Only one week to go before the official relaunch of the Forum on Recreational Fisheries and Aquatic Environment in the European Parliament (EP). On Tuesday 26 November, the European Anglers Alliance (EAA), together with the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA) will officially relaunch the Recfishing Forum in the EP, after the May 2019 elections.
EAA and EFTTA board members as well as representatives from Denmark, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Hungary, France and the UK will go to Strasbourg, to meet with MEPs during the plenary session of the European Parliament. The Forum will be officially relaunched at the occasion of a networking reception hosted by MEP Niclas Herbst (Germany, EPP Group), an active member of the Fisheries Committee and promising supporter of the recreational fisheries sector.
Members of the European Parliament from different EU countries, different political parties and various parliamentary committees (fisheries, environment, regional development and tourism committee) have committed to join the meeting. In addition, the future European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Mr Sinkevičius, has accepted to join this kick-off meeting of the Forum and deliver opening remarks.
This meeting will be the first occasion under this legislature of the EP (2019-2024) to meet with elected representatives who will work on policies, legislation and regulatory issues concerning the aquatic environment, fish stocks and fisheries management. Thereby the MEPs’ work will have a direct impact on anglers’ access to fishing, the quality of the angling experience and the well-being of the angling community. Some policy and legislation of direct importance to angling to be dealt in this five-year term are the revision of the (sea) fisheries control system, evaluation of the Water Framework Directive, evaluation of the fisheries multiannual management plans and the evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy.
In the context of the forum, EAA and EFTTA will also cooperate with MEPs on the recreational fisheries sector’s added value for health, social and cultural well-being of citizens and communities in Europe, conservation of vulnerable fish species, fishing tourism, fish migration and dam removal, building on the successes achieved during the previous mandate.