Small-scale fishermen chart course for EU fisheries reform.
Small-scale vessels account for about 80% of the European fishing sector, but the European Union quota, subsidy and management systems have for decades favoured large industrial operators. Representing thousands of employers and fishing sector jobs and hundreds of local and regional associations in the fishing sector, coastal fishermen and shellfish harvesters believe that Europe’s future lies in environmentally friendly, low-impact fishing and that defending the interests of the artisanal sector is to defend the sector as a whole.
For these reasons, representatives of artisanal fishermen from all over Europe will meet in Brussels to discuss how EU fishing rules affect them and the wellbeing of the sea they depend on, with a view to influencing the on-going reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.
The fishermen will sign a common European Artisanal Fishermen’s Declaration, which will be presented to members of the media in Brussels on 19 November, before it is delivered by fishermen representatives to the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament.
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Source: Greenpeace, Europe.
