Fisheries
Today, around 40% of the world’s population lives in coastal areas – oceans are hugely affected by all human activities, be they land-based or aquatic.
As with agriculture, at first, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) focused mainly on the economic development of fisheries and on giving people access to as much fish as possible at the lowest prices possible, thus promoting and consolidating large industrial fishing fleets. But insofar, it largely underestimated the effects of overfishing, habitat destruction, and damage to the balance of the ecosystem, as well as climate change and pollution and also underestimated the effects on social cohesion and well-being of fishing communities.
For Slow Food, oceans, rivers and lakes and their resources are our common goods and that’s why Slow Food advocates for a sense of collective responsibility in the conservation of these habitats as well as the livelihoods of small-scale, sustainable fishing communities, who play an essential role in providing jobs, food, and safeguarding our fragile aquatic ecosystems.
Check out Slow Fish, the Slow Food campaign for sustainable fishing.
Resources
Position paper
Slow Food comments on the Common Fisheries Policy reform:
