With the European Parliament Committee on Fisheries due to vote this week on the political agreement reached three weeks ago with the Council of the EU, industry organisations have made clear that transparency and involvement on the process and methodology to implement the new control devices are essential.
Industry representatives state as a reminder to policymakers that these new technological appliances will not solve the problems created by Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) elements such as the Landing Obligation, for which several times revisions have been requested.
‘Such revision should refocus on optimum selectivity and maximum avoidance of unwanted catches without enforcing the unworkable,’ state representatives of EAPO and Europêche, while reiterating their their appreciation of the work over the past few years by Members of the European Parliament and the Member States to make the Commission’s proposal on new control rules more flexible and closer to the fisheries reality.
‘As it was the case with the previous regime, once adopted, the sector will aim to comply with the new control system and will cooperate to make it operational,’ they state.
‘After five years of tough negotiations, new fisheries control rules are hot off the press and MEPs will have to decide whether or not to endorse the text. The sector, represented by Europêche and EAPO, finds positives in the text such as stronger provisions on traceability to ensure that imported and processed products have the same traceability requirements as EU produced seafood,’ an EAPO representative said.