On 11 February, following a request from the European Commission, the Mediterranean Advisory Council (MEDAC) adopted its advice on minimum rules for sustainable recreational fishing activities in the Mediterranean Sea. The EAA managed to positively influence the text of the advice.
This advice is delivered in the context of the EU’s proposal for a recommendation of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) on recreational fisheries. The GFCM is one of the regional fisheries management organisations. It counts 22 member countries & the EU. Its main objective is to ensure the conservation and the sustainable use of living marine resources in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea
The EAA has been a member of the MEDAC for many years. Laura Pisano, from the Italian EAA member association, chairs the MEDAC working group on recreational fisheries. EAA thus was able to advance a number of positive elements in the text of the MEDAC advice such as:
- Highlighting the development potential of the recreational fisheries sector and the need to provide a socio-economic assessment of recreational fisheries,
- The need to build capacities to facilitate the participation of recreational fishers in the governance of recreational fisheries activities, including through funding,
- The need to distinguish the different segments of recreational fisheries to ensure a sustainable management,
- The importance of making licensing or registration systems mandatory,
- The fact that “pesca tourism” should be considered as a commercial activity to which commercial fishing rules must apply while recreational fisheries rules should apply to ‘charter boats’.
Click
here to read the MEDAC Advice on the EU proposal for a GFCM recommendation on recreational fisheries
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