Understanding fisheries technical rules: An illustrated guide for non-experts

Regulating fisheries entails the use of some specific terminology and concepts. The fishing gear which can be used, the fish species which can be caught and the sea area in which fishing takes place are major and common elements to fisheries technical measures. These technical elements may often be referred to in law using specialised terms, not necessarily easily understood by the non-expert. This document aims to provide basic information and illustration of some ocean-related concepts and on the major type of fishing gear used by fishing vessels (e.g. gillnets, entangling nets, trawls, seines and dredges) as well as the main standardised coding systems in use to identify fishing areas in the seas bordering the EU.