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The Committee on Fisheries (PECH) is a committee of the European Parliament.
Chris Davies was the chairman (2019 – 2020) - until the United Kingdom left the European Union.
PECH is the European Parliament committee responsible for:
1. the operation and development of the common fisheries policy and its management;
2. the conservation of fishery resources, the management of fisheries and fleets exploiting such resources and marine and applied fisheries research;
3. the common organisation of the market in fishery and aquaculture products and the processing and marketing thereof;
4. structural policy in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, including the financial instruments and funds for fisheries guidance to support these sectors;
5. the integrated maritime policy as regards fishing activities;
6. sustainable fisheries partnership agreements, regional fisheries organisations and the implementation of international obligations in the field of fisheries.
The committee is directly supported by a research service, the Policy Department for Structural & Cohesion Policies. Most of its research studies and briefings are published online. The papers do not necessarily reflect the view of the committee.
Recent publications (as of October 2018):
Fisheries in Andalusia – Atlantic region
Fisheries in Mauritania and the European Union Archived 2018-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
Landing Obligation and Choke Species in Multispecies and Mixed Fisheries – The North Western Waters
Landing Obligation and Choke Species in Multispecies and Mixed Fisheries – The South Western Waters
Landing Obligation and Choke Species in Multispecies and Mixed Fisheries – The North Sea
Marine recreational and semi-subsistence fishing – its value and its impact on fish stock
Common Fisheries Policy and BREXIT
Regional ocean governance in Europe: the role of fisheries
Small-Scale Fisheries Markets: Value Chain, Promotion and Labelling Archived 2018-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
Small scale fisheries and “Blue Growth” in the EU
Impact of Fisheries Partnership Agreements on Employment in the EU and in Third Countries
Seafood Industry Integration in the EU
The Management of Fishing Fleets in Outermost Regions Archived 2018-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions. In 2004 it had a budget of €931 million, approximately 0.75% of the EU budget.
The European Structural and Investment Funds are financial tools governed by a common rulebook, set up to implement the regional policy of the European Union, as well as the structural policy pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. They aim to reduce regional disparities in income, wealth and opportunities. Europe's poorer regions receive most of the support, but all European regions are eligible for funding under the policy's various funds and programmes. The current framework is set for a period of seven years, from 2021 to 2027.
The Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries is a Directorate-General of the European Commission, responsible for the policy area of fisheries, the Law of the Sea and Maritime Affairs of the European Union. The current director-general is Charlina Vitcheva.
The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) that co-ordinates the national operational activities in the area of fisheries, and assists the member states in their application of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The agency is based in Vigo,, Spain.
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries.
The Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries is a member of the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Virginijus Sinkevičius, who also serves as EU Commissioner for the Environment.
Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) is a general term to describe systems that are used in commercial fishing to allow environmental and fisheries regulatory organizations to track and monitor the activities of fishing vessels. They are a key part of monitoring control and surveillance (MCS) programs at national and international levels. VMS may be used to monitor vessels in the territorial waters of a country or a subdivision of a country, or in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) that extend 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) from the coasts of many countries. VMS systems are used to improve the management and sustainability of the marine environment, through ensuring proper fishing practices and the prevention of illegal fishing, and thus protect and enhance the livelihoods of fishermen.
Discards are the portion of a catch of fish which is not retained on board during commercial fishing operations and is returned, often dead or dying, to the sea. The practice of discarding is driven by economic and political factors; fish which are discarded are often unmarketable species, individuals which are below minimum landing sizes and catches of species which fishers are not allowed to land, for instance due to quota restrictions. Discards form part of the bycatch of a fishing operation, although bycatch includes marketable species caught unintentionally. Discarding can be highly variable in time and space as a consequence of changing economic, sociological, environmental and biological factors.
The Marine Institute is a state agency in Ireland that provides government, public agencies and the maritime industry with scientific, advisory and economic development services, aiming to inform policy-making, regulation and the sustainable management and growth of the country's marine resources. Founded in 1991 on foot of a 1974 report, the institute undertakes and promotes marine research and development. The agency's staff and operations are governed by a ministerially-appointed board. Based at its headquarters near Galway, it has an office in Dublin and two research vessels.
Fishing is a major economic activity in Portugal. The country has a long tradition in the sector, and is among the countries in the world with the highest fish consumption per capita. Roman ruins of fish processing facilities were found across the Portuguese coast. Fish has been an important staple for the entire Portuguese population, at least since the Portuguese Age of Discovery.
As with other countries, the 200 nautical miles (370 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of the United States gives its fishing industry special fishing rights. It covers 11.4 million square kilometres, which is the second largest zone in the world, exceeding the land area of the United States.
The Scottish Government's Marine Directorate is responsible for managing Scotland's seas and freshwater fisheries along with delivery partners NatureScot and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
It is a central tenet of the EU maritime policy that all seas have a particular nature, defined by their geography, their ecology, their economies and their people. Most seas are nested and do not, except for specific purposes such as hydrography or fisheries management, have sharp, recognised boundaries. One important sea for purposes of fisheries management is referred to as the "seas West of Scotland". In line with the EU maritime policy, the sea does not only encompass the waters but also the people and economy of the areas bordering that sea.
The fishing industry in Denmark operates around the coastline, from western Jutland to Bornholm. While the overall contribution of the fisheries sector to the country's economy is only about 0.5 percent, Denmark is ranked fifth in the world in exports of fish and fish products. Approximately 20,000 Danish people are employed in fishing, aquaculture, and related industries.
The Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) is one of the configurations of the Council of the European Union and is composed of the agriculture and fisheries ministers of the 27 European Union member states. Its competencies include the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), among others.
Spain is an eminently maritime country with a long continental shelf running along the entire periphery of the Spanish coast. This narrow continental shelf is extremely rich in fish resources since the shelf is close to land.
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) in the Arctic is an under researched scientific field. The most recent academic articles about IUU in the Arctic mainly concerns the mid-2000s.
The fishing industry in Thailand, in accordance with usage by The World Bank, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other multinational bodies, refers to and encompasses recreational fishing, aquaculture, and wild fisheries both onshore and offshore.
The European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), one of the five European Structural and Investment Funds, is the financial instrument financing the structural policy pillar of the Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union. It was previously known as the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG), the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The total budget for 2021-2027 is €6.108 billion.
