EUROPEAN UNIONThursday, September 04, 2014
The European Commission has strengthened its commitment to sustainable fishing by issuing a new set of guidelines to help Member States strike the balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities. The guidelines recommend to Member States a set of standardised indicators (biological, economic and vessel-use indicators) to determine if the size of their fishing fleets are in line with the amount of fishing opportunities allocated to them.
Commissioner Damanaki said on this occasion: "Too many powerful boats chasing too few fish inevitably leads to overfishing and ever dwindling stocks. Balance is the key to sustainable stocks and today's guidelines show our commitment to helping Member States keep their fleets' capacity in line with the amount of fish they can catch."
Source: European Commission