23-01-2019 15:00
Public Hearing on the Future of Small-Scale Fisheries in the EU

Paul-Henri Spaak (PHS) building, room P5B001
Poster for the Public Hearing on the Future of Small-Scale Fisheries in the EU
Public Hearing on the Future of Small-Scale Fisheries in the EU © European Union

On 26 September 2018, representatives from 18 Mediterranean and Black Sea countries as well as the EU signed in Malta a Ministerial Declaration aimed at implementing a Regional Action Plan for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

The new proposal for the EMFF also foresees to take better account of the specific challenges faced by small-scale coastal fisheries, i.e. the preferential financial treatment to small-scale coastal fisheries will be kept after 2020.
It's therefore a good moment for a discussion at the European Parliament. There's an urgent need to take local specificities into account, to help improving the livelihoods of fishermen, as well as for facilitating the generational renewal in an ageing workforce.
The role of small-scale fisheries in supporting scientific research and in data collection is also highly relevant.