Protest letter

Open letter to EU Commissioner Maria Damanaki

Subject: your blog of 1 August 2014

Dear Mme Damanaki,
This week we have been made aware of your personal blog that was posted by you on 1 August 2014 on your website and that was titled “POCKET GUIDE TO YOUR BEACH HOLIDAYS”.

In this blog you formulate a personal advice to the general consumer what seafood to consume during the holiday season. And because this advice is coming from the highest EU authority responsible for formulating and guarding the EU fisheries policy, it will no doubt be taken seriously by the reader.

Against this background it is shocking to read that the EU Commissioner responsible for fisheries openly advices against consuming seafood caught by driftnets or bottom trawlers.

Shocking because both fishing methods are entirely legal operations in the EU. Moreover, bottom trawling is one of the major and most widely used fishing methods in the EU, particularly in demersal fisheries. Many of these fisheries are also MSC certified.

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On behalf of the fish producers’ organisations and national fishermen and ship owners associations in the member states we therefore write you this letter in protest.

Whatever personal opinion you may have, an EU Commissioner cannot abuse his or her position and authority to economically harm an entire industry by suggesting their operation to be irresponsible and that consequently their products should not be bought by EU consumers, while this industry is acting entirely within the legal framework of EU and national legislation.

Yours sincerely
Javier Garat
President of Europêche

Sean O’Donoghue
President of EAPO