Give EU fish stocks a future

(Brussels) – Natuurpunt joins forces with OCEAN2012 and calls on Flemish Minister-President Kris Peeters to save European fish stocks from decline. During the annual Fisheries Council, ministers will set catch quotas for the North Sea and Atlantic for 2011. This is the last meeting of the European Fisheries Council under the Belgian Presidency.

“Natuurpunt is pleased to be the hundredth OCEAN2012 member group. Through this step, Natuurpunt aims to underline the urgency of ensuring sustainable protection of fish stocks," said Nathalie de Snijder from Natuurpunt.

OCEAN2012 is a fast-growing coalition currently with 101 members dedicated to sustainable European fisheries that:

• see ecology as the basis for  successful socially and economically viable fisheries;
• take decisions at the most appropriate levels and in a transparent way, with stakeholder participation;
• builds sustainable fishing capacity at EU and regional level;
• makes access to fisheries resources conditional on environmental and social criteria; and
• ensures public funds are only used in a way that serves the public good and not only private interests, and supports the transition to sustainable fisheries.

Natuurpunt is the largest NGO working on nature conservation in Flanders, Belgium. Thousands of volunteers and over 300 professional employees work for the protection of important species and landscapes. In order to reach this goal, the organisation protects Flanders’ remaining nature by buying land and preserving different areas, studying and monitoring different species, through both general and more advanced education programmes and through lobbying of policy makers. On December 1 2010, Natuurpunt managed 500 nature reserves with an area of 18,000 ha with a membership of 87,000 families.