Oceana released a new report today outlining the shocking amount
of subsidies that pour into Europe’s fishing industry. European
taxpayers are essentially paying for overfishing – to the tune
of 3.3 billion Euros ($4.6 billion) in 2009. Here are some other
stunning facts from the report: - Oceana’s analysis found that a
total of at least €3.3 billion of subsidies were available to
the European Union fishing sector in 2009. This is more than
three times quoted public figures, which only reference the
European Fisheries Fund. - Total subsidies to the fishing sector
are equivalent to 50 percent of the value of the total fish
catch by the European Union in the same year ( €6.6 billion) -
Spain, France, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Italy received
the most fishing subsidies. - 13 European Union countries had
more fishing subsidies than the value of the landings of fish in
their ports. - Europe is one of the world’s top three
subsidizers, along with China and Japan. - As a result of these
major subsidies, the Eur