A Look at EU Fishing Subsidies

Total subsidies to the fishing sector are equivalent to 50 percent of the value of the total fish catch by the EU in the same year (EUR 6.6 billion).

That’s from an Oceana analysis of EU subsidies given in 2009.  An amazing figure when you consider that the EU has the third largest fishing fleet in the world. And here’s another whopper:

In Europe, 63 percent of the assessed fish stocks in the Atlantic and 82 percent in the Mediterranean are overfished.   A recent impact assessment by the European Commission concluded that if the status quo is maintained and fishing continues at current rates, only 9 percent of European fish stocks will be managed at sustainable levels by 2022,6 despite the commitment by countries to manage all fisheries sustainably by 2015.