Press releases/news articles

Today the Commission adopted a proposal for a multi-annual plan for the management of small pelagic stocks (anchovy, sardine, mackerel and horse-mackerel) in the Adriatic.

Interested in being part of this year's European Maritime Day Conference "The Future of our Seas" in Poole, UK (18 & 19 May 2017)? Register now to participate, hire a stand in EMD Exhibition or organise your own EMD event elsewhere in the EU (applications open till 10 March).

Commissioner Karmenu Vella, responsible for fisheries and maritime affairs, is attending the World Ocean Summit in Bali, Indonesia this week. Organised by The Economist, this year's edition addresses the vital issue of how to finance a sustainable ocean economy.

The European Commission has lifted today the 'yellow cards' for Curaçao and Solomon Islands, recognising the significant progress both countries have made in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The EU is concerned by IATTC's failure to adopt a robust, science-based conservation measure for tropical tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. A last-minute agreement reached last week applies a catch limit for certain fisheries in 2017, but falls short of what is needed to guarantee long-term sustainable management of tuna stocks. Moreover, despite EU support for a plan to reduce fleet overcapacity in the region, capacity continues to increase.

Commissioner Karmenu Vella, responsible for fisheries and maritime affairs, has travelled to Morocco to attend the Halieutis fair in Agadir. Speaking at the opening conference yesterday, he stressed the European Union's strong bilateral ties on fisheries with Morocco as well as, more generally, the value of international cooperation in tackling shared ocean-related challenges.

The European Commission has selected three new projects for funding under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

Updates to the European Union's fleet register will soon be available in real time, following the adoption of a new regulation by the European Commission on 6 February. The regulation makes it easier for EU member states to update the fleet register, while giving the Commission the necessary tools to crosscheck the data that member states submit.

On the 5th - 6th October 2017 the European Union will be hosting the fourth Our Ocean Conference, attended by Heads of State, Government Ministers, and ocean leaders.

On 26 January 2017 the European Commission published a call for proposals to implement the first phase of the Blueprint for sectorial cooperation on skills: €4 million to produce, over 4 years, a European strategy on skills.

On 30 January 2017 the Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, met on the invitation of the Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas Intergroup with eleven Members of the European Parliament and more than twenty maritime stakeholders at the European Parliament to discuss the Joint Communication on International Ocean Governance, launched in November 2016, and the upcoming report of the European Parliament.

Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries issued a statement following the positive vote in the plenary of the European Parliament today on the sustainable management of external fishing fleets:

Eliminating the wasteful practice of discarding fish at sea is one of the main aims of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy, adopted in 2014. This will not only improve sustainability, but also boost data collection, which is essential for scientists to provide reliable advice.

How can the blue economy drive sustainable development in the western Mediterranean? More than 200 participants and 70 panellists from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania will meet in Barcelona, Spain on 2 February 2017 to discuss the challenges and emerging opportunities for sustainable investment and job creation in the region's blue economy.

A new study for the European Commission compiles data and information on fisheries subsidies within six of the world's major fishing countries: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Russia and the United States.

Preparations for the EMD 2017 Conference in Poole, UK (18 & 19 May 2017) are in full swing. Following our call to maritime stakeholders launched last fall, we have received 50 proposals for workshops and project pitches under the following headings: 1) Innovation & Growth, 2) People & Skills, 3) Safety & Security, 4) Sustainability & Governance. Selected stakeholder workshops will be part of an attractive programme that we are currently putting together and which will be announced soon.

Baltic SCOPE unites national authorities around the Baltic Sea responsible for maritime spatial planning, and is supported by four research and regional organisations.

Ten blue growth projects are to receive grants under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) as part of the 'Blue Careers' and 'Blue Labs' calls for proposals. In total, 125 proposals were evaluated by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) which manages the projects.