Brussels, 18/09/2014 (Agence Europe) -In its efforts to ensure that fisheries rules are respected across the EU, the European Commission has adopted an action plan on Thursday 18 September to help upgrade the Portuguese fisheries control system to European standards. This plan was prepared in partnership with the Portuguese authorities to ensure that Portugal complies fully with the requirements of the EU's 2009 fisheries control regulation and the new common fisheries policy to achieve sustainable fishing.
The Portuguese action plan focuses largely on the catch registration system, in order to ensure that essential data to monitor catches are complete, reliable and timely. To that end, the development of IT tools to collect, share and analyse data is essential. Catch data are reported by fishermen so control authorities can monitor their fishing quotas and thus prevent overfishing.
“The Commission can also assist in financing this upgrading of the Portuguese fisheries control system through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)”, said European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki. Several of the measures within the action plan aim to reinforce the chain of control, and in particular the flow of catch data between mainland Portugal's fisheries authorities and those of the Portuguese offshore archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira. Also included are measures which focus on Portugal's inspection activities, to support a more robust control system. (LC)