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Protecting Europe's seas
We are lobbying for better protection for birds like these roseate terns
We work hard to influence European policy and legislation to protect seabirds and their habitats.
EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
Along with BirdLife International, we are committed to strengthening environmental integration in the 2013 reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) (see downloads).
The 2002 reform failed to tackle overfishing and its collateral damage on marine ecosystems, demanding radical changes in 2013. We want to see ecological sustainability made the priority objective of the new EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), as a prerequisite for a viable fishing industry. To this end, the CFP must actively contribute to achieving the goals of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (see below).
In practice, this requires much stronger impetus and direction to making operational an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management across regional seas. We are also seeking a substantial reduction in fleet capacity and significant devolution of decision-making from Brussels to the regions.
We are already active in the decentralisation of the EU Common Fisheries Policy achieved so far in the wake of the last (2002) reform, namely through the creation of Regional Advisory Councils (RACs). We represent BirdLife on both the North Sea RAC (whose Spatial Planning Working Group we chair) and the North Western Waters RAC.
In advocating for reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy and other EU policies, we engage actively with the relevant institutions (Commission and Parliament) in Brussels and currently represent the European environmental NGOs on DG Mare's Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture (ACFA).
EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) entered into force on the 15 July 2008. The Directive requires EU Member States to work together to ensure Europe's seas achieve 'good environmental status' (GES) by 2020, at the latest. This approach should produce clean, healthy and biologically diverse seas throughout Europe. For more information about what the MSFD should deliver, follow the 'Marine Strategy Framework Directive' link in the left hand menu.
In addition to proposing the mechanisms for effective protection and conservation of the marine environment, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive aims to integrate environmental concerns into all the different policies, agreements and legislative measures which have an impact on the marine environment, including the EU Common Fisheries Policy.
The preamble of the Directive states that the CFP, and any future reform of it, has to take account of the objectives of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). This is a very powerful statement, giving the MSFD significant policy leverage. Hence, the 2013 reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy will need to ensure that fisheries management in the EU moves to an ecosystem-based approach that directly supports the achievement of GES.
OSPAR
We provide the BirdLife International delegation to the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic.
The OSPAR Convention binds fifteen European States, including non-EU States such as Norway and Iceland, to protect the seas extending from the Arctic in the north to Gibraltar in the south, including the seas around the UK. Through OSPAR, the RSPB and BirdLife International are lobbying for:
- marine protected areas to be established for a representative sample of all the species and habitats in the North-East Atlantic
- better protection for species and habitats that are threatened and/or declining, such as the roseate tern, and the Balearic shearwater, and
- better management of human activities at sea.
OSPAR is also taking on a new role, to facilitate the cooperative working required under the MSFD (see above) to deliver GES within Marine (Sub-)Regions.
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) provides scientific advice on the management of fisheries in the North-East Atlantic. Most ICES meetings are open to registered NGOs as observers, including BirdLife International, and we provide active input to the Working Group on Seabird Ecology.
Seabird 2000
Trends in seabird populations are a recognised indicator of the health and sustainable management of the marine environment. We are a key partner in the approximately ten-yearly censuses of breeding seabirds in Britain and Ireland, last carried out in 2000.
The next census in 2013 will update our knowledge on seabird status and distribution, enabling us to better target our conservation efforts nationally and internationally.
Last modified: 14 April 2010