Niclas Herbst, member of the European Parliament, sitting in the Fisheries Committee, has been prized with the MEP Award 2020 in the category ‘Agriculture, Rural Development & Fisheries’.
The German MEP is the permanent Chair of the
Forum on Recreational Fisheries and Aquatic Environment sponsored by the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) and the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA) since 2014. In his speech at the Award ceremony followed by close to 700 people from the EU affairs scene, Mr Herbst highlighted the importance of the recreational fisheries sector: "Fisheries policy is important across the whole sector, for fishermen and fisherwomen, tourism and also for recreational fisheries. Millions of European love to go angling so thank you very much for casting a spotlight on this vital policy." The RecFishing Forum was further mentioned by the ceremony host, thus giving great visibility to angling and the recreational fisheries sector.
The EAA President, Fred Bloot, together with the CEO of EFTTA, co-signed a congratulations letter to Mr Herbst to congratulate him on his award and thank him for his unfailing support since taking the
presidency of the Forum in January this year.
The
MEP Awards, organised every year by the Parliament Magazine, recognise the hard work of members of the European Parliament while also celebrating their achievements across a wide variety of policy areas ranging from the environment to global trade agreements and from digital technology to farming. After being nominated and shortlisted in different categories, MEPs are elected by their peers to receive the MEP Award. Grace O’Sullivan, from the Fisheries and Environment Committees, nominated in the same category has also supported the work of the RecFishing Forum and recently co-chaired an
event on angling tourism.