site.btaUrgent Measures to Assess Fish Stock in Black Sea Are Required - WWF

Urgent Measures to Assess Fish Stock in Black Sea Are Required  - WWF

Sofia, November 2 (BTA) - Urgent measures to assess the fish
stock in the Black Sea are called for, the environmental
organization WWF said in a statement occasioned by the
International Black Sea Day, October 31. According to a report
cited by the European Commission, 74 per cent of fish stocks in
the Black Sea have been excessively, fully exploited or
destroyed. In general, only 17 per cent of fish stocks recover
after being damaged.

The problems of overfishing and pollution are further aggravated
 by the difficult political situation around the sea. Only two
of the six coastal states are members of the European Union. A
part of the coast falls within territories of contested status
like Crimea and Abkhazia. This makes it extremely difficult not
only to plan measures to improve the environmental situation,
but also to collect accurate scientific data on fish stocks and
their sustainability, WWF says.
 
According to the Living Blue Planet Report recently published by
 WWF, the fish stocks we use for food have declined by almost
half globally over the past 40 years.

A new information system will monitor oil spills in the Black
Sea, the Ministry of Environment said.    
   
It will be developed under the Norway Grants for Bulgaria by the
 Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov Naval Academy in the Black Sea port of
Varna in partnership with the ministry's Black Sea Region Basin
Directorate and the regional administration in the port.
   
The information system should be completed in March 2016. It
will collect and distribute information from various static and
dynamic systems relevant to the condition of sea waters and
intended to prevent oil spills. A monitoring system for naval
spaces will be developed under the programme and there will be
real-time visualization of sea spaces. The information will be
intended for a centre unique on a European and regional
scale.