Press releases/news articles

The Bluefin Tuna purse seine season, lasting from 26 May to 24 June 2015, has come to an early end for the 99% of the European purse-seiners. Thus, the EU Member States involved in this fishing activity have called back to ports the purse seiners since their quotas have been exhausted. Fishing activities are still performed by Croatian small scale vessels, which continue to fish only in Adriatic but are expected to end soon.

The probable imminent start of commercial activities to mine metals from the deep ocean floor prompted the European Commission to improve public knowledge on the issue and gauge public opinion.

The 32nd North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) Annual Meeting, held in Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada (2-5 June 2015), led to the adoption of new regulatory measures for salmon fisheries in Faroese waters and at West Greenland.

The European Union and the Republic of Liberia signed a new Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement as well as an associated Protocol which will reinforce cooperation between the two parties, especially in their fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and help the development of the fishing sector of Liberia. The new Partnership Agreement is expected to contribute to Liberia's recovery after the Ebola crisis and is a sign of the EU's confidence in Liberia's economy.

The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean has adopted at its annual session (25-29 May, Milan), a set of recommendations based on proposals made by the European Union. The recommendations are key to improving the sustainable management of fisheries for shared stocks in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

The European Commission launched today a public consultation, to collect views on how the EU could contribute to achieving better international governance of oceans and seas to the benefit of sustainable blue growth.

Fisheries in Europe are further progressing to sustainability in the North and West of the European Union. More fish can be harvested, thereby contributing to improved revenues for our fishermen and their communities.

The European Commission has published its annual consultation paper in preparation for setting next year's fish quota later in the year.

Join #FARMEDintheEU, the European campaign about aquaculture to promote fresh, local, healthy fish and shellfish from the farmers in the water (our video is also a tribute to the movie "Love actually")

The main Bluefin Tuna fishing season runs from 26 May to 24 June; this is when large vessels, purse seiners, are allowed to fish for Bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Atlantic.

The Bluefin tuna fishery is regulated by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to which the EU is a contracting party.

European Maritime Day 2015 will take place between 28 and 31 May 2015 in Piraeus, Greece. The event will bring together Europe’s maritime community around the theme of ports and coasts as engines for Blue Growth.

Tweaking breeding methods could allow European fish farming – or aquaculture – to produce more efficiently. An EU-funded project is studying how hi-tech breeding techniques can promote disease resistance and fast, efficient growth in six commonly farmed fish species, improving fish welfare, impacts on wildlife and farm productivity.

The Commission and the European Environment Agency published today the annual bathing water quality report, which compares the quality of bathing water sampled at more than 21 000 coastal and inland bathing sites across the EU in 2014.

On 20 May the European Commission announced a further proposal aimed at halting the decline of sea bass in the Celtic Sea, Irish Sea, Channel and North Sea.

The report on the results of the public consultation on streamlining EU funding in the European Arctic has now been published on our website.

On 6 May 2015 in Zadar, the Commission with the support of FARNET and the Croatian authorities will hold a conference to kick-off Community-led local development (CLLD) in fisheries areas in Croatia.

A new video that illustrates the key role of science in contributing to the so called 'Blue Growth', the maritime contribution to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

Registration is now open!

The 19th meeting of the IOTC was held in Busan, Korea, from 24 April to 1 May 2015. The IOTC adopted six EU proposals (stand alone or co-sponsored), including improved reporting requirements, a reinsertion of the expired IOTC capacity management framework and a conservation measure on billfish with clear indications of depletion or overfishing (striped marlin, black marlin and blue marlin).