Fishery ministries across the EU have reached an agreement on rules binding European fishing ships operating outside EU waters. The objective is to guarantee the sustainability and streamline regulations within the community.
The agreement ends some loopholes that the current legislation had regarding operations on long distance fishing ships from European countries. The agreement, reached in Luxembourg, saw the creation of a public registry of transparency regarding the activities of the fleets outside EU waters.
"The text increases the transparency of the fisheries' activities abroad and it will make more difficult to avoid the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), at the same time limiting the administrative burden", explained Martijn Van Dam, Dutch Minister of Agriculture. The Netherlands is currently presiding over the EU council.
The agreement also proposes a revision of the system for granting permission to EU ships to fish outside EU waters, as well as non-EU ships that intend to fish inside EU waters.
The agreement states for the first time that ships have to be include in a database or public registry.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Gabriela Guédez. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
