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7th Administrative Board meeting (13 March)
On 13 March the Administrative Board of the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA) will hold its 7th meeting. Among the decisions to be taken are changes in the budget and the work programme to cater for the Joint Deployment Plan (JDP) for the recovery of blue fin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea.
The blue fin tuna JDP is the main new initiative of the CFCA in 2008. It is a joint community project in which Member States, the Commission and the CFCA are working closely together. It will mainly concern Member States with a strong interest in the fishery: Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain. The JDP will organise and co-ordinate control, inspection and surveillance of the bluefin tuna fishery activities at sea and on land, using resources that have been pooled from the participating Member States. The JDP activities will be co-ordinated by a Technical Joint Deployment Group (TJDG), which will be set up in Brussels on 1 April 2008 and remain there until the end of the year.
The Administrative Board will also discuss options for the 2009 work programme of the Agency. The Executive Director has proposed to continue the joint deployment plans for North Sea cod, Baltic Sea cod, blue fin tuna and the joint inspection and surveillance activities adopted under the North-West Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO), with a possible extension to Western Waters and the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Convention area (NEAFC), which are important fishing areas where there is a need for organizing operational cooperation between Member States concerned. The CFCA should also coordinate control and inspection of imports and landings in Community ports of fishery products originating from IUU fishing activities, organise training for fisheries inspectors and start an evaluation of the effectiveness of the joint deployment plans.
All staff visit Vigo (14-18 March)
The Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA) is moving to its seat in the Vigo, Spain, in July 2008. As a preparation for the relocation, all staff of the new agency and their partners will visit Vigo 14-18 March. During this trip the staff will be received, inter alia, by the Xunta de Galicia and the City of Vigo.
Background (14 March)
The decision to establish an EU Fisheries Control Agency was taken under the 2002 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy to strengthen monitoring and control of EU fisheries measures and to help ensure that they are applied uniformly throughout the EU. The Agency will liaise with the stakeholder-led Regional Advisory Councils to secure input from the fisheries sector and other stakeholders, and to help promote a culture of compliance with EU conservation and management measures throughout the EU.
The core activity of the CFCA is operational coordination of pooled national means of control, inspection and surveillance.
The Agency currently has 28 staff members from 12 EU Member States. It will be fully staffed (49 staff members) by the end of 2008.
Among the achievements of the newly created agency are three major coordination tasks carried out in 2007:
- Coordination of EU control, inspection and surveillance activities in the regulatory area of the North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO), a task that previously was ensured by the European Commission.
- A Joint Deployment Plan for cod stocks in the North Sea, which started in July 2007 and will continue in 2008. The plan is an innovative and coordinated effort to combat over-fishing and save endangered cod stocks in the North Sea. Resources (inspectors, control vessels, aircraft, etc) were pooled by seven Member States and were deployed where they were most needed, to ensure more effective and uniform control of fishing activities.
- Joint inspection and surveillance campaigns in relation to the long term management plan for cod in the Baltic Sea, which deploy resources that had been pooled by the coastal Member States. The campaigns will continue in 2008.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea for juvenile fish starting from 13/01/2024 to 02/02/2024 23:59 hrs.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea for juvenile fish starting from 21/01/2024 to 12/03/2024 23:59 hrs.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea starting from 22/02/2024 to 13/03/2024 23:59 hrs.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea starting from 10/03/2024 to 30/03/2024 23:59 hrs.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in their waters of The Skagerrak starting from 13/03/2024 to 02/04/2024 23:59 hrs.
The Netherlands has established two new Real-Time Closures in the North Sea starting from 08/03/2024 to 29/03/2024 23:59 hrs.
Belgium has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea starting from 14/03/2024 to 03/04/2024 23:59 hrs.
During the morning of next Friday, 15 March 2024, one of the three EFCA offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), the Ocean Protector, will open its doors to authorities invited to the 20th anniversary of the North Western Waters Advisory Council and the Pelagic Advisory Council.
The OPV Ocean Protector is one of the three inspection platforms chartered by the European Fisheries Control Agency. It is operational all year round as a fisheries patrol vessel to support Member States in the different EFCA´s joint deployment plans. The vessel is deployed in the scope of multipurpose operations in the framework of European cooperation on coast guard functions. The vessel, during its operations, is available for supporting other coast guard functions, inter alia, providing support during search and rescue situations, maritime surveillance and pollution response.
Its deployment enhances the EU capacity to improve the effectiveness of fisheries control operations in the EU and beyond.
The celebration of the 20-year anniversary event of the North Western Waters Advisory Council and the Pelagic Advisory Council takes place on 14 March with an event in which the advisory councils will look back over the past 20 years of existence and the role of stakeholder voices in European fisheries´ governance. During the event there will be a dialogue between stakeholders and decision makers on the potential of the regionalisation process to address challenges ahead and on the future of stakeholder participation in reaching the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy.
Summary of the technical data of the vessels
• It is a Multi-Role Emergency Response and Rescue Vessels (ERRV) with overall length of 62 meters.
• It has a Dynamic Position System to better maintain their position and balance the environmental forces such as wind, waves and currents during the duty while reducing fuel consumption to a minimum.
• It is fully equipped with ergonomic and modern onboard facilities to ensure a comfortable stay and an enjoyable working environment during the patrols.
Background
EFCA is a European Union agency that promotes the highest common standards for the control, inspection and surveillance under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). EFCA was established to organise operational coordination activities by the Member States and to assist them to cooperate so as to comply with the rules in order to ensure its effective and uniform application.
The added value of the work of the agency lies in its contribution to sustainable fisheries by enhancing compliance with conservation and management measures and to a European-wide level playing field for the fishing industry.