WWF: 88% of Europeans want sustainable fish

The World Wildlife Fund on Tuesday announced the results of an independent poll that found an overwhelming majority of European consumers want the seafood they buy to come from sustainable sources.

Carried out in 14 EU countries, the poll found that 88 percent of respondents believe it is important that seafood products come from sustainable fisheries. Consumers in southern European countries like Portugal (92 percent), France (93 percent), Spain (91 percent), Italy (95 percent) and Belgium (91 percent) were especially supportive of sustainable fisheries.

The survey also found that 72 percent of consumers do not feel they have adequate information on the origin of the seafood they buy.

WWF said the poll results show that reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is “urgently needed,” as 78 percent of respondents favor a CFP reform that ensure all European-caught seafood products come from sustainable fisheries.

“Europeans are clearly fed up with the disastrous management of our fisheries. They want the EU to turn the trend of overfishing around and the reform of the CFP offers exactly that opportunity to members of the European Parliament and to EU governments,” said Louize Hill, head of fisheries and marine at WWF’s European policy office. “We cannot afford to continue wasting our precious marine resources in times of economic crisis. The 2012 CFP reform has to be the one that delivers change.”

The poll comes on the heels of Tuesday’s announcement from the EU that its new fisheries control system is now fully operational.

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