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Regulation (EU) 2019/473 on the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA’s Founding Regulation) is in force since 14 April 2019. In the interests of clarity, EFCA’s Founding Regulation of 2005 was replaced by a codified text, which incorporates the initial Founding Regulation and subsequent amendments as listed below:
- EFCA was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 of 26 April 2005 and later amended by Council Regulation (EC) 1224/2009.
- In 2016, Regulation (EU) 2016/1626 of the European Parliament and of the Council introduced a second amendment aimed at increasing European cooperation on coast guard functions, as well as to strengthen cooperation at EU and international level between EFCA, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex).
- In 2024, new amendments have been introduced by Regulation (EU) 2023/2842 of the European Parliament and of the Council with landmark changes widening the mission and the activities of the Agency. In addition, as from 2024, EFCA’s Union inspectors have been given powers to conduct inspections in the Economic Exclusive Zone of EU Member States. Besides, as from 2024, the European Parliament may appoint one member and one alternate to the Administrative Board, without the right to vote.
The seat of EFCA is Vigo, Spain, as established in Article 27(4) of EFCA’s Founding Regulation.
Background
In the wake of the 2002 Common Fisheries Policy reform, European Union governments deemed necessary to establish the Agency in an effort to build a culture of compliance within the fisheries sector across Europe. The new permanent structure was to ensure the coordination of inspection and control activities by the Member States and to assist them to cooperate so as to comply with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. The European Fisheries Control Agency was the result of this need.
Relevant legal instruments
- Regulation (EU) 2023/2842 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 November 2023
- Regulation (EU) 2019/473 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 on the European Fisheries Control Agency
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 of 8 April 2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy.
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy.
- Regulation (EU) 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
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This week EFCA is conducting a 'training for trainers' session on Fisheries control and inspection for GFCM countries. 13 trainers from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria are participating in the training session.
Last week (23-26/05/2017), representatives from 20 European countries with sea borders joined Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, along with officials from the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in Portugal to move forward with the cooperation on European coast guard functions.
During the three-day Coastex2017 Coast Guard exercise hosted by the Portuguese presidency of the European Coast Guard Functions Forum, vessels, helicopters, airplanes and 90 observers from European Coast Guard authorities conducted exercises to test different coast guard functions. The scenarios tested were: detection of migrants, search and rescue, medical evacuation, pollution, illegal fishing, boarding of a ferry transporting a dangerous person, seizure of drugs and arrest of the traffickers.
“I am delighted to see vessels and helicopters from Italy, Spain and Portugal as well as coast guard officers coming from Germany and observers from 20 European maritime countries taking part in this exercise,” said Berndt Koerner, Frontex Deputy Executive Director.
“Running exercises is crucial if we want to be effective at sea because it helps us test the best ways of working together in a variety of scenarios. The aim of this particular exercise, and the numerous seminars taking place behind the scenes, is to develop the best way of conducting coast guard operations together,” he added.
Coast Guard organisations differ from country to country in Europe. In some, the coast guard is mainly responsible for search and rescue, while other national authorities also cover responsibilities related to law enforcement, fisheries, maritime safety or pollution control.
Frontex has been working hand in hand with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) to cover the full scope of coast guard functions that go beyond border management.
This week in EFCA's premises a group of inspectors from the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) from the EU and Canada are participting in a workshop about conservation and enforcement measures. International cooperation strenghtens as participants discuss recent infringement cases to improve procedures.
"Operation" Sardinelle ", a fishery surveillance operation in which Member States of the Sub-regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) cooperated to detect Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, took place from 23 to 26 January 2020.
This fisheries surveillance operation was entirely funded by the European Union via the PESCAO program and coordinated and organized by the SRFC. This operation received technical support from EFCA and operational support from France. Representatives of the Fisheries Committee of the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) and of the Gulf of Guinea Inter-regional Network (EU-GOGIN) project participated to the surveillance operation as observers. All participating SRFC Member States made available their updated national list of authorized fishing vessels.
The technical equipment of the national Fisheries Monitoring Centres (e.g. VMS, AIS, radars) as well as the information from the Integrated Maritime Services and satellite images (Copernicus) provided by EFCA made it possible to direct the patrol means to the suspected vessels. Correlations conducted on images collected from "Open Source" satellite services, were also conducted by the SRFC.
The fishery surveillance operation resulted in 58 vessel inspections with the detection of 9 possible non-compliances which are the subject of an investigation by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned.
Covering an area of approximately 1.1 million square kilometers, including the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of Cabo Verde, Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia, operation "Sardinelle" was coordinated from Senegal FMC and run by the staff of the MCS structures of the Member States involved.
Each SRFC Member State deployed a patrol vessel that patrolled their respective EEZ. The patrol vessel "FERLO" from Senegal and "CDT BOUAN" from the French Navy surveyed the EEZ of The Gambia. Two fishing inspectors from The Gambia were assigned to each of these patrol vessels.
The operation "Sardinelle" was another action organized under the PESCAO project that meets the broader objective of the project, which is the sustainable development and management of fisheries in the West African region. This fisheries surveillance operation complements those already carried out in 2018 and 2019 in the SRFC area.
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.