On Wednesday 19 April, the NGO Our Fish called on EU countries to implement a key component of its Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) “to ensure a fair and sustainable future for EU fishing communities”.
A report (‘Empowering EU Fisheries Policy to Restore Marine Health, Tackle Climate Change and Create Jobs’), written by Vertigo Lab on behalf of Our Fish, aims to demonstrate how to create jobs by allocating fishing quotas according to environmental and social criteria.
The report calls for implementing Article 17 of the CFP, which states that the EU Member States should allocate fishing access according to transparent economic, social and environmental criteria.
The report reveals that fishing practices that have a lower impact on the marine environment have a positive socio-economic impact.
The authors analysed case studies in Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden, Poland and Denmark which show that allocating fishing quotas based on environmental criteria can create more jobs, keep wealth within the EU and reduce the impact of fishing on the ecosystem and its carbon impact.
In June 2022, the European Parliament also called for a fairer and more transparent system for allocating fishing quotas (see EUROPE 12966/9).
Read the report commissioned by Our Fish: https://aeur.eu/f/6dh (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)