MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries stressed, on Wednesday 16 March, the importance of fisheries in the blue economy and called for more funding for sustainable fisheries.
The Committee adopted (13 votes in favour, 11 against and 4 abstentions) the draft report by Isabel Carvalhais (S&D, Portugal) on ‘Towards a sustainable blue economy in the EU: the role of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors”, which will be discussed in April in plenary.
The Committee on Fisheries calls on the Commission and the Member States to increase opportunities for investment in modern and sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices, in environmentally friendly fishing gear and in the diversification of the economies of coastal communities.
MEPs welcome tools to fund fishers’ efforts to recover, reuse and recycle lost fishing gear and other marine litter. To make it a complete success, they call for increased awareness campaigns and training for fishers in this field.
MEPs stress the importance of establishing bilateral partnerships with third countries on sustainable fishing and on the fight against illegal fishing. These agreements should follow the highest standards of environmental, economic and social sustainability to ensure the competitiveness of the EU fishing fleets. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)