The EU Council is preparing conclusions on the May 2021 strategic guidelines ‘For a more sustainable and competitive EU Aquaculture’ (2021-2030).
The draft text, which is likely to be redrafted by experts from EU countries, states that a large part of the aquaculture sector is faced with the fact that even the best available techniques “cannot entirely avoid the emission of certain amounts of nutrients into the water, such as nitrogen or phosphorous”.
The Commission is asked to reassess EU environmental legislation (Water Framework Directive, Marine Strategy Framework Directive) to ensure that the licensing or expansion of new aquaculture activities “is not an obstacle for operators, in particular with regard to additional input of nutrients”. To this end, the Commission is invited to present, where appropriate, a proposal to improve coherence between the objective of a growing sustainable aquaculture sector in the EU, on the one hand, and the EU environmental law, on the other hand.
Many other issues are raised, including the damage caused by cormorants. The Commission should, according to the draft text, rapidly define effective EU-wide management measures to prevent or reduce the damage caused by fish-eating and food-eating birds and other protected predators that have a negative impact on aquaculture.
See the draft text: https://aeur.eu/f/29f (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)