Activities of Caroline ROOSE related to 2021/2188(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
A sustainable blue economy in the EU: the role of fisheries and aquaculture (short presentation)
Opinions (1)
OPINION Toward a sustainable blue economy in the EU: the role of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors
Amendments (39)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Whereas nearly one billion people, largely in developing countries, rely on fish and seafood as their primary source of animal protein; whereas small-scale fisheries account for more than 90% of the world’s capture fishers and fish workers;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1 a. Whereas blue growth is focused on highly capital-intensive projects, with limited benefits for most coastal communities in developing countries;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1 b. Whereas the reliance on private finance and the expansion of international financialisation for blue growth and related marine conservation projects sometimes push democratic decision making on natural resources away from the local level;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1 c. Whereas increased competition for maritime space between blue economy sectors can undermine livelihoods of coastal communities and Small-Scale Fisheries, notably women; whereas the blue economy should respond to a human rights-based approach;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Paragraph -1 d (new)
-1 d. Whereas over-exploitation, pollution and climate change are causing a serious loss of marine biodiversity which is key for fisheries and coastal communities;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 e (new)
Paragraph -1 e (new)
-1 e. Whereas Sustainable Fisheries Policy Agreements (SFPA) must guarantee appropriate and effective use, access and control of fisheries stocks management by small-scale fishers ;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 f (new)
Paragraph -1 f (new)
-1 f. Whereas the overexploitation of fish stocks, which leads to a lack of available resources for local people, including young people, can contribute to migration;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 g (new)
Paragraph -1 g (new)
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 h (new)
Paragraph -1 h (new)
-1 h. Whereas climate change increasingly changes the distribution and migratory patterns of various fish species and affects small-scale fisheries in developing countries that are more vulnerable to its effects;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 i (new)
Paragraph -1 i (new)
-1 i. Whereas the IPCC Special report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate gives evidence of the benefits of combining scientific with local and indigenous knowledge to enforce resilience;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 j (new)
Paragraph -1 j (new)
-1 j. Whereas the illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing is a one of the greatest threats to sustainable exploitation of fish population; whereas tax evasion and corruption facilitate IUU fishing which often coincides with human rights abuses, including human trafficking and modern slavery;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 k (new)
Paragraph -1 k (new)
-1 k. Whereas the EU is a major market for West African Fish Meal and Fish Oil (FMFO);
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls the critical role of small- scale fisheries in food security and nutrition; notes the potential conflicts between fisheries and other emerging sectors of the blue economy; urges the EU to address them through transparent conflict resolution mechanisms; to this end, stresses the need to promote participatory maritime spatial planning, the creation of stakeholders’ forums of dialogue, the strict implementation of the precautionary approach, not limited to deep-see mining, but expanded to the development of new blue sectors;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need to implement an integrated ecosystem-based approach to all sectors of the blue economy, including extractive industries; in particular, urges the EU and partner countries to adopt science-based Maximum Sustainable Yield-based targets for management of all stocks; to enforce effective monitoring, control and surveillance;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls the EU’s responsibility in global fisheries governance, which should prioritise the rights of small-scale fishers and protect their access to, use of and control over fishing resources; to this end, urges the EU to scale up its financial support for the development of the entire value chain in small-scale fisheries, and to ensure greater participation of women in decision- making, considering their crucial role in small-scale fishing, including pre- and post- harvest activities, aquaculture and inland fishing;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls the EU’s commitment to the principle of policy coherence for development; stresses that sustainable fisheries partnership agreements must be in line with best available scientific advice and must neither undermine local food security nor threaten small-scale fisheries in non-EU countries by putting them in direct competition with EU vessels; calls for the agreements to be aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and with the EU environmental obligations and Common Fisheries Policy objectives by increasing sectoral support and sustainability provisions on surpluses, discards and the precautionary approach;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Urges the EU to increase transparency, data collection and reporting requirements of SFPAs; to increase the engagement of civil society prior to the negotiations and during the implementation period;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Is worried that sectoral support within SFPAs often doesn’t benefit directly small-scale fishers; calls on the Commission to link SFPAs closely with EU development aid with the aim of improving value-added for coastal communities; in addition, calls on the Commission to proactively make public annual reports on the concrete realizations of sectoral support to better track the use EU public money;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Calls on the European Commission to come forward with ambitious mandates in Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMOs) in order to protect fisheries resources in developing countries and international waters, notably in relation to improving stock management for species such as tropical tunas, reducing discard and applying the precautionary approach to protect the conservation of endangered species, vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) as well as, improving data available, compliance and transparent decision-making;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4 d. Calls the Commission to push for the integration of climate adaptation and mitigation goals in its SFPAs and in Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) decision- making;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4 e. Calls on the EU and its Member States to step up its efforts to improve global fisheries governance, notably through mechanisms such as the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI);
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that the production of fishmeal and fish oil contributes to overfishing in developing countries; notably in West Africa; calls for mandatory due diligence measures to ensure that the whole seafood-industry supply chain is fair, fully traceable and, free of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and production linked with human trafficking and slavery;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Recalls that all states involved in fisheries in West Africa should establish a RFMO – particularly for the exploitation of shared stocks, such as small pelagic fish – as required under international law, relevant national laws, pan-African and regional fisheries policies, and other instruments. This management regime should comply with a precautionary and ecosystem-based approach, ensuring the total allowable catch is within safe biological limits;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Underlines that the business model of aquaculture involves similar risks than industrial farming, including strong impacts on surrounding ecosystems coupled with occasional diseases outbreak; calls for the development of sustainable aquaculture, through sustainable fisheries management and best aquaculture practises by strongly reducing EU industry’s dependence on fish meal and by promoting non- carnivorous species to this effect, calls equally on the EU to provide technical assistance to developing country producers, especially small producers;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Urges the EU to effectively promote and protect small-scale fisheries in Africa, that is the main provider of oceans livelihoods, as a cornerstone of the future “EU-Africa blue task force”, i.e. by funding the implementation of the FAO international guidelines on sustainable small-scale fisheries ;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5 d. Expresses its deep concern about privatisation of commons, including coastal lands and access to coastal marine areas, without prior, informed consent of local communities;
Amendment 62 #
6. Urges the EU to develop a human rights-based approach towards ocean governance and the blue economy by supporting food sovereignty and economic development for local fishing communities;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the objective of protecting 30 % of the world’s oceans by 2030, but warns that it should not be done at the expense of indigenous peoples and local communities whose tenure, access and resource rights to ocean should be protected, as embedded in FAO Voluntary Guidelines of Tenure, Land and Forests and for Securing Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Free, Prior and Informed Consent; as set out in the ILO Convention 169; to this end, calls for the creation of robust human rights safeguards, accountability and grievance mechanism;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls that a growing body of research, notably IPCC Special report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, shows that objectives on biodiversity and climate change mitigation and adaptation are better achieved when local communities have direct control over the management of the resources on which they rely; highlights the risks of ocean grabbing linked to maritime spatial planning; accordingly, stresses the need to securing Small-Scale Fisheries and the responsible governance of tenure; as well as to hold accountable EU “blue businesses” beneficiaries if their activities violate human rights;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Calls on the EU and partner countries to rely on indigenous know-how in its climate mitigation strategies and to promote actively participate management, which has proved to be effective in increasing the resilience of coastal communities;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Calls on the EU to promote and protect women in the seafood supply chain; notably by ensuring greater participation of women in decision- making;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls that illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, facilitated by the practice of flying a flag of convenience, damages food security and the livelihoods of people in coastal countries; stresses the need to limit flags of convenience and re-flagging and to address transshipment at seawhile creating fertile ground for piracy; calls for a strong system, of deterrent sanctions and a multi-pronged approach to fight IUU fishing; stresses the need to limit flags of convenience and re-flagging and to address transshipment at sea, as important tools to close IUU loopholes; more broadly, calls on the EU to strengthen anti-corruption capacity building; fostering national interagency cooperation and increasing international cooperation; improving oversight of fishery agents; and supporting regional monitoring, control and surveillance centres and task forces;
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Stresses that the governance of land-based activities is critical to achieving a sustainable blue economy, as living coastal resources are most threatened by land-based activities, with agriculture, ports and harbours, and aquaculture being particularly impactful; urges the EU and its Member States to take all necessary measures to address holistically the root causes of marine pollution and fish depletion, and to reform accordingly its sectoral policies;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9 b. Takes note that extractive industry is a growing sector of the blue oceans economy; emphasises the duty of states to refrain from taking measures, including large-scale development projects, that may adversely affect the livelihoods of inland and marine small-scale fishers, their territories or access rights; and to conduct ex-ante assessments of extractive industry projects, operated by private entities in order to evaluate the possible negative human rights impacts on local fishing communities;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls for the EU to act on the detrimental impacts of fishing techniques such as bottom-contacting gears or fish aggregating devices by limiting their use.on climate, seabeds and bycatch by limiting their use; in particular, calls on the EU to prohibit the use of bottom-trawling in all marine protected areas;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Calls on the EU to encourage developing countries to develop national inshore exclusion zones reserved for local and artisanal fishers;
Amendment 86 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Stresses the importance of applying the precautionary principle in deep-sea mining; in particular, reiterates its support an international moratorium on commercial deep-sea mining exploitation licences until such time as the effects of deep-sea mining on the marine environment, biodiversity and human activities at sea have been studied and researched sufficiently and all possible risks are understood;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 d (new)
Paragraph 10 d (new)
10 d. Recognizes that coastal tourism can have positive impacts on developing countries, but can be detrimental when mass tourism strategies are developed, leading to reduced food access and consumption for local consumers and to the destruction of the marine environment and cultural identities, calls on the EU to promote fair and low-impact models for tourism;