Press releases/news articles

On July 15, in a seminar on the status of European fish stocks and on the economic situation of European fishing fleets, the Commission will be hearing the views of the fishing sector, scientific organisations, NGOs, national administrations and other members of the public, i.e. all those concerned with the EU's fisheries legislation.

Fisheries in the South Indian Ocean are set to become more sustainable after members of the South Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA) adopted a series of conservation measures in La Reunion last week. The measures reflect the European Union's push for better managed fisheries resources in the region.

The European Union continues to push for sound stewardship of Arctic waters, participating last week in the second round of international talks that aim to prevent unregulated fisheries in the Arctic high seas. The meeting took place between 6 and 8 July in Iqaluit, Province of Nunavut, Canada.

On Friday 8 July Commissioner Vella will be in Ostend for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Commission and the Flanders' Department for Economy, Science and Innovation. The Commission and the Flanders's authorities agreed to host the Secretariat of the European Marine Observation and Data Network, or EMODNet, in Ostend.

The European Commission welcomes the decisive action taken by EU legislators on coastguard cooperation and maritime border control.

The Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) ended on 1st July in La Jolla, California. While no measures were adopted for the management of Tropical Tuna and for the conservation of Bluefin Tuna, good progress was made on shark conservation and on Fishing Aggregating Devices (FADs) management.

On 29 June 2016 the Council of Fisheries Ministers and the European Parliament reached a political agreement to amend the rules currently in force for cod stocks (a long-term plan, also known as the cod recovery plan, which has been in force since 2008).

The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission today reached an agreement on how to better protect deep-sea fish, sponges and corals while maintaining the viability of the European fishing industry. The agreement brings the EU rules on deep-sea fisheries, which date back to 2003, in line with the sustainability targets enshrined in the EU's reformed Common Fisheries Policy.

The 16th Session of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) was held in Gosier (Guadeloupe, France) from 20-24 June 2016. It was attended by representatives from 28 member countries, including the European Commission for the European Union, as well as observers from sub-regional fisheries organisations, cooperation agencies and civil society.

Commissioner Vella gave the EU Fisheries Ministers a preview of the fishing limits to be applied in 2017. He stressed that our fisheries are making good progress towards sustainable management, but nevertheless we must keep up the effort to be able to comply with our common objectives and deadlines. The Ministers confirmed their commitment to move slowly but surely towards sustainable fishing levels.

A special report on EMD 2016 has just been published. Blue growth is here to stay; this was the conclusion of more than 1100 marine and maritime economy stakeholders, gathered in Turku, Finland on 18th and -19th May 2016 for the 9th edition of the European Maritime Day.

EMODnet has created a new blog with many interesting articles on MSPC, ocean energy, offshore oil and gas exploitation, offshore aquaculture etc.

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council will take place in Luxembourg on 27 and 28 June 2016. The Commission will be represented by Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella and Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis.

The bluefin tuna fishing season in the Western and Central Mediterranean Sea and in the Adriatic Sea was open from 26 May to 24 June for purse seiners. Thanks to the implementation of an international recovery plan and to the efforts made by fishermen, catch limits for this stock could again be increased this year (the EU quota is just over 11200t in 2016, compared to 7938 t two years ago).

The European Parliament voted today on the 2nd reading of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a multi-annual plan for the stocks of cod, herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks, also known as the 'Baltic Plan' (this Regulation amends Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 and repeals Council Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007).

Maritime spatial planning "allows us to stop wishing for better ocean governance and start making it happen", Commissioner Karmenu Vella told delegates at a conference on maritime spatial planning held in Ponta Delgada, Azores, today.

About 60 stakeholders from the North Sea region met on 20 and 21 June in The Hague, Netherlands for a workshop on strategic cooperation on blue growth in the North Sea area, organised by the European Commission.