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This study explores the competitiveness gap faced by the EU’s seafood sector. Five case studies illustrate how high input costs and relatively low productivity mean that imports, now supply over 80% of the EU’s consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products (FAPs). The policy recommendations provided aim to help secure a more self-sufficient, sustainable, and resilient seafood system. This document was prepared at the request of the Committee on Fisheries (PECH).

The Greater North Sea is part of the North-East Atlantic, the EU's most important fisheries area. The marine area is surrounded by densely populated, highly industrialised countries making intensive use of the waters and coasts for a broad range of economic activities. This gives rise to several environmental issues and growing competition for space. Fishing activities in the Greater North Sea have decreased considerably since the 1970s. Many fish stocks have reached sustainable levels. At the same ...

This study explores the competitiveness gap faced by the EU’s seafood sector. Five case studies illustrate how high input costs and relatively low productivity mean that imports, now supply over 80% of the EU’s consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products (FAPs). The policy recommendations provided aim to help secure a more self-sufficient, sustainable, and resilient seafood system. This document was prepared at the request of the Committee on Fisheries (PECH).

The great cormorant is a highly mobile, fish-eating bird that has a significant and widespread impact on fish stocks and aquaculture sites. Due to its predation impact, the cormorant was heavily persecuted in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but has been a protected species since the European Union Birds Directive came into force in 1979. Its population has grown significantly since then. While the bird cannot be hunted, the Birds Directive permits derogations to prevent serious damage to wild ...

This European implementation assessment of the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive 2014/89/EU in regard to fisheries in selected fishing areas and sea basins aims to inform the ongoing work of the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries (PECH) on an own-initiative implementation report, ' The impact of the implementation of the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive 2014/89/EU on fisheries in selected fishing areas and sea basins (2024/2126 (INI)), ahead of the Directive’s planned revision at the ...

The purpose of the proposed regulation is to implement into EU law a number of measures adopted by several regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) by amending the respective existing legislation. The proposal aims to speed up the implementation procedure by bundling amendments to several regulations into one legislative text. Moreover, in view of certain future amendments, the proposal includes requests to empower the European Commission to adopt delegated acts.

The multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea has failed to halt fisheries collapse, with four of the seven key stocks critically depleted. Conventional single-species reference points are inadequate under combined pressures from climate change, eutrophication and chronic assessment errors. This briefing highlights ecosystem reference points (ERPs), the ecosystem-adjusted fishing mortality FECO and complementary size- and age-based indicators, exploring how they could be developed in the Baltic Sea setting ...

On 30 July 2025, the European Commission published a proposal for a European fisheries and aquaculture statistics (EFAS) regulation. The proposed regulation modernises and streamlines the legal framework for EU fisheries and aquaculture statistics by repealing five existing regulations whose provisions date back around 30 years. Aside from providing legal simplification, the proposal expands the statistical coverage, reduces the volume of data flagged as confidential, and addresses data inconsistencies ...

Women remain under-represented in the EU fisheries sector, particularly as regards fishing and aquaculture activities. This in-depth analysis provides an overview of women’s participation in the sector, exploring available statistics and the incorporation of the gender dimension in EU fisheries policy. It also outlines the gradual integration of gender considerations in EU funding schemes, and the impact of the sectoral support provided by sustainable fisheries partnership agreements on women in ...

The European Union's fisheries and aquaculture sector contributes about €5.5 billion per year to the EU economy and provides direct employment to around 193 000 fishers and aquaculture farmers across Europe. European fisheries statistics (EFS) have been collected since 1950 and provide official EU-wide data on fleet size and structure, catches, landings and aquaculture production. Statistical data are also used by the EU Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture to fulfil EU reporting obligations ...