The sea, a cross-border common good
Pollution, overexploitation, injustice are degrading the oceans to an unprecedented extent. A member of the Greens in the European Parliament is trying, with a few examples and testimonies, to promote less productivist and less liberal fishing in favor of greater support for artisanal fishing, the only one favorable to coastal populations everywhere in the world(1). Guaranteeing fish stocks in the long term through the EU’s common fisheries policy, countering the powerful industrial fishing lobbies that are devastating to living resources, active with governments and widely supported by large retailers, are therefore no mean feat. affair.
Confusion reigns over MPAs(2) in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, over licenses granted to foreign countries or by foreign countries over their own fishing zones, over illegal, undeclared and unregulated practices. The aberration of intensive aquaculture can be measured by the fact that it contributes to emptying the oceans to produce meal intended to feed carnivorous species and that it ultimately threatens global food security. At least fair and equitable rules are expected on the place of women and… for more respectful consideration of the cognitive performance of fish
(1) Trawling by large industrial vessels which scrape the seabed represents 30% of catches in Europe for 93% of discards at sea
(2) MPA: protected marine areas, more theoretical than real with the exception of infinitesimal areas of integral protection
