Thousands of tonnes of fish are illegally turned into fishmeal & oil off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, reveal @theguardian.com & @desmog.com. Later exported, these products "can enter the EU without documentation on species or origin", says @verampcoelho.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

At #EUOceanDays @verampcoelho.bsky.social says the EU must: ✔️Ensure level playing field for EU and imported fish products ✔️Demand Member States to trace opaque ownership of fishing vessels abroad ✔️Better consumer information for all seafood products, including processed and in restaurants

EU ocean diplomacy should be a race to the top, highlights @verampcoelho.bsky.social at #EUOceanDays: ✔️Same social and environmental standards for EU fleets and fish imports ✔️Strong partnerships with coastal states outside the EU ✔️More fisheries transparency to prevent illegal fishing

Today we took our message straight to the EU quarter on two wheels. 🚴 As the #EUBlueEnergyTransition in fisheries & aquaculture conference took place, our banners called for keeping the #CommonFisheriesPolicy strong and not reopening it under the pretext of “energy transition”.

🌊Join us for a special screening of Women from the Sea, hosted by MEP Paulo do Nascimento Cabral with the support of Oceana, followed by a debate with @verampcoelho.bsky.social. 📅 14 January 2026 🕒 17:30 - 19:30 📍 European Parliament, Brussels ✅ Register here: forms.gle/jdvren3KS6ef...

Just copy-pasting the EU’s existing targets into the new #OceanAct would be fairly meaningless. Ambitions like protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030—agreed by the EU but not yet in law—must be added. Read @verampcoelho.bsky.social’s interview with @endseurope.com: www.endseurope.com/article/1937...

I am thrilled to start this new challenge, and honoured to lead @oceana.bsky.social's incredible team in Europe. We’ll keep pushing to make the continent a global leader in #ocean conservation and restoration, leading to abundant fisheries and climate resilient, prosperous communities.

Coinciding with #UNOC3, Julia Ochs & Klaudyna Brzostowska have released a trailer on their upcoming documentary on bottom trawling. 'The Net' "explores the ecological and human cost of an industry that is both a livelihood and a threat." Looking forward watching it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oEo...

Emmanuel Macron's announcement to 'limit' bottom trawling in some of France's #MarineProtectedAreas at #UNOC3 fails to place protection where destructive fishing is happening. A missed opportunity to lead by example and #BanBottomTrawling in all #MPAs More: europe.oceana.org/press-releas...

“Ocean with David Attenborough” - beautiful, terrifying, and hopeful. The footage of destructive fishing is a gut punch - and it beggars belief that we still allow ocean bulldozers to destroy our #MPAs. Will #UNOC offer action, or just more hopeful words? #ProtectedMeansProtected

Commissioner @CostasKadis stresses that ocean pressures are large, and growing, and that urgent action is needed. He announces that the #EUOceanPact will set ambitious goals and priorities. This would be a welcome and substantial improvement to the draft that was recently leaked

At the opening of the European Maritime Day on Cork, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin reiterates Ireland’s commitment to protecting 30% of its maritime area by 2030, and the importance of a healthy ocean for people’s wellbeing and for the prosperity of coastal communities

Today small-scale fishers, scientists, citizens & civil society organisations handed a petition signed by 250,000 Europeans to Costas Kadis, urging him to #BanBottomTrawling in #MarineProtectedAreas, through an #OceanPact where #Protectedmeansprotected. ➡️ europe.oceana.org/press-releas...

Interesting: North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission 1st ever RFMO to report OECM in high seas aiming to protect Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems from bottom trawling. Plenty of detailed info here ➡️ www.neafc.org/oecm

READ: Bottom trawling is devastating ocean ecosystems, like 'marine deforestation.' Oceana and our allies are calling on governments in the UK, France, and across Europe to ban this destructive practice in marine protected areas! bit.ly/3RnCkWl @hugotagholm.bsky.social @the-independent.com

🆕📄 #EPlenary: The #EUOceanPact and #MarineProtectedAreas. How can MPAs help rebuild fish stocks, protect biodiversity & strengthen coastal economies? Read our latest briefing to find out! ➡️ europe.oceana.org/wp-content/u...

The plastic pollution crisis in our ocean is set to get worse. A new @oceana.bsky.social report reveals the shocking statistics behind the world’s most prolific plastic polluter Coca-Cola. It estimate Coke will drive 600 million kilos of plastic pollution to our seas annually by 2030‼️🌍⚠️

Great to see that the fair allocation of fishing opportunities to those who provide the most benefits to society is becoming an increasingly discussed topic at EU level. Time to implement the CFP’s provisions and to #MakeFishingFair! #CFPreality #OceanPact

We’re calling for the #EUOceanPact to: 📌 Legally protect 30% of EU seas, with 10% under strict protection 📌 Ensure a just transition to low-impact fisheries 📌 Improve consumer information on processed and imported seafood europe.oceana.org/reports/blue... #BlueManifesto #OceanPact

"Unsustainable fishing practices [..] like trawling [..] deplete fish stocks and destroy habitats." Good to hear that this has landed with Charlina Vitcheva, director general at DG MARE. Let's implement the #MarineActionPlan and ban bottom trawling in MPAs!

Monica Verbeek, director of @seasatrisk.bsky.social, highlights the #BlueManifesto call for new legislation to ban destructive activities (such as #bottomtrawling) from #MPAs in one go, with a whole-site approach rather than just looking at piecemeal features in very limited sites. #OceanPact

Bottom trawling is a highly destructive & non-selective fishing method happening in Marine Protected Areas - yet 🇪🇺 countries fail to regulate it effectively. This is why the #OceanPact must enforce new, binding rules to ensure that #ProtectedMeansProtected! 🌊✊#EUBlueFuture

I really appreciated @humbertodrosa.bsky.social's description of sustainability - not as a three-pillar concept, but as a layered concept (similar to a wedding cake 🍰). It reminded me of this graph, which I always found a much more helpful depiction of sustainability than the three-legged stool...

Humberto Rosa of @EU_ENV heeds MEP Clergeau’s call: let’s be disruptive and implement existing legislation. If the #CFP, Nature Directives etc were heeded, we would be in a much better position. Yet, calls for implementation such as the Marine Action Plan are met with resistance

MEP Christophe Clergeau highlights that the real challenge for the #OceanPact is NOT to reconcile human activities with ocean protection. The challenge is to recognise that ocean health is the pillar upon which a sustainable blue economy is possible. #BlueManifesto

DG @CharlinaVitcheva opens the Fisheries & Ocean dialogue by highlighting the importance of the #ocean for the EU and its citizens, as well as the negative impacts we have on it. Question for today: how will the #OceanPact tackle these pressures in a coherent way? #BlueManifesto

Increasing enforcement is part of President @vonderLeyen’s political guidelines, and @CostasKadis is meeting with his services to investigate how to do this. And yet, there seems to be little appetite to address #bottomtrawling in #MPAs, 33 YEARS after #HabitatsDirective…

MEP @IsabellaLovin reminds the audience that non-legally binding targets have simply not been met. The ocean is in crisis, and people are suffering as a result, despite policy and legislation - and this is very clear in the Baltic. The #OceanPact must deliver a step change

On the issue of a legally binding framework, Commissioner @CostasKadis says we must be careful to not add more burden through new legislation - the key is implementation of existing legislation and better coordination to achieve sustainability. Question remains: HOW? #OceanPact

MEP @IsabellaLovin says her one key demand for the #OceanPact is a legally binding framework. The ocean is too big to fail - we need a game changer and not just status quo. Olivier Poivre d’Arvor asks for science & ocean exploration. And @MartaCavalle wants SSF at its heart.

Unclear whether funding support for the #OceanPact will take the form of an #OceanFund or whether it will rely on a mix of other financial instruments, says Commissioner @CostasKadis. What is clear is that funding will be needed if objectives are to be met. #BlueManifesto

Commissioner @CostasKadis highlights “the immense importance of the ocean”, not just (!) for planetary health but also for a resilient blue economy. To be meaningful, the #OceanPact will need to be implemented. This will be ensured through progress indicators & legislative action

Glad to be at the POLITICO, Oceano Azul and Europe Jacques Delors event on the #OceanPact to discuss how to achieve a healthy ocean and a regenerative #BlueEconomy within this EU mandate. We need a strong roadmap to deliver clear and binding targets. #BlueManifesto #OceanDeal #OceanOptimism

Thanks to people like you, we have made great progress in protecting the ocean. 🌊 But there’s still much more to do. Become a wavemaker and be part of the change!💙 Subscribe to our email updates➡️ bit.ly/3CWsirF

🔵 #Dinamarca 🇩🇰 también limitará el #arrastre: el Gobierno propone cerrar a la pesca de fondo el 17 % de los fondos marinos daneses. buff.ly/414EmR8 🔹Acceso para suscriptores y #Freemium

We welcome Denmark's🇩🇰 decision to #BanBottomTrawling in over 17% of its marine area, aiming to regenerate the seabed & restore vital fishing grounds. Oceana has conducted research in parts of the Little Belt to document its underwater biodiversity, & proposed it for protection.

❗️Oceana condena la decisión de España de levantar la prohibición de la #PescaDeArrastre por debajo de 800 m en el Mediterráneo. Los ecosistemas marinos de profundidad albergan especies adaptadas a condiciones extremas, altamente vulnerables a la alteración humana: europe.oceana.org/es/press-rel...

First 28 days of 2025 were 1.75°C above pre-industrial! Even with La Niña cooling the planet down somewhat, this will be the hottest January in history. The Global warming rate might have more than doubled!

📢Oceana reveals how EU-owned vessels exploit flags of convenience, flag hopping & shell companies in Guinea-Bissau 🇬🇼 We call on EU Member States to collect ownership data on high-risk vessels. This lack of transparency can fuel #illegalfishing. More ➡️ bit.ly/4ghzyMi

If you are new to #BlueSky, meet us ⬇️ Since 2011, we have been working towards High Seas protection. Our current priority is to ensure 60 ratifications for the entry into force of the #BBNJ Treaty. If you are interested in: 🌊 High Seas 📜 High Seas Treaty 🗺️ MPAs follow & connect with us!

👏Good NEWS! We welcome the Swedish 🇸🇪 government’s proposal to amend legislation that will make possible a future ban on #bottomtrawling in its #MarineProtectedAreas, and we urge other EU countries to follow suit. #ProtectedMeansProtected More: europe.oceana.org/press-releas...

Similarly to receiving the smallest share of fisheries funding, small-scale fishers are starved of quotas, landing just 6% of the catch. EU fishing nations must work with coastal communities to create fairer allocation criteria.🎣 #MakeFishingFair www.theguardian.com/environment/...

All continents will have to deal with the growing burden of climate change. Its impact is impossible to ignore. The Paris Agreement continues to be humanity’s best hope. Europe will stay the course. And we’ll keep working with all nations that want to stop global warming.

@eesc.bsky.social consultation on #OceanPact - watch the livestream here: https://buff.ly/3CikHU4. @ec.europa.eu plan seems to be to achieve "coherence" while somehow treating "ocean health" as separate from "sustainable blue economy"... 🤔

Until 17 Feb 2025 @ec.europa.eu is looking for feedback on the #EuropeanOceansPact - aiming to promote sustainable ocean management 🌏and ensure the health🤒🐟, resilience🪸, and productivity🦪🌱 of the oceans🌊 and prosperity of 🇪🇺 coastal communities🎏 oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/news/shaping...

🗣️ "Let's be clear: this activity is unbelievably destructive. It's practically bulldozing entire habitats." #BottomTrawling has NO place in marine protected areas. 2025 must be the year we finally ban it from these areas. Well done, Lord Gascoigne, for championing our seas 👏 #OceanProtection

The #FishersOfTheFuture study ignores continuing overfishing. A just transition to fair, low impact fisheries is absent from the study. The future of fisheries will be low impact or it won’t be. The EU #OceanPact needs to address this. oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/fishers-futu...

#FishersOfTheFuture presents the status quo (high demand of EU-caught fish combined with a supposedly „moderate planetary crisis“) as the most desirable scenario. Yet the depleted oceans of today, with ever increasing consumption of imported seafood, are not a situation we can or want to perpetuate.

Foresight study on #FishersoftheFuture is available here: https://buff.ly/3PwHNtf #CFPreality #OceanPact #OceanDeal

Looking forward to the presentation of the "Fishers of the Future" study: https://buff.ly/40p8UMW. Key elements of the Common Fisheries Policy remain unimplemented, putting at risk the health of the ocean and the prosperity of our coastal communities. #CFPreality #OceanPact #OceanDeal