites to ignore, says Michael Murphy.
The post Irish Elites are Slowly Conceding That Mass Immigration is Damaging for the Nation appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Is the Spectator Right to Prize Style Over Being Right? Sat Oct 12, 2024 09:02 | James Alexander
"Who?s in, who's out?" asks Shakespeare. At the Spectator, Michael Gove is in and Fraser Nelson is out. Both say the magazine should prize style over viewpoint. But is this really right, asks Prof James Alexander.
The post Is the Spectator Right to Prize Style Over Being Right? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Climate Change Committee Appoints Humanities Graduate as CEO Sat Oct 12, 2024 07:00 | Ben Pile
The Climate Change Committee has appointed Emma Pinchbeck as its new CEO ? a 37 year-old humanities graduate with no experience in the energy industry except lobbying. Can the calibre go any lower, asks Ben Pile.
The post Climate Change Committee Appoints Humanities Graduate as CEO appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N°103 Fri Oct 11, 2024 12:15 | en

offsite link The Anglo-Saxons carry on bombing Yemen, although West Point considers it ineffe... Fri Oct 11, 2024 12:07 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N°102 Tue Oct 08, 2024 07:00 | en

offsite link Iran and Israel, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Oct 08, 2024 06:58 | en

offsite link Assassination of Hassan Nasrallah Tue Oct 08, 2024 06:50 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Common Fisheries Policy must be annuled by European Court of Justice

category national | environment | press release author Monday June 22, 2020 18:40author by foie Report this post to the editors

Press Release - Friends of the Irish Environment 22nd June 2020

High Court to hear challenge against unsustainable fishing in Ireland and the EU

The Irish High Court today formally initiated a Judicial Review proceedings aimed at challenging the EU Regulation setting 2020 fishing quotas under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) because of its failure to meet a legally defined deadline of ending overfishing in all stocks by 2020.

A judge will be assigned on July 15th to hear the application for leave to apply for a Judicial Review from the environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment.

FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT
PRESS BRIEFING
22 JUNE 2020
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

High Court to hear challenge against unsustainable fishing in Ireland and the EU

The Irish High Court today formally initiated a Judicial Review proceedings aimed at challenging the EU Regulation setting 2020 fishing quotas under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) because of its failure to meet a legally defined deadline of ending overfishing in all stocks by 2020.

A judge will be assigned on July 15th to hear the application for leave to apply for a Judicial Review from the environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment.

According to Kate Ruddock, NGO spokesperson, ‘This legal action aims to challenge the short-term political decision-making process which in the long term is destroying the Irish fishing industry. If this challenge is successful it will push politicians to take decisions that allow stocks to recover to a level where fishing can be guaranteed into the future. However, no request has been made to suspend the implementation of the 2020 decision on TACs because we do not want to harm fishing activities – in fact the motivation behind this case is to protect the Irish and European fisheries from collapse.’

In 2013, as part of the last reform of the CFP, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament agreed in Article 2(2) of the CFP Regulation to end overfishing by 2015 ‘where possible’ and by 2020 ‘at the latest’. This measure was designed to restore all stocks above healthy levels capable of producing the ‘maximum sustainable yield’ (*MSY) and to implement the ‘precautionary approach to fisheries management’.

These rules aim to ensure sustainable fishing opportunities in the long term. Indeed, a study by the New Economics Foundation [Notes] concluded that restoring fish populations and subsequently exploiting most commercial EU fish stocks in North Atlantic waters in line with their MSY levels would deliver more than 2 million tonnes of additional seafood per year, an extra €1.6 billion in annual revenue, and over 20,000 new jobs.

TOTAL ALLOWABLE CATCHES [TAC]
Every December fisheries ministers from across the EU meet to set the fishing limits, or ‘Total Allowable Catches’ (TACs) for the next year. They have before them the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (‘ICES’) recommendation for catch levels that should not be exceeded to allow the stocks to recover and remain above sustainable levels. The advice of the ICES is peer reviewed by independent scientists who were not involved in preparing the original advice and who have no vested interest in the outcome of the process and is therefore considered to be the best available scientific advice.

Yet around half of the TACs set by the Council in December 2019 exceed the scientific advice provided by ICES, according to an analysis by the environmental law charity ClientEarth who are supporting Friends of the Irish Environment in bringing this case. This habit of endorsing overfishing is jeopardising the long-term economic, social, and environmental sustainability of European fishing activities.

In some cases, scientists have been constantly advising that there should be no catches of certain vulnerable stocks. For example: ICES advice for cod in the west of Scotland has been 0 tonnes year after year but this year the TAC actually increased to 1279 tonnes, of which 22% went to Ireland.

Similarly, ICES advice for the Celtic Sea cod was also 0 tonnes, yet the 2020 Regulation has set the TAC at 805 tonnes, with more than 50% allocated to Ireland. Whiting and plaice are also cited in the pleadings, both of which had ICES recommendations of 0 tonnes, with Ireland benefiting from 57% and 44% respectively of the non-zero TACs set despite this advice.

The issues related to zero catches go to the heart of this case. Friends of the Irish Environment argues that the EU Member States have a political and legal obligation to follow the best available scientific advice for all stocks whether they are targeted or caught as bycatch. Moreover, sustainable fisheries management requires taking a long-term perspective in balancing the social, economic and environmental impact of fishing measures.

WHY IRELAND?
A recent ClientEarth study [Notes] on which Member States have been lobbying for higher than scientifically advised TACs in the period from 2017 to 2019 shows that Ireland is among the Member States that have most actively advocated for higher TACs, along with others like Spain and France.

Moreover, in the challenged Regulation, Ireland benefits significantly from unsustainable TACs by having considerable shares in 13 of the stocks that exceed the scientific advice.
‘Even though the Irish government and Minister Creed are partly responsible for the decisions taken regarding catch limits and quotas, ultimately these decisions are taken by the Council of EU fisheries ministers as a whole, who are both collectively and individually bound by the CFP’s rules. Exceeding the MSY exploitation rate is incompatible with the basic regulation of the CFP and must be annulled by the Court of Justice of the European Union’, said Ms. Ruddock.

FIE is asking the Irish Courts to refer the case to the European Court of Justice.

FIE is represented by FP Logue, solicitors, with James Devlin, SC and John Kenny BL.
===============
CONTACT
Fred Logue, FP Logue Solicitors: 353 (0) 1 531 3510
Kate Ruddock, Irish NGO spokesperson 353 (0) 1 639 4652

NOTES
*MSY is defined in Article 4.7 of the CFP Regulation as “the highest theoretical equilibrium yield that can be continuously taken on average from a stock under existing average environmental conditions without significantly affecting the reproduction process”. Common Fisheries Policy Basic Regulation (No. 1380/2013).

ClientEarth is a charity that uses the power of the law to protect people and the planet. We are international lawyers finding practical solutions for the world’s biggest environmental challenges. We are fighting climate change, protecting oceans and wildlife, making forest governance stronger, greening energy, making business more responsible and pushing for government transparency. We believe the law is a tool for positive change. From our offices in London, Brussels, Warsaw, Berlin and Beijing, we work on laws throughout their lifetime, from the earliest stages to implementation. And when those laws are broken, we go to court to enforce them.
See:
https://www.documents.clientearth.org/library/download-info/taking-stock-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy/

New Economics
The New Economic Foundation works with people igniting change from below and carrying out rigorous research to fight for change at the top.
https://neweconomics.org/2020/03/landing-the-blame-overfishing-in-the-northeast-atlantic-2020

Pew
The Pew Charitable Trust, founded in 1948, is a global research and public policy organization originating in the United States which uses evidence-based, nonpartisan analysis to solve today's challenges. See:
Analysis of Fisheries Council agreement on fishing opportunities in the north-east Atlantic for 2020, 8 May 2020
https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/05/080520_analysis_of_fisheries_council_agreement_on_fishing_opportunities_in_the_nea_for_2020.pdf

Copyright © 2020 Friends of the Irish Environment, All rights reserved.
Press Release

Our mailing address is:
Friends of the Irish Environment
Kilcatherine
Eyeries, Cork P75 CX53
Ireland

Related Link: https://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/press-releases/17819-high-court-to-hear-challenge-against-unsustainable-fishing-in-ireland-and-the-eu
© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy