"Today's decision gives European fish stocks a real fighting chance," said Tony Long, director of the WWF European Policy Office. "We have dodged a bullet as the proposal on the table would have made fish stock recovery measures agreed in the summer pointless."
The overall fisheries package at the legislature meeting in Strasbourg, France, was approved by a show of hands.
For the second time in a year, parliament showed the way toward more sustainable fisheries. Earlier this year, the EU agreed on rules to compel the fishing industry to respect scientific advice on overfishing, to vastly reduce the amount of healthy fish thrown back into the sea, and to protect sensitive areas at sea.
Ideas that now look like no-brainers were unthinkable for years. In Wednesday's debate, it was the public funding for new ships in an age where too many vessels were already chasing too few fish that stood out.
"To use public money to pay for building new boats would only make the problem worse," said Chris Davies of the ALDE Liberal group in parliament.
