Brussels, 27/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - In the context of ongoing work on reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the European Commission is to adopt, on Friday, an action plan for improving scientific opinion on the state of fish resources in which it considers that, in addition to continued support for halieutic research (under the 6th Framework Programme), it is appropriate to create, in the long term, a European centre for the assessment and management of the fishing industry, a centre where scientific expertise could be brought together at Community level.
The other elements of this strategy cover the following priorities: - improving the collection of data by taking into account environmental concerns; - making assistance foreseen at Community and national levels more effective in favour of scientific work by advisory scientific bodies; - strengthening the Community's advisory scientific structures, especially the scientific committee for the fisheries and aquaculture sector (CSPA); - and ensuring better coordination between the Commission and national research laboratories on fishing (which concerns the priorities to be upheld and the attribution of resources).