Brussels, 04/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has welcomed the creation of a Regional Consultative Council (RCC) in Edinburgh on Thursday, on the management of fish stocks in the North Sea. This is the first of seven RCCs to be phased in between 2004 and 2009. The Fisheries Ministers of the Member States of the EU reached agreement at the end of May on the creation of these RCCs, which will allow professionals to get more involved in shaping Community decisions in managing fish resources (EUROPE of 25 May 2004).
Commissioner Franz Fischler said that this was an "important day in the history of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)". He said that the Commission would work with all the Regional Consultative Councils with the common objective of ensuring "the environmental, economic and social sustainability of our fisheries". Apart from the Regional Consultative Council for the North Sea, six other regional councils are to be set up for the following areas or stocks: the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the North-Western waters, the South-Western waters, deep-sea stocks (blue whiting, mackerel, scad, herring) in all areas, and high sea fishing fleets.