Fisheries : Germany

The fishing industry, too, has undergone structural changes in recent decades. Coastal countries worldwide have extended their fishing zones to 200 sea miles, with the result that traditional stocks have been decimated by overfishing, chiefly because of the excessive use of modern catching methods. This has greatly reduced the Federal Republic of Germany’s ocean fishing fleet. Germany’s principal fishing areas are the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean west of the United Kingdom and around Greenland.

The Federal Republic’s only chance of surviving the threat to its fishing industry resulting from the development of international maritime law was within the framework of the European Community, which introduced catch quotas in order to regulate fishing and safeguard species.