On 11 October, MEP Niclas Herbst and MEP Ska Keller co-chaired a conference of the RecFishing Forum on “Fishing for the Future! Rethinking the allocation of fisheries catches for fairer and more sustainable decisions”. The conference report is now available.
During this event, two key speakers provided paramount contributions :
David Mitchell, Board member of the European Anglers Association (EAA), gave a presentation on international examples of including recreational fishing in catch allocations. He reminded that at the EU level, recreational fisheries are only tackled via fishing restrictions and underlined a structural problem with the CFP. He advised that the EU fisheries policy should be considering the interests of millions of EU angling citizens’ and thousands of businesses depending on the sustainability of their activities. Finally, he presented examples of management measures taken in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
Then, Kevin Haase, PhD researcher at the Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries in Germany, gave a presentation on alternative management measures of recreational fishing. He gave a short overview of the different regulations affecting recreational fishing and pointed out the fact that some regulations had different implications and goals depending on the country, fish species and fishing methods.
The two presentations were followed by a very interesting discussion on the possibilities of considering alternative ways of allocating fisheries catches in a more sustainable way.
Stakeholders had the opportunity to share their points of view. Brian O’Riordan (LIFE) highlighted the fact that the right for all citizens to hunt or fish for food had been recognised historically but still had to be regulated. In his point of view, the way commercial rights were being regulated could have significant positive or negative impacts on stocks. In this discussion, Olivier Portrat, CEO of EFTTA, emphasised that recreational fisheries should be officially recognised as an important stakeholder in the European fisheries policies.
Download the event report HERE