Commissioner Damanaki’s recent suggestion to pay fishermen to collect marine litter, providing them with an additional source of income to compensate them for low profits in the fishing sector, has sent alarm bells ringing in the environmental community. Poor profitability in fisheries is a tell-tale sign of overcapacity in the fleet, and providing a subsidy contributing to maintaining such overcapacity spells disaster for fish stocks – and for the fishing industry.
Fishing for plastic shouldn’t...
