‘THERE JUST CAN’T BE GREEN WITHOUT BLUE’: SUSTAINABILITY AND FISHERS IN THE EU’S BLUE ECONOMY

Abstract

Work in the fisheries is intertwined with nature, and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are already being felt. In order to address climate change, in 2019, the EU published a new growth strategy, the European Green Deal (EGD), which seeks to decouple growth from resource use and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The EGD recognises a sustainable blue economy as important in achieving these goals. However, what does a sustainable blue economy mean for those who work in one of its main sectors, the fisheries? This article examines two key instruments in EU fishing legislation, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the Work in Fishing Directive 2017/159, to examine the extent to which workers and the environment are addressed. Sustainability – economic, environmental and social - is a key objective of the CFP, yet social sustainability remains underdeveloped. In turn, the Work in Fishing Directive has few provisions that link employment protections to the environment. This article argues that law for the fisheries has created a false disjuncture between regulating work and the environment and this has a consequence of hindering any meaningful pursuit of sustainability or a just transition in the sector.