October 2013

Dear Member of the European Parliament,

As members of the international science community, we write to you with grave concern about the state of Europe’s seas. The reforms of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), have provided the European Union (EU) with a great opportunity to play a large role in stopping global through the significant reduction of subsidies to the fishing sector.

We urge you, as elected representatives of the citizens of the EU, to use your leadership to guide the European Parliament in addressing this global challenge. Our marine ecosystems are at a tipping point, and overfishing represents one of the greatest threats to their productivity. Our lifetime of experience in studying ocean ecosystems and marine fisheries has allowed us to witness the significant changes that have occurred in the marine environment and its exploitation. In mere decades, developments in fishing technology have sent fishing vessels further and deeper than ever envisioned1, catching amounts of fish that are no longer sustainable2. Many fish stocks, including those of species at the top of the marine food chain, have been depleted to only a fraction of their historical levels3.

Historically, subsidies have contributed to boosting the EU’s fleet capacity by massively funding the construction of new vessels.4 As a consequence, the EU’s fishing fleet is estimated to be two

1 E. Norse et al. (2012) Sustainability of deep-sea fisheries, Marine Policy 36: 307–320 2 U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): more than 85 percent of the world’s fisheries are now overexploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted or recovering from overexploitation in FAO. (2012) The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture – 2012. Part 1: World Review of fisheries and aquaculture. Rome 3 R. A. Myers & B. Worm. (2003) Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities. Nature 423: 280- 283; J. A. Hutchings & J. D. Reynolds. (2004) Marine fish population collapses: consequences for recovery and extinction risk. BioScience 94: 297-309; R. A. Myers et al. (2007) Cascading effects of the loss of apex predatory sharks from a coastal ocean. Science 315: 1846–1850. 4The construction of fishing vessels was subsidized under the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG), which lasted from 1994 to 2006

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 1 to three times larger than sustainable fisheries would allow5, while 39% of the assessed fish stocks in the North East Atlantic and more than 88% in the Mediterranean remain overfished.6

Yet, despite the precarious state of the oceans, many European Member States continue to provide significant subsidies to their fishing sector. These subsidies produce such strong economic incentives to overfish that reducing them is one of the most significant actions that can be taken to combat overfishing7. A World Bank report8 concluded that input subsidies reinforce the sector’s “poverty trap” by creating incentives for greater investment and fishing effort in overstressed fisheries. The economic losses in global fisheries resulting from inefficiencies (including subsidies) and overfishing, amount to up to 50 billion USD per year (34.2 billion EUR). The current EMFF reform represents a perfect opportunity to eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies to the fishing sector for the 2014 to 2020 funding period and change the course of European fisheries.

Continuing to spend public funds on environmentally harmful subsidies will bring European fisheries deeper into crisis. The EU needs to move away from direct fleet subsidies, such as funds for new engines, the building or modernizing of vessels, or leaving vessels to lay idle in port. Instead public money should be spent for the public benefit and focussed on control of compliance with management rules, data collection, scientific research and stock assessments.

We urge you to use your skill and leadership to achieve a successful outcome in the EMFF negotiations and demonstrate to the world that the European Parliament can play a constructive role in solving problems of global consequence.

Sincerely,

5 European Commission. (2008) Press Release: Common Fisheries Policy: Commission launches a mid-term review, Brussels. IP/08/1339. 6 European Commission (2013) 319 final Communication from the Commission to the Council concerning a consultation on Fishing Opportunities for 2014 7 U.R. Sumaila et al. (2010) A bottom-up re-estimation of global fisheries subsidies, Journal of Bioeconomics, 12, (3): 201-225. 8 R. Arnason, K. Kelleher and R. Willmann (2008) The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform. The World Bank, Washington DC.

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 2 Dr. Alejandro Aguilar Dr. Professor at the University of Barcelona President, Blue Ocean Institute Barcelona, Spain Research Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Visiting Professor Dr. Gilles Bœuf and co-chair, Alan Alda Center for Professor Communicating Science Université Pierre & Marie Curie Stony Brook University Paris, France Stony Brook, USA

Dr. Philippe Cury Dr. Enric Sala Director of the CRH (Centre de Recherche Explorer-in-Residence Halieutique Méditerranéenne et Tropicale) National Geographic Society IRD - IFREMER Washington, D.C. Sète Cedex, France USA

Dr. Dr. Senior scientist Professor and Director GEOMAR Helmholtz-Centre for Ocean Fisheries Economics Research Unit Research Fisheries Centre Kiel, Germany University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada Dr. Ricardo J. Haroun Tabraue Center of Biodiversity and Environmental Dr. Les Watling Management Professor and Graduate Chair University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Department of Biology Canary Islands, Spain University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii Dr. Independent Consultant on Fishery Science Dr. and Management Professor of Biology Paciano, Italy Dalhousie University Halifax, NS, Canada Dr. Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara President Tethys Research Institute Milan, Italy

Dr. Professor and Director Fisheries Centre University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada

Dr. Callum Roberts Professor of York, UK

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 3 Signed online by 186 scientists:

Iván Acevedo García Dr. Thora Amend Technician in Molecular Systematic Senior advisor development cooperation Laboratory and PhD about endangered GIZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer marine invertebrates Internationale Zusammenarbeit Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales Germany and Peru (CSIC) Spain Carolina Antequera Technician M. Teresa Aguado Institute of Marine Sciences CSIC Professor of Marine Zoology. Doctor Barcelona Research Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Spain Spain Jurgi Areizaga Ana Aguiar PhD. in Coastal Management Postdoctoral researcher Cantabria University University of Lisbon Spain Portugal Sophie Arnaud-Haond Miguel Alcaraz Researcher Professor Ifremer Institute of Marine Sciences France Spain Cynthia A. Arochi Zendejas Pedro Alfonso Programme coordinator Researcher GVI Mexico IMAR – University of the Azores Mexico Portugal Kathrin Bacher Edward Allison PhD candidate Senior Lecturer Centre of Advanced Studies in Blanes School of International Development, (CSIC) University of East Anglia Spain UK Enric Ballesteros Eduardo Almansa Berro Scientist Senior researcher Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes - CSIC Spanish Institute of Spain Spain Jorge Baro Alexandre Alonso-Fernández Director Oceanographic Centre of Malaga Researcher Instituto Espñaol de Oceanografía Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, Spain IIM.CSIC, Vigo, SPAIN Spain

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 4 Marisa Batista Luc Brendonck PhD candidate Professor of Biology Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de KU Leuven Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa Belgium Portugal Isabel Maria Caballero Leiva Giovanni Bearzi Oceanographer Coordinator DHI Water and Environment Dolphin Biology & Conservation Singapore Italy Miguel Cabanellas Reboredo Estibaliz Berecibar PhD student Research Doctor IMEDEA Portugal Spain

Matthias Biber Fulvio Arturo Calvenzi Undergraduate Student President Bangor University Federazione Italiana Pesca In Apnea UK Italy

Thomas Binet Antonio Canepa Oneto Research fellow PhD Student - Marine Ecology. CEMARE Marine Science Institute (ICM-CSIC). UK Barcelona. Spain Julia Blanchard Assistant Professor Maria Capa University of Sheffield Research scientist- UK Norwegian University of sciences and Technology Marzia Bo Norway Researcher Università di Genova Massimiliano Cardinale Italy Senior scientist Institute of Marine Research Camilo M. Botero Sweden Professor University Sergio Arboleda Federico Cardona Pons Colombia Project Officer AquaTT Ltd Amanda Brechon Ireland PhD Student University College Dublin Edgar Casas Güell Ireland Pre-PhD. Researcher (FPI) Institute of Marine Science Spain

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 5 Ines Castejon Sophie Delerue-Ricard PhD Marine Evolutionary PhD Student Independent researcher Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Spain Genomics KU Leuven José J. Castro Belgium Lecturer Center of Biodiversity and Environmental Luc De Meester Management of the University of Las Professor Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands KU Leuven Spain Belgium

Margarida Castro Fien De Raedemaecker Associate Professor in Scientific Assistant University of Algarve Flanders Marine Institute Portugal Belgium

Maria Chicharo Salud Deudero Professor Scientific researcher University of Algarve Instituto Español de Oceanografia Portugal Spain

Eric Clua Peer Doering-Arjes Director of regional office for Science and Scientist Technology Humboldt Universität Ministry of Scientific Research Berlin France Germany

André Costa Rosario Dominguez-Petit Master in Management and Conservation of Researcher Natural Resources IIM-CSIC Centro de Oceanografia Spain Portugal Maxime Fajgenblat Isabelle Cote KU Leuven Professor of Marine Ecology Belgium Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Canada Ana Faria Postdoctoral researcher Léa David Eco-Ethology Research Unit Dr Portugal EcoOcéan Institut France Fernando Ángel Fernández-Álvarez MsC University of Oviedo Spain

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 6 Dipl.-Biol. Christine Figgener Lara Silvia Garcia Corral Research Associate and International Ph.D Student (Oceans plankton metabolism Relations Representative and Global Change) Centro de Investigacion de Cetaceos (CEIC) Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Germany Studies Spain Eva Flo Biologist Eva Garcia-Vazquez ICM-CSIC Professor of Genetics Spain University of Oviedo Spain Paulo Fonseca Researcher Jose Garrido IPMA IP - Portuguese Institute for the PhD student Ocean and Atmosphere Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR) Portugal Algarve Portugal Aitor Forcada Lecturer of Biology and Marine Science Philippe Gaspar University of Alicante Scientific Coordinator Spain CLS- Marine Ecosystems Department Spain Alexandros Frantzis President, Scientific co-ordinator Guido Gay Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute Deep seas explorer; designer of research Greece equipment Idrobotica GG&Co Maria de la Fuente Switzerland PhD student ICM-CSIC Aurora Geerts Spain PhD Student KU Leuven Sylvia Frey Belgium Project Leader Science and Education OceanCare Lindsay Geerts Switzerland PhD Student University of Antwerp Óscar García-Aguilar Belgium Researcher Environmental Hydraulics Institute IH Josep-Maria Gili Cantabria Research Professor Spain Institute of Marine Sciences, Barcelona, Spain (CSIC) Spain

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 7 Ana Gomez Paolo Guidetti Scientific Officer Professeur Griffith University ECOMERS lab., Université de Nice-Sophia Australia Antipolis Nice France Damià Gomis Proffesor of Physics of the Earth - Physical Noemi Guil Oceanography Postdoctoral researcher IMEDEA (Univ. Illes Balears - CSIC) MNCN-CSIC Spain Spain

Jorge M.S. Goncaves Elena Gutierrez Gomez Fisheries Ecology Researcher Quality and Environmental Technician CCMAR - University of Algarve Elimco soluciones integrales s.a Portugal Spain

Miguel Gonzalez Calleja Pascal Hablützel GIS Technician PhD Student IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB) KU Leuven Spain Belgium

Enrique Gonzalez-Ortegon Nicole Henning Researcher PhD candidate Bangor University Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre UK Germany

Emanuel Gonçalves Sofia Henriques Associate Professor Scientist Biosciences Department, ISPA - Instituto Centro de Oceanografia Universitário Portugal Portugal Manuel Hidalgo Andrea Gori Researcher Postdoctoral researcher Spanish Institute of Oceanography Centre Scientifique de Monaco Spain Monaco Joakim Hjelm Hedelvy J. Guada Senior scientist Director SLU Aqua, Institute of Marine Research CICTMAR, NGO Sweden Venezuela Franck Hollander Elena Guerrero Dr. PhD Student WWF - Belgium Institut de Ciencies del Mar-CSIC Belgium Spain

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 8 Kathryn Hughes Irene Kingma Postdoctoral Researcher International Marine Policy Specialist Bangor University Nederlandse Elasmobranchen Vereniging UK Netherlands

Francesca Iuculano Luisa Lamas PhD student PhD Student Instituto Mediterraneo Estudios Avanzados Centro de Oceanografia (IMEDEA-CSIC-UIB) Portugal Spain Veerle Lemaire Dr. Enrique Jaimez PhD Student General Manager KU Leuven Cluster of Energy, Environment and Climate Belgium Change Universidad de Oviedo Dominik Linhard Spain Project Manager Umweltforschungsintitut - GLOBAL 2000 Stuart Jenkins Austria Reader in Marine Ecology Bangor University Víctor Lucía García UK PHD Student University of Salamanca Andrew Johnson Spain Self-employed fisheries ecologist Bangor University Ángel Luque UK Professor Marine Biology Lab, Departamento de Gabriel Jorda Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad JAE-DOC Researcher Autónoma IMEDEA Spain Spain Angeliki Lysimachou Juan Junoy Research Scientist Profesor Titular Marine and Environmental Research Centre Universidad de Alcalá (CIIMAR) Spain Portugal

Gunter Kathagen Teresa Madurell Master Student Postdoctoral researcher KU Leuven ICM Belgium Spain

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 9 Gregory Maes Miguel Mateo Lecturer Senior Scientist KU Leuven & JCU Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Belgium and Australia Científicas Spain Rémi Maguet Junior Plankton Scientist Inés Mazarrasa Elósegui Denmark PhD student Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies David March (IMEDEA-CSIC) Researcher Spain Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (UIB-CSIC) Joachim Mergeay Spain Researcher Inbo Isabel Marín Belgium PhD Student Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM-CSIC) Juan Moles Spain PhD student University of Barcelona Pablo Martín-Sosa Spain Marine biologist Spanish Institution of Oceanography Pedro Alexandrino Monteiro Spain Researcher CCMAR-University of Algarve Brezo Martinez Portugal Dr. Biodiversity and Conservation Unit. Rey Pedro Morais Juan Carlos University Postdoctoral researcher Spain Centro de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental Alejandro Martinez Abrain Portugal Postdoctoral Researcher Universidade Da Coruña Carmen Morales Caselles Spain Researcher University of Cadiz Pedro Martinez Arbizu Spain Professor Head of Department Senckenberg am Meer Telmo Morato Germany Senior Scientist University of the Azores Juan Martinez Ayala Portugal Technician IMEDEA Spain

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 10 Elvira Morote Miquel Ortega Cerda Ph.D Investigador vinculado universitario University of Almeria Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona Spain Spain

Marcial Murciano Henrik Österblom Professor Docent OIC/UAB Stockholm Resilience Centre Spain Sweden

Carla Murciano Virto Frank Paladino Research on marine science Jack W. Schrey Distinguished Professor Plan Bleu Regional Activity Center / Indiana-Purdue University Mediterranean Action Plan USA France / Spain Julio Parapar Ciara Murphy Associate Professor PhD Student Universidade da Coruña University College Dublin Spain Ireland Nicolas Pascal Gabriel Navarro Associate researcher Researcher Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes Spanish National Research Council France Spain Marion Péguin Norma Zoe Neszi Chargée du programme PhD Student Ecosystèmes Research ICM - CSIC Comité français de l'UICN Spain France

Frederico Oliveira Alfonso Pérez Rodríguez Research Assistant Research Scientist Centre of Marine Sciences - University of Institute of Marine Research Algarve Spain Portugal Dr. Mari Carmen Pineda James Oliver Assistant Scientist Programme Operations Officer University of Barcelona IUCN Global Marine Programme Spain Switzerland Ana Pinela Covadonga Orejas PhD student Researcher IRBio and UB Spanish Oceanographic Institute Portugal Spain

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 11 Daniel Praeg Senior Researcher in Marine Geoscience Ana Riesgo OGS - Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Research assistant di Geofisica Sperimentale University of Barcelona Italy Spain

Laura Prieto Fabian Ritter Researcher Ramon y Cajal Programme President, Director of Research Research Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de M.E.E.R. e.V. Andalucia (ICMAN-CSIC) Germany Cadiz, Spain Jose Rodriguez Fisheries scientist Patricia Puerta Instituto Español de Oceanografia PhD Student Spain Instituto Español de Oceanografia Spain Antoni Rodriguez-Perea Emeritus Professor Eudald Pujol Buxó Balearic Islands University PhD Student Spain Departament de Biologia Animal, Universitat de Barcelona Eelco Rohling Catalonia, Professor Spain The Australian National University Australia Ariadna Purroy Researcher Joandomènec Ros ICM-CSIC Professor Spain University of Barcelona Spain Laura Ramajo PhD Candidate Erica Sá Instituto Mediterraneo de Estudios Researcher Avanzados Centre of Oceanography Spain Portugal

Joost Raeymaekers Nuno Sales Henriques Postdoctoral Researcher Researcher University of Leuven CCMar - Centre of Marine Sciences, Belgium University of Algarve Portugal Dr. Susana Requena Moreno Postdoctoral Researcher María José Sánchez-Muros Institute of Marine Sciences. Spanish Profesora Titular National Research Council (CSIC) Universidad de Almeria Spain Spain

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 12 Pilar Santidrian Tomillo Mila C.Soriguer Marie Curie fellow Professor of Biology Instituto Mediterraneo de Estudios University of Cadiz Avanzados Spain Spain Ines Sousa Juan Jose Santos Blanco PhD Candidate Senior Researcher UAlg/CCMAR Thuenen Institute for Baltic Sea Fisheries Portugal Germany Michael Stachowitsch Lennert Schepers Senior Researcher and Lecturer PhD Student University of Vienna University of Antwerp Austria Belgium Sanja Svrkota Maria del Mar Segura Project coordinator Postdoc Researcher NGO Green Home University of Hawaii Montenegro USA Célia Teixeira Bernard Séret Postdoctoral researcher Senior scientist Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de IRD Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa France Portugal

Ester Serrao Anna Traveset Professor of Marine Biology Research Professor Center of Marine Sciences, University of Spanish Research Council Algarve Spain Portugal Leonardo Tunesi François Simard Research Director Deputy Director Italian National Institute for Environmental International Union for Conservation of Protection and Research Nature Italy France Jean Vacelet Jos Snoeks Directeur de Recherches émérite CNRS Professor Institut méditerranéen de Biodiversité et Biology Department d'Ecologie marine et continentale University of Leuven France Belgium

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 13 Maria Valls Tomas Virbickas Technician Senior researcher Instituto Español de Oceanografía Nature Research Centre Spain Lithuania

Katrien Van der Biest Wouter Visch PhD Student Student in Biology University of Antwerp KU Leuven Belgium Belgium

Wim Van Neer Filip Volckaert Senior Scientist Professor Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences KU Leuven Belgium Belgium

Josefa Velasco Garcia Jan Marcin Weslawski Teacher and scientist Professor University of Murcia Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Spain Sciences Poland Jens Verschaeren Technician Dr. Serinde van Wijk University of Antwerp Researcher in Natural Sciences Belgium Bangor University UK José M. Viéitez Profesor de Zoología Anwen Williams Universidad de Alcalá Senior Clerical Officer Spain EFF grant, School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University César Vilas UK Researcher Andalucia Institute for Researching and Lidia Yebra Training on Agricultural and Fisheries Tenured scientist Spain Spanish Institute of Oceanography Spain David Villegas-Ríos Researcher Ramunas Zydelis Institute of Marine Research Research ecologist, consultant Research Spain DHI

Denmark Amanda Vincent Canada Research Chair in Marine Conservation University of British Columbia Canada

Scientific Community calls on the Members of the European Parliament to stop funding overfishing 14