The European Commission adopted a decision on Friday 19 August laying down rules on the format for the submission of work plans for data collection in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
These guidelines will give the member states, which are responsible for the collection of relevant data, a clearer idea on how to build sound data collection plans for the period 2017-2020. The intention is to continue efforts to simplify and streamline the rules on collecting fisheries data.
Under the new EU data collection programme, member states will have until 31 October 2016 to prepare plans setting out how they intend to collect fisheries data in the period 2017-2020. These national plans will be assessed by scientific experts before the Commission gives its approval.
The streamlined rules will pave the way for the collection of more and better data to help close persistent gaps in our knowledge about fish stocks. They will give scientists and decision-makers a better idea of how fisheries are affecting marine and maritime ecosystems, while also providing more data on the Mediterranean and long distance fisheries.
Fisheries data are collected in a number of ways: in ports or at sea by observers on board commercial fishing vessels, through scientific surveys at sea to locate and follow fish stocks, by compiling control data from logbooks, sales notes and satellite data, and through socio-economic surveys of the fisheries, aquaculture and processing sectors.
The European Commission proposed last year to simplify the current data collection rules. This proposal is currently being discussed in the European Parliament and in the Council (see EUROPE 11535). The rules adopted last Friday will ensure that systematic and consistent data collection continues in the meantime. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)