Europe’s dwindling fish stocks have won a reprieve – but only just. A late-night bargaining session on 22 May in Luxembourg ended with European Union fisheries ministers deadlocked over a demand to reverse a 2002 ban on subsidies for more powerful engines in fishing boats. Lifting the ban would have increased catching capacity, which scientists consider central to Europe’s disastrous overfishing.
The demand came from Mediterranean countries, Poland and Estonia. They want money for new engines in boats under 12 metres long, which account for 80 per cent of Europe’s fleet. After opposition from the UK and Germany, the ministers put…
