Occam’s razor and fisheries

A remark by the Fisheries Commissioner reminded me of Occam’s razor. Occam’s razor reasons that the simplest solution is likely the most likely the right one. Occam’s razor says “that when presented with competing for hypotheses that make the same predictions, one should select the solution with the fewest assumptions,[3and it is not meant to be a … Read more

Is the Green Deal DOA?

On 11 December 2019, the new European Commission published their Green Deal. What seems to escape people, is that only a few days later, the new Commission and Fisheries Ministers ignored the Green Deal. And, to make matters worse, in a few months, it looks like the new ‘Green Deal’ Commission will be shackled by … Read more

Fairy dust for Europe’s seas

Today, the European Commission adopted its keystone initiative, the ‘European Green Deal’. You can find it here along with the follow up key actions (link). It starts off strong. The Commission realises that “oceans are being polluted and destroyed”. And, for a Green Deal that uses bold words about climate change,  the Commission recognises the ‘role … Read more

Who got the EU fishing subsidies

  Between 1994 to 2006, the EU allowed the Member States and EU taxpayers to co-finance the building and modernisation of fishing vessels. The subsidies were scrapped. Politicians woke up and saw that the rich and large fish fishing boats were getting most of the money and depleting over-fished stocks. Corporate welfare got a bad … Read more