News and case studies

Please find below a list of our case studies and latest news articles.

Blog: EU’s external fishing fleet to become the most transparent, accountable and sustainable globally following legal reform

Tuesday, 20th June 2017 Author: Vanya Vulperhorst, Oceana Today’s agreement by EU bodies on a new regulation governing the European Union’s extensive external fishing fleet is a momentous step towards building sustainable fisheries globally and deserves wholehearted praise. After almost two years of negotiations, the European Commiss...

Fishing under private agreements needs to move out of the shadows.

Source and author: Oceana* EU vessels operate outside EU waters under different authorisation types. The EU, on behalf of its member states signs public access agreements (also called Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements or SFPAs) with a non-EU coastal State. Under these official EU agreements the EU pays non-EU coastal States to...

PRESS RELEASE: European Parliament supports steps for transparency in EU fishing operations outside EU waters

Fishing activities of the European fleet outside EU waters represent 28% of total EU catches. Members of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament voted today on the European Commission’s proposal to regulate activities of the EU’s fishing fleet operating outside EU waters. The Committee has agreed on the need for new...

VIDEO: The EU's external fishing fleet: Flying the flag for transparency & sustainability.

We're standing in front of a vital opportunity to make sure that the EU’s fleet, one of the largest in the world, meets the highest standards for accountable, transparent and sustainable fishing. Watch the animated video to find out what Oceana and its partners are advocating for before the vote in the Fisheries Committee of the European Par...

BLOG: New EU External Fleet Regulation: key to putting an end to Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing worldwide

On December 5th, members of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament will have their only chance to vote this year to make a huge improvement to the way the European fishing vessels are regulated when fishing abroad. It is a vital opportunity to make sure that the EU’s fleet, one of the largest in the world, meets the highest standa...

Reflagging by EU fishing vessels - the need for stricter standards

Imagine a situation where an EU vessel fishes in non-EU waters under an official, EU-funded agreement (Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement or SFPA) that provides access to third country waters. Once the fishery resources negotiated by the EU for those waters have been caught, the vessel reflags to a non-EU country – possibly one that...

Transparency in fisheries sector- Need for a public database on the EU's External Fleet Regulation.

The legal framework governing the activities of the European external fishing fleet is a crucial part of the fight against IUU fishing and is currently being revised. A robust new external fishing fleet regulation will bring it in line with the CFP and the EU's global policies to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing, representing a major step f...

How to better monitor activities of the EU’s external fishing fleet

The legal framework governing the activities of the European external fishing fleet is a crucial part of the fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. This regulation is currently being revised. This is a critical opportunity to ensure that all of the Union’s fishing vessels, whether operating within or outside Union w...

Why global unique vessel identifiers are needed - Unveiling cases of EU vessel number changes in breach of EU law

One of the priorities of the European Union (EU)’s reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is to ensure sustainable fisheries both in European waters and on a global scale. The EU has in the past decade introduced new, tighter laws to achieve legal and sustainable world fisheries at a time of mounting threats to marine biodiversity and food se...

What explains the 22,085 EU vessels operating in non-EU waters since 2008? Why whofishesfar.org accounts for far more vessels than the EU long distance fleet

What explains the 22,085 EU vessels operating in non-EU waters since 2008? Why WhoFishesFar.org accounts for far more vessels than the EU long distance fleet Which EU vessels are included in whofishesfar.org? Any EU vessel operating in external waters needs to obtain a fishing authorisation from its flag State (the EU member sta...

New data on the European Union external fishing fleet: more transparency in world fisheries

On 29 July 2015, Oceana and its partners (See Note) launched the Who Fishes Far database. This pioneering tool in fisheries transparency makes details of EU fishing vessels operating outside Union waters accessible to the public for the first time. Today, the details of more than 6,800 additional vessels have been added to Who Fishes Far, br...

Poster: Where do European vessels fish?

See our poster at the "Economic advice in fisheries management" conference (Malta, February 2016). Download

NGOs welcome European Commission proposal to increase control and transparency of EU fleet fishing worldwide

10.12.2015: A proposal published today by the European Commission that would close loopholes in the regulation governing the European Union’s long-distance fishing fleet has been welcomed by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Oceana, The Pew Charitable Trusts and WWF. “The European Commission’s proposal reinforces the EU...

NGOs launch fishing transparency website identifying 15,264 EU vessels authorised to fish outside the EU

29.07.2015: Today, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Oceana and WWF heralded a new era of fisheries transparency with the launch of an online database detailing 15,264 EU vessels authorised to fish outside EU waters between 2010 and 2014. The figures have been made public by the NGOs for the first time after an access-to-information reque...