Brussels, 19/11/2008 (Agence Europe) -The Fisheries Ministers of the Member States have released "priority" areas of work on the development of aquaculture, Michel Barnier announced on Wednesday 19 November. This debate will continue early next year under the Czech Presidency, on the basis of a document by the European Commission on a strategy to develop this activity.
According to the French Fisheries Minister, Michel Barnier, the exchange of views between the ministers allowed them to decide upon the following areas of work: - simplification of the rules on aquaculture; - promotion of aquaculture products by means of communication and awareness campaigns; - requirement for a Community initiative to identify the fish farming zones businesses need; -implementation of measures to get younger people involved in this area; - provide better cover of risks and contingencies, taking particular account of the consequences of global warming.
Answering questions from the press, Michel Barnier stressed that Europe is "extremely dependent" on the rest of the world when it comes to its consumption of fisheries products. In France, half of all fresh products are imported (this figure rises to 80% for fresh and processed products). This dependency must be reduced. Furthermore, the development of sustainable aquaculture is necessary, given the reduction of fishing efforts in order to protect fish resources, the French minister concluded.
Joe Borg, the European Commissioner for Fisheries stressed that the EU is at the forefront of research in the field of aquaculture, but that this type of production has been stagnating for several years. We must attempt to understand why (economic constraints linked to fish feed, marketing problems). It will be necessary to "move this aquaculture forward, given the extremely serious situation in terms of resources", the Commissioner commented, who lamented the situation of over-fishing which exists for many species. (L.C./trans.fl)