The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) will meet in Morocco, Marrakesh from 14 to 19 May 2012. The European Commission represents the EU at the meeting.

Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) 16th Annual Meeting (22-26 April 2012, Australia)

The European Commission has decided to close the pelagic fishery by EU vessels in the waters of Mauritania as of today, as the annual EU quota set at 252,654 tonnes is nearly exhausted.

Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, was in Rabat, Morocco, on 20-21 April to launch the the process of negotiations for a new EU-Morocco fisheries agreement protocol.

Commissioner Maria Damanaki, in charge of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, will visit Latvia on 19 April 2012.

Commissioner Maria Damanaki, in charge of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, visits Romania and Bulgaria on 29 and 30 March, respectively, to discuss maritime and fisheries-related issues and cooperation in the Black Sea basin.

Speech by Commissioner Maria Damanaki at the Symposium "A Blueprint for Oceans and Coasts" at the European Parliament

The European Union and Mauritius initialed today a new Fishery Partnership Agreement (FPA) and Protocol.

Maria Damanaki, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, on behalf of the European Union, and Lisbehth Berg-Hansen, Minister of Fisheries, on behalf of Norway, have expressed their disappointment and grave concern following the inconclusive outcome of the meeting on mackerel fishery in the North-East Atlantic, held in Reykjavik from 14 to 16 February 2012 between the EU, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands (the so-called coastal states).

The European Union and Guinea Bissau agreed today on a new Protocol to implement the EU/Guinea Bissau Fisheries Partnership Agreement.

The European Commission is generally satisfied with the outcome of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) Third Preparatory Conference, which just ended in Santiago, Chile.

The EU and Greenland reached agreement today on a new Protocol to implement the EU/Greenland Fisheries Partnership Agreement. This Protocol will enter into force on 1 January 2013 and will be valid for a period of 3 years.

Baltic: a new ecosystem approach; Controls: European Union inspectors; Illegal fishing: DNA as evidence; EFF: taking stock of the territorial approach

Sectoral study of the tuna sector in the EU

The European Commission welcomes the adoption of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on sustainable fisheries.

New study on-line

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is holding its 22nd Regular Meeting in Istanbul from 11 to 19 of November 2011.

The Agriculture & Fisheries Council will meet in Brussels on Monday 14 November (starting at 10.00 am). It will be chaired by Mr Marek Sawicki, Polish Minister for Agriculture & Rural Development.

The European Commission today presented its proposal for fishing opportunities, for 2012, for fish stocks managed together with third countries such as Norway or through Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) across the world's oceans.

A delegation of the European Commission and a delegation of the Union of Comoros met within the framework of the Joint Committee to discuss issues linked to the implementation of the Fisheries partnership agreement between the EU and the Union of Comoros.

The European Union has ratified the Convention setting up a new Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO), which, once it enters into force, will govern the fishing activities in the high seas of the South Pacific.

The European Commission has today adopted formal proposals for a new one-year protocol to the fisheries agreement with Guinea Bissau, agreed by the two parties on 16 June 2011.

Thanks to the continued commitment of the European Union to follow scientific advice and its close cooperation with partner countries, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) adopted science-based, precautionary measures...

New study on-line

New study on-line

Speech by Commissioner Damanaki at the Conference on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fisheries at John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Washington

The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki is currently visiting the USA. She will be in Washington DC until 9 September 2011.

A historic statement pledging bilateral cooperation to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, known as IUU fishing, will be signed today in Washington by Maria Damanaki, ...

Updated version now online

The European Union initialled today a new one-year protocol to the fisheries agreement with Guinea Bissau.

Scholarships available to early career scientist to participate in the scientific work of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

Introductory remarks by Commissioner Damanaki at the GLOBE World Oceans Day Forum, London

Le nouveau protocole sera d'application  à partir du 1er janvier 2012, à l'expiration de celui qui est encore en cours de validité, pour une période de 3 ans.

Low-cost catfish fillets sold as expensive sole fillets or cod caught in the North Sea but declared as originating ...

Speech by Commissioner Damanaki at the SlowFish Opening Conference, Genoa

Updated version now on-line

Updated version now online

The 35th session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), took place between 9 and 14 May 2011 at the FAO headquarters in Rome. It was attended by delegates from 22 Members, as well as observers from non-GFCM Member nations and representatives from intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations.

Getting away with fishing illegally will become much more difficult for fishermen, as the EU's new system for fisheries control is now fully operational. With the adoption of detailed rules on how to carry out controls ...

The credibility of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) depends on an effective enforcement and application of the agreed rules. With the adoption of detailed rules to apply the EU Fisheries Control Regulation, the ...

Speech by Commissioner Damanaki at the press conference

Speech by Commissioner Damanaki at the European Parliament plenary session

Video

Given the current exceptional situation in Libya, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki has expressed serious doubts about the capacity of the Libyan authorities to ensure full compliance with and enforcement of the measures established by ICCAT for the purposes of conserving bluefin tuna.

The 15th Plenary Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 18 to 22 March. A three-day meeting of the IOTC Compliance Committee had preceded the plenary. The Plenary outcome was rather disappointing for the EU. While...

Speech by Commissioner Damanaki at the seminar of the ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) Group of the European Parliament

After more than a decade of ineffective measures to ensure the sustainability of the redfish fisheries in the Irminger Sea (waters between Iceland and Greenland in the NEAFC Convention Area), the Coastal States (Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland) along with the European Union and Norway reached agreement in Reykjavik on 17 March on multi-annual interim conservation and management measures for deep and shallow pelagic redfish in the Irminger Sea. These measures, based on an EU proposal, will be applied with immediate effect.

"Flag State Notification" has been updated

"Flag State Notification" has been updated

Speech by Commissioner Damanaki at the European Parliament plenary session

Speech by Commissioner Damanaki at the European Parliament plenary session

"List of approved economic operators" has been added under "additional information".

The European Commission has initialled a 12-month extension of the protocol under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) with Morocco. The level of fishing opportunities for EU vessels and the corresponding financial contribution to Morocco will remain the same as in the 2007 protocol, which expired on February 27, 2011.  This one year period will be used to asses the data and information obtained from the Moroccan authorities about the regional impacts of the protocol and to define next steps.

The Commission adopted on 11 February, a proposal for a draft negotiating mandate, addressed to the Council for a transitional, time-limited renewal of the Fisheries Parrtnership Agreement Protocol. 

"Requirement of a validated EU catch certificate for transhipment within a non-EU port" has been added.

Speech by Commissioner Maria Damanaki at the 6th International Forum on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing

On 22 December, the European Commission on behalf of the European Union initialled a new three-year protocol under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) with Cape Verde setting fishing possibilities for EU vessels in Cape Verde's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), along with other conditions. The new protocol foresees a total EU financial contribution of EUR 435,000, and will come into force when the present protocol expires, on 1 September.

On Saturday 27 November the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) closed.

"This year's ICCAT meeting has produced results which represent a step in the right direction for sustainable management of bluefin tuna and other species. This is important not just for ICCAT waters and stocks, but for fisheries management globally, and for the EU as a whole.

New report (in French only)

New report (in French only)

Speech by Commissioner Damanaki at the conference "International Year of Biodiversity: The Day After and the Greek Reality", Athens, Greece

The Agriculture & Fisheries Council will meet in Brussels on Monday 29 November (starting at 10 a.m.) and (if necessary) Tuesday 30 November. It will be chaired for the Agriculture issues by Mrs Sabine Laruelle, ...

Addendum to and amendment of list of competent authorities in Member States

At the annual meeting of International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) being held this week in Paris, the EU has tabled proposals for two new recommendations prohibiting fishing for porbeagle and thresher and hammerhead sharks. The EU is also working with the USA and other members of ICCAT on a third proposal which would set precautionary catch limits for shortfin mako sharks. Together, these proposals provide an opportunity to make substantial progress in bringing the management of shark fisheries in the ICCAT convention area into line with scientific advice.

The European Commission welcomes a number of forward-looking measures to protect fish stocks decided by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Resources (CCAMLR) at its annual meeting in Hobart, Australia, which closed today 5 November.

Requirement of a validated EU catch certificate for processing activities carried out in a third country, different from the flag State

Speech by Commissioner Maria Damanaki at the INTERFISH Business Forum meeting in Moscow (Russia) on 28 October 2010.

It has been for several years now that the state of the bluefin tuna stock remains a cause for major concern. Despite the efforts made so far, in particular by the EU, and the progress achieved, there are still open questions regarding how we can ensure the long sustainability of the species. This, in turn, is the only way by which our fishermen can keep on with their activity.

Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki will start a two-day visit to Russia on 28 October.

Additional information on products processed in the flag State to be exported to the EU

• List of flag state notifications
• Information note - state of play and summary of main provisions of the IUU Regulation

The following IUU guidance documents have been updated:

• Information note - state of play and summary of main provisions of the IUU Regulation
• Technical note - description of the catch certification scheme
• Cooperation note - possibilities of international cooperation in the fight against IUU fishing and the implementatio of the IUU Regulation.

Thanks to the European Union’s determination to follow scientific advice strictly, and also thanks to the close cooperation with partner countries, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) adopted unprecedented precautionary measures for the conservation and management of fish stocks under its purview at its Annual Meeting held in Halifax, Canada, on 20-24 September 2010.

The European Commission will represent the EU at the annual meeting of the IATTC which starts today and goes on to 1 October 2010 in Antigua, Guatemala.

On 4 August 2010, the European Commission paid € 64 million as part of the annual financial contribution of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) with Mauritania. This contribution includes a first component to pay for the cost of access of EU vessels to Mauritanian waters (€ 55 million) and a second component to support the partner country's fisheries sector (€ 9 million).

The European Union is now a signatory to an important regional fisheries management convention which, once it enters into force, will ensure that fishing from western Australia to South America is subject to agreed international rules.

Leaflets and brochures on fisheries control and combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing have been added to the publications page.

Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries decided to close the bluefin tuna fishery to purse seiners in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic, due to the exhaustion of the quotas allocated to them.

The protocol to the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Republic of Seychelles has just been renewed for a 3-year period starting in January 2011.

The EU and other fishing nations from around the world met at the United Nations Headquarters in New York last week to assess the progress made in implementing the United Nations Convention on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks...

The EU and other fishing nations from around the world met at the United Nations Headquarters in New York last week to assess the progress made in implementing the United Nations Convention on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.

A l'issue de la commission mixte qui s'est réunie dans le cadre de l'Accord de partenariat de pêche entre l'Union européenne et l'Union des Comores, la délégation comorienne, conduite par Monsieur Idi Nadhoim, Vice Président de l'Union des Comores en charge du Ministère de la Pêche, et la délégation de l'Union européenne conduite par Monsieur Constantin Alexandrou, Chef d'Unité à l'Unité des accords bilatéraux de la Direction Générale des Affaires Maritimes et de la Pêche de la Commission européenne, ont mené la négociation d'un nouveau protocole, en présence des représentants de la France et de l'Espagne.

L'Union européenne s'est déclarée très satisfaite du résultat positif de la réunion de la Commission Mixte entre la République Islamique de Mauritanie et l’Union européenne, tenue à Nouakchott du 21 au 25 mars 2010.

Strides forward were made last week by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission for the protection of the fish stocks in the Indian Ocean, such as tropical tunas and shark stocks. The parties agreed among others on an enhanced system for control and compliance, on introducing a time/area closure and on forbidding sharks from the thresher family from being taken or kept on board.

After lengthy consultations over recent months, the European Union and Norway have struck a crucial long-term agreement on mackerel management in the North-East Atlantic, which provides both for stable quota shares and for agreed access arrangements for their respective fleets over a ten-year period.

The European Commission, negotiating on behalf of the European Union, and the Faeroe Islands have agreed on the levels of fishing possibilities in each other's waters, as well as access provisions for blue whiting for 2010.

Why do we need a new control regulation?

The fisheries control regulation in force until now dates back to 1993. It has since been amended a dozen times, in particular in 1998 to include the control of fishing effort, and in 2002 during the last reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

The European Commission has signed an administrative cooperation agreement with Faroe Islands which marks a new step in the parties' efforts to prevent, deter and eliminate Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The political situation in the Republic of Guinea prompted the European Commission to withdraw its proposal on the signing of a fisheries partnership agreement between the European Union and Guinea (see MEX/09/1021 ). Commissioner Joe Borg, responsible for maritime affairs and fisheries, informed the EU Presidency and the European Parliament of this intention and received their backing.

The European Commission has just signed two administrative cooperation agreements with Canada and Iceland which mark a new step in the parties' efforts to prevent, deter and eliminate Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Today, at the 2009 Regular Meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) currently taking place in Brazil, the EU will present a new proposal which would lead to substantial progress in the conservation and management of swordfish in the Mediterranean.

Last week, the European Commission signed two administrative cooperation agreements with New Zealand and the United States which mark a new step in the parties' efforts to prevent, deter and eliminate Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The European Commission has welcomed the positive outcome of the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which has now concluded its deliberations in Tasmania, Australia.

This morning, I informed the EU fisheries ministers at the Council meeting in Luxembourg that, in the light of the recent tragic events in the Republic of Guinea, I would be asking the Commission to initiate the necessary procedures to withdraw the proposal to adopt the current Fisheries Partnership Agreement and Protocol with Guinea.

The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, has initialled a new Fisheries Partnership Agreement with the Solomon Islands. This agreement replaces the current  one between the two Parties, which entered into force in October 2006. The new agreement covers a period of 3 years and provides fishing possibilities exclusively for tuna for EU vessels fishing in the waters of the Solomon Islands.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a worldwide phenomenon with disastrous environmental and socio-economic impacts, threatening the sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources and marine biodiversity. It also has serious overall consequences for coastal countries, which lose out on their marine resources to illegal operators.

The Commission is disappointed that the significant steps taken in some areas by the 13th session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) in Bali (Indonesia) from 30 March to 3 April 2009 have been offset by a failure to make progress in others.

The European Commission has welcomed with mixed feelings the outcome of the meeting of Heads of Delegation of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) held in London last week, attended by the European Union, Iceland, Denmark in respect of  the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, Norway and the Russian Federation.

The European Commission has expressed its serious concern at the recent action by Iceland to declare a unilateral mackerel quota of 112 000 tonnes for 2009.

The EU has tabled ambitious proposals in view of this year's annual meeting of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), which will take place in Bali from 30 March to 3 April 2009.

At the initiative of the EU, the Heads of Delegation of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) meet in London this week to consider concrete NEAFC measures to implement the UN General Assembly resolution on vulnerable marine ecosystems.