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A University of Oxford study has documented ecological degradation of Posidonia oceanica meadows in Poros, Greece, linked to long-term fish farming impacts extending up to 14 years after farm removal and as far as 900 metres from former sites.

The study commissioned by Seas At Risk, Sciaena, Ecologistas en Accion and BUND, shows how the current political economy of fisheries in the European Union favours large scale industrial fisheries to the detriment of small-scale and low-impact fisheries. Small-scale fishers are key players for coastal communities, as they create jobs and are often much more sustainable compared to their larger counterparts.  This sustainability role is critical since fishing is the first driver of marine biodiversity loss. Favouring industrial fisheries rather than small scale and low-impact fisheries is not due to flaws in the current legislation but, rather, to a lack of full implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy which already offers a series of tools to tackle the root problems. NGOs call for a full implementation and enforcement of the Common Fisheries Policy. 

In 2023, the RAI Committee agreed to undertake a follow-up inquiry into salmon farming at the earliest opportunity and this inquiry commenced in April 2024. The RAI Committee's inquiry focused on the implementation of the main recommendations made by the REC Committee, spread across four key themes:

• fish health and welfare;
• environmental impacts;
• interactions between wild and farmed salmon; and
• salmon farm consents and planning.

Thousands of Tasmanians are demanding the government stops multinational salmon corporation Petuna from installing fifty open-net pens off Yellow Bluff in Storm Bay. The Tasmania community are concerned about the threat industrial aquaculture operations pose to the diversity of these wild marine waters. By Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP