Hosted by the Norges Jeger- og Fiskerforbund (Norwegian Association of Hunters and Anglers) at the occasion of its 150th Jubilee, the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) members gathered from Thursday 18 November to Saturday 20 November 2021 in Asker, near Oslo (Norway). The packed three-day meeting was the first opportunity for many of the EAA members to meet physically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and allowed for fruitful discussions on the work at the European Union level and the functioning of the Association.
Subgroup meetings: taking stock and planning for the future activities
The gathering started with the Freshwater Subgroup meeting, during which EAA members discussed topics of interest, such as the implementation of the EU’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and the work of the Living Rivers Europe coalition. Herman Wanningen, Director of the World Fish Migration Foundation, joined the meeting to present the work of
Dam Removal Europe and how to further involve EAA members and their anglers in dam removal projects.
The next day, a Sea Subgroup meeting was called, during which the EAA members took stock of the important milestones laid down over the past months towards the inclusion of the marine recreational fisheries sector in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and discussed the strategies to work towards that direction in the coming months. They also touched briefly on the ongoing revision of the
Fisheries Control Regulation, which would increasingly regulate the sector. A Joint Subgroup meeting was then dedicated to improving the functioning of EAA.
General Assembly: new Board members
During the General Assembly, Stefan Spahn (DAFV) stepped down as Board member. A beloved member of the European Anglers Alliance since 2004, he received warm thanks for his service to EAA and received the Honorary Membership of the Association.
Mark Owen (Angling Trust) acting as Treasurer and Florian Stein (DAFV) for General Affairs have been elected to join the EAA Board. Øyvind Fjeldseth was re-elected for a second mandate as Board member.
This was also the opportunity for Jan Kappel (EAA Secretary General), Julie Aleksandrova (Aliénor) sand Thomas Tessier (Aliénor) to update the full membership about their activities at the Commission and the European Parliament level. Following a suggestion of the Norwegian Association.
A resolution on aquaculture: EAA calls for closed containment salmon farming now
EAA also adopted a
resolution calling for the introduction and mandatory use of closed containment technologies. As open sea aquaculture threatens wild Atlantic salmon, EAA call on the regulators to prevent further escapes of captive farmed fish and to stop the spread of parasites by moving to such closed farming.
Fishing in Norway
The Norwegian Association organised an eventful afternoon, opened by the Secretary General of the Association, Eldar Berli, who talked about the challenges ahead for anglers in Europe, and was followed by a presentation by Sondre Breian on the “problematic Oslofjord.” A movie about the different fishing methods in Norway was then projected, featuring the whole nature of the country, from ice fishing in Stabbursdalen to saithe and pike fishing in Vikna.
The next General Assembly is expected to take place in August/September 2022 in Hamburg (Germany), under the auspices of the German Association DAFV.