European Fish Week 2011 - Back to the Future

In living memory, there were more fish, more boats, more fishers and more fisheries dependent communities in Europe. Due to continued overfishing, some fish stocks are now at perilously low levels, but it was not always like this. In the not so distant past, fish stocks were healthier and fisheries dependent communities were wealthier.

This is the theme of this year’s European Fish Week, June 4-12: how our marine environment used to be healthier, how overfishing has changed this and how the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform is an opportunity to go Back to the Future. It will be about collecting stories and evidence of the past richness of our seas and fishing communities and delivering them to EU fisheries ministers with the message: "we want it back".