Brussels, 12th November 2012
Re: Invitation to participate in high-level dinner debate for European Parliamentarians on the crisis of the Common Fisheries Policy next 27th November Dear Mr Schwaab, Right now the future of Europe's fisheries/future health of European seas hangs in the balance: for the first time the European Parliament is deciding how the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) should be reformed, rather than just fisheries ministers. Negotiations are complex and high-stakes - with fishermen fighting for their livelihoods and environmental activists fighting for healthy ocean life, freed from the destructive impacts of modern fishing practices. Progress is being held up by certain sticking points - mainly over how to set sustainable fishing levels, and how to end the wasteful practice of discarding. It is increasingly hard for decision makers to tell fact from fiction, and the real possibility looms that agreement will not be found due to unresolved uncertainties and misunderstandings - leaving Europe's fisheries high and dry. Together, GLOBE, a worldwide cross-party community of environmentally-minded legislators and ClientEarth plan to bring together key movers in the European Parliament for a round-table discussion on how to break through barriers to progress, and create a Common Fisheries Policy that works. We would be honored if you could attend this high level event, to provide expertise as NOAA Acting Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Management. GLOBE International’s mission is to create a critical mass of legislators that can agree and advance common legislative responses to the major environmental challenges of our day and has developed a World Summit of Legislators process that support specific policy programmes, such as biodiversity. ClientEarth is an organisation of environmental law and science experts striving for a healthy future for people, and the planet working in Europe and beyond, bringing together law, science and policy to create practical solutions to key environmental challenges. Last year, the two organizations convened a high level meeting of parliamentarians and decision makers to discuss the CFP and successfully negotiated an ambitious parliamentarian declaration on the reform of this law. Now it is time to convene some crucial talks between key movers in the European Parliament, answer their questions on critical issues to alleviate their fears of these concepts and reassure them that these tools are the foundations of a successful CFP.
This high-level dinner at the European Parliament, Brussels, next 27 th November, will provide the setting for a frank and focused discussion concentrating on practical solutions to two of the debate's biggest issues: 1. MSY, choke species, mixed fisheries, multi-species and ecosystem approach, precautionary approach, confidence levels, level of ambition, what is achievable; 2. Discards, by-catch elimination and reduction targets, phased discard ban, incentives, dissuasive tools The discussion will be hosted by Ulrike Rodust MEP, the Rapporteur in charge of negotiations in the European Parliament Fisheries Committee, mediated by Stanley Johnson and (hopefully) a celebrity oceans advocate and build on views from leading fisheries scientists and managers from around the globe, with the overall aim of moving towards a progressive consensus. We would be honored if you could participate in the discussions at the dinner, as we believe your input, making the point that in the US ambitious solutions work and are practical so people support them, could help Europe overcome our fisheries crisis by developing a radical reform of our fisheries management. We thank you in advance, and look forward to hearing from you: if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Rafael JimĂŠnez-Aybar, Europe Director at GLOBE or Sandy Luk, Senior biodiversity lawyer at ClientEarth.
Sandy Luk sluk@clientearth.org Cell no. +44 7879655779
Rafael JimĂŠnez-Aybar rafael.aybar@globeinternational.org Cell no. +32 485 940 625
Annex: List of invitees to GLOBE and ClientEarth parliamentary CFP crisis dinner Head Convener: Ulrike Rodust, the Rapporteur, European Parliament Fisheries Committee; Germany/Brussels Assistant Conveners and mediators invited: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, FishFight founder an Celebrity Chef; UK Richard Branson, Ocean Elder, FishFight supporter; UK Philipe Cousteau Jean-Michael Cousteau, Ocean Elder; USA Celine Cousteau, Sylvia Earle, Ocean Elder; USA Leonardo Dicaprio (Sandy/James contact from Oceans 5?); Coldplay/Chris Martin/Brian Eno Lovefish celebrities Tom Aikens Terry Gilliam Jade Parfitt Greta Scacchi Jeremy Paxman, FishFight supporter; UK Jamie Oliver, FishFight supporter; UK Peter Benchley Ted Danson Sigourney Weaver Eddie Vedder Morcheeba Annie Lennox Mélanie Laurent Expert participants invited: Dr Daniel Pauly, Professor, Fisheries Centre & Zoology; Principal Investigator, Sea Around Us Project Director, University of British Columbia; Canada Sydney Holt, founder of Fisheries Science, co-author of On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations with Ray Beverton. FAO and International Whaling Commission work, UK/Italy Eric Schwaab, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, USA Professor Rainer Froese, senior scientist at the Leibniz Institute of Marine sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) project leader and coordinator of FishBase, Germany - CONFIRMED Carl Safina, ocean author, president/co-founder of Blue Ocean Institute, adjunct professor at Stony Brook University, USA Jane Lubchenco, US Undersecretary for Oceans; USA Nick Rayns, Executive Manager of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Seth Mackinco ; Associate Professor and Coordinator, PhD Program, University of Rhode Island, Department of Marine Affairs; USA Edward H. Allison, Senior Research Fellow The WorldFish Center and Senior Lecturer, Universit of East Anglia, UK
Poul Degnbol, ICES Advisory Programme, Denmark Henrik Sparholt, ICES Advisory Programme, Denmark Carl O’Brien, ICES Advisory Programme; UK Alex Rogers, Prof of Conservation Biology, University of Oxford, UK Carl Zimmerman, ICES Advisory Programme, Germany Martin Pastoors, ICES Advisory Programme, Netherlands Ciaran Kelly, ICES Advisory Programme, Ireland
Parliamentarians invited: Shadow rapporteurs on the Common Fisheries Policy reform Basic Regulation Members of the Fisheries Committee