The EAA members met last week in Brussels for the spring Subgroups meetings. EAA Subgroups usually meet three times per year and this session was held in person at the EAA offices at the heart of the EU institutions area.
The Freshwater Subgroup meeting was the occasion to give a state-of-play of the cormorant population in each country and to have an in-depth discussion on activities undertaken by EAA members to mitigate the impact of cormorants on fish stocks and angling spots and to improve the national policy and regulatory framework. Several good practices examples were presented.
The Joint Subgroup welcomed Mr Frank Vassen from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Environment. An angler himself, Mr Vassen is the Nature Conservation Policy Coordinator in the Directorate for Biodiversity. EAA members discussed with him about the roll-out of the 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and in particular the improvement of freshwater fish species conservation status, as well as protected and strictly protected areas. EAA highlighted the work done by angling associations and clubs and the need to work in partnership to collect and consolidate available data on fish species.
Finally, the Sea Subgroup took stock on the recent developments concerning the revision of the EU’s fisheries control system and on the progress of the advocacy efforts for the inclusion of recreational fisheries in the Common Fisheries Policy. EAA’s work in the Advisory Councils and the seabass lobbying strategy were also on the agenda.
The Sea Subgroup will meet online in June 2022. The other EAA Subgroups meetings will take place in Hamburg in September this year, just before the 28th General Assembly.