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EFCA is coordinating the control campaign for the bluefin tuna fishery (BFT) in the Mediterranean Sea for 2021 in the framework of its Joint Deployment Plan (JDP). In this context, Member States pool their control and inspection means, in order to carry out jointly control, inspection and surveillance of fishery activities both at sea and ashore.

The objective of the campaign is to ensure compliance with the international and EU rules adopted for the conservation of the bluefin tuna; special attention is given to monitor the activity of purse seiners towing vessels longliners, farms and traps.

This activity is bringing together Member States, the European Commission and EFCA, and counts on the resources of the eight Member States involved in the fishery – Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain –. Inspection and surveillance at sea is carried both in EU waters and international waters and applies to EU and non-EU vessels.

The joint control, inspection and surveillance activities are coordinated using the virtual EFCA coordination center platform, with participation of experts of the member States concerned and EFCA. Overall, inspection and surveillance strategy and daily recommendations are provided on the basis of the daily data and information received by national authorities and from ICCAT, in particular VMS data (Vessel Monitoring System, a satellite-based control system) and catch information.

 

Background:

In line with ICCAT Recommendation 19-04[1], the purse seine fishing for bluefin tuna shall be permitted in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean during the period from 26 May to 1 July. However, specific derogations are possible in some fishing areas[2].

Fish shall be caged before 22 August of each year unless the farming Contracting Parties and Cooperating non-Contracting Parties (CPC) receiving the fish provides valid reasons including force majeure, which shall accompany the caging report when submitted. In any case the fish shall not be caged after 7 September.

[1] https://www.iccat.int/en/RecRes.asp

[2]   By way of derogation, the season in the eastern Mediterranean Sea (FAO fishing areas 37.3.1 Aegean; 37.3.2 Levant), may be open 15 May if a CPC requests it in its fishing plan. By way of derogation, the season in the Adriatic Sea (FAO fishing area 37.2.1) may be open from 26 May until 15 July, for fish farmed in the Adriatic Sea.

Denmark has established a Real Time Closure (RCT) in their waters of the Skagerrak from the 24 of June to the 14 of July 2021, inclusive.

This RTC is based on the Commission Regulation (EC) no 724/2010 of 12 August 2010 

Further conditions governing fisheries during an RTC will apply. The area is closed for fishery except for the following gears: 

• Pelagic trawls, purse seine, driftnets and jiggers targeting herring, mackerel, and horse mackerel 
• Pot 
• Scallop dredges  
• Gillnets

All the information can be found on the Danish website.

 

The Annual European Coast Guard Event for 2021 under the theme of “Use of digital age technologies in Coast Guard functions” was held virtually on 29 June 2021. The event was hosted by EFCA at the end of its turn as chair of the tripartite cooperation in support of the European coast guard initiative with the other two maritime EU Agencies, EMSA and Frontex.

The Annual Event provides a platform for national authorities, the EU agencies involved and the European Commission to exchange views on matters related to cooperation on coast guard functions.

The three agencies took stock of the achievements of the year, with a highlight on the preparation of the EU Coast Guard Handbook and the activities in support of national authorities during 2021.

This event allowed to overview the available digital age technologies and discuss their relevance to enhance the “European common maritime situation awareness pictures” and the support to the European Union Member States authorities, in line with the EU Maritime Security Strategy. 

Particular focus was placed in the implementation of the different EU Coast Guard functions in the context of the post-pandemic era, with affected economic and civil activities in all areas of the maritime domain. The Coronavirus crisis offered the opportunity to embrace technologies to foster an adequate operational response.

With a view to benefit from the experience gained during the pandemic crisis, digital tools available are key to combine the shared MS information and the data made available through the EU Agencies. An example would be the development of an “early bird awareness” based upon a robust geographical information system [GIS].

Exploring the way forward, the maritime agencies and all participating Member States as well as the European Commission assessed the challenges related to the integration of different sources of information, evaluating solutions such as the automated analysis and monitoring of behaviours, as well as the possible assistance of Artificial Intelligence to process and analyse high volume of data.

Background:

Under the framework of the European Coast Guard Cooperation, Frontex, EFCA and EMSA support Member States with information sharing, surveillance and communication services, capacity building activities as well as risk analysis and information exchange on threats in the maritime domain.

In 2017, the three agencies signed a tripartite working agreement that provides a framework for their common work at sea, which has been recently renewed in 2021.

 

Yesterday the European Commission has adopted the recommendation establishing a ‘Practical Handbook’ on European cooperation on coast guard functions. The Handbook will be made available as an online platform operated by EFCA in close cooperation with EMSA, Frontex and the Commission and updated with Agencies’ and Member States information. It contains guidelines, recommendations and best practices for the exchange of information on coast guard functions.

The three EU agencies, EFCA, EMSA and FRONTEX, work closely together under the inter-agency cooperation framework, with the direct support of the European Commission. They provide enhanced support and assistance to the national authorities performing coast guard functions at national and EU level and, where appropriate, at international level. This handbook is a concrete achievement of the EU cooperation on coast guard functions.

The recommendation establishes the handbook as a practical guide for EU civilian and military authorities when carrying out coast guard functions, facilitating close cross-border and cross-sector collaboration among them. The handbook provides a transparent compilation of services and information available through the three agencies. It helps to create synergies and avoid duplication and/or redundancy of effort in the cooperation between Member States and the three agencies, resulting in economies of scale.

The handbook focuses on the five inter-agency cooperation areas: information sharing; surveillance and communication services; capacity building; risk analysis; and capacity sharing. The handbook is mainly limited to cross-sector subjects and covers EU Member States and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States.

The main end users of this handbook are the national authorities for each coast guard function in each Member State, aiming to support them when planning and coordinating activities.

EFCA is leading the inter-agency cooperation areas for capacity building and risk analysis and will ensure in cooperation with EMSA and Frontex sound implementation of this important recommendation to all coast guard functions community.

Under the umbrella of EMPACT (European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats) and the priority of Environmental Crime, during the week of 03-07 May 2021, a Joint Action Day (JAD) took place, in the framework of Operational Action (OA) on Illegal Fishing. It was coordinated by Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR/PT), within the role of leader, having EFCA and Guardia Civil (ES) as co-leaders, teaming up with EU Agencies (Europol, Eurojust and Frontex) and Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden). It aimed to contribute to the overall objective of identifying, deterring and disrupting illegal fishing activities and related crimes, led by organised crime groups. For this purpose, EFCA virtual coordination centre was activated.

Built on the results achieved and lessons learned during its first edition, organised in 25 September 2019, the second edition, which was supposed to be held in 2020, was postponed to 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Law Enforcement and Fisheries Control communities joined synergies by prioritising multipurpose and multiagency operations.

As a testimony of the righteousness of this option, the results speak for themselves:

Means put together:

• 3162 Inspectors (Police, Fisheries, Customs, Agriculture and Health);
• 260 vehicles;
• 189 vessels;
• 18 aerial assets;
• 2 explosive detection dogs;

Main results:

• 2248 persons, 12 vehicles and 194 vessels checked;
• 64 crimes detected;
• 185 administrative infringements;
• 8 arrests;
• 9 seizures (10 tubes of plastic explosives, 124 detonating caps and 20 m of wick, 4,5 T of trout, high-tech equipment, computers and documents, 167 illegal fishnets and 20 other illegal tools, 80 kg of fine clams, 31 kg of Norway lobsters, 6 T of sardines, 50 kg of immature fish and 48 kg of Bluefin Tuna).

All the participants were urged to foster sector bridging activities, involving Law Enforcement and Fisheries Inspections/Controls, to better understand idiosyncrasies of each community dealing with prevention and fight against illegal fishing activities at EU level, as well as to organise events to share lessons learned and best practises, serving as reference point to improve cooperation.

“The outcomes of this enhanced and coordinated approach with EFCA’s support, involving fisheries control and law enforcement authorities as well as EU Agencies, is a concrete example of the interagency cooperation, attempting to address food security, biodiversity, illegal fishing and related challenges our oceans and seas are facing at the moment. EFCA is committed to continue to build bridges and synergies between both communities, especially in the context of EU cooperation on coast guard functions" said Pascal Savouret, EFCA Executive Director

European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičiusis visited EFCA´s headquarters in Vigo and meet the new Executive Director, Dr. Susan Steele. 

EFCA promotes the highest common standards for control under the Common Fisheries Policy, assisting Commissioner Sinkevičius with his mandate of contributing to the European Green Deal.

This day also marked the start of an exciting new chapter and a new voyage for the agency—the arrival of the new vessel means doubling the seagoing assets.

 

 

The Administrative Board adopted the Single Programming Document (SPD), which contains the Multiannual work programme 2022- 2026 and the EFCA´s work programme for year 2022, and elected its Deputy Chair, Mr Yiannos Kyriacou, during its 37th meeting, which was held online for the fourth time.

This document provides a wide-ranging overview of the objectives and activities of the EFCA for next year and on that basis, the allocation of resources granted by the European Union to the agency. The activities planned by the Agency span from the operational coordination of fisheries control across the EU, to tasks relating to the international obligations of the Union, from the assistance to Member States to improve the culture of compliance with the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), to the European Cooperation on Coast Guard function.

EFCA’s work also supports the EU in the international dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy, ensuring the compliance to the international provisions, the assistance to the implementation of the Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) Regulation and the direct cooperation with third countries, when requested.

The budget for 2022 adopted by the Administrative Board is of EUR 35,6 million. For 2022, EFCA has received additional resources which will provide the Agency with the necessary operational capacity for assisting the Member States and the European Commission in the monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries as required by CFP, including the measures entailed by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the UK. In addition, this work programme also includes the projects assigned to EFCA by DG MARE and subsidised by grants under the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).

Through all these activities, EFCA helps achieving the environmental and socio-economic objectives of the CFP. These activities are now also firmly embedded in the European Green Deal through their contribution to sustainable food systems and safeguarding biodiversity as well as by contributing to a Sustainable Blue Economy.

“The Agency has a pivotal role in fostering close cooperation between EU Member States, in the framework of the Monitoring, Control and Surveillance measures of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), contributing to a culture of compliance by fostering an efficient and uniform implementation of the rules”, said Susan Steele, EFCA Executive Director, who was for the first time participating in an Administrative Board meeting since she took office on 1 September 2021.

 

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.

The Administrative Board is the governing and controlling body of EFCA. It is composed of six members of the European Commission and one representative per Member State. The Administrative Board holds a meeting at least once a year.

From 20 to 25 November 2021, in the framework of the EU-funded Programme PESCAO, EFCA supported the joint control operation “Seydouba Camara” organised by the Subregional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), a regional fisheries body based in Dakar (Senegal) that brings together 7 Western African countries[1] to enhance the sustainable management of fisheries resources in the area.

The operation covered the waters of Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, and Sierra Leone, with the SRFC coordination centre established in Conakry (Guinea). The operation counted also on the Senegalese Navy vessel “Fouladou”, with fisheries inspectors from the three partaking countries on board, and local patrol vessels. EFCA experts participated remotely, given the current circumstances related to the covid-19 pandemic, and provided analysis and cross-checking of VMS/AIS[2] data and satellite imagery.

“Seydouba Camara” is the 9th joint operation carried out under the framework of the EU-funded PESCAO programme, to which EFCA participates providing technical assistance to the Subregional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) and the Ghana-based Fisheries Committee of the West and Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), and their Member States.

The PESCAO programme aims, amongst other objectives, at improving regional fisheries governance in Western Africa to fight illegal fishing, to maintain healthy fish stocks in a region of the world where fishing remains one of the main sources of protein and livelihoods.

“SRFC joint fisheries control operation “Seydouba Camara” in Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry and Sierra Leone was a real success. EFCA is proud of having contributed to this SRFC joint operation aiming at deterring illegal fishing, in spite of the covid-19 pandemic context” said Susan Steele, EFCA Executive Director.

[1] Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

[2] VMS: Vessel Monitoring System; AIS: Automated Identification System.

A new 5-year independent external evaluation of the European Fisheries Control Agency for the years 2017-2021 commenced on 26 November.

The evaluation will be conducted in line with the Evaluation Mandate and its Terms of Reference.

The key to the success of this evaluation is ensuring comprehensive feedback from all stakeholders to the benefit of EFCA´s whole community, therefore we would appreciate your involvement if you are contacted by the external evaluator.

Over the next weeks and months, the evaluation will define the focus of the study (inception phase).

There will then be a stakeholder feedback exercise involving all relevant stakeholder groups of EFCA.

​​​​​​​An evaluation Steering Committee (ESC) has been appointed by the Administrative Board to support and monitor the work of the Evaluator. The Committee comprises of 7 members:

• 1 Commission Representatives
• 2 Representatives of Member States
• 3 EFCA Representatives
• 1 Project Manager

The evaluation will conclude with final recommendations for the Administrative Boarding on the future work of EFCA. Both the recommendations and the external study will be made public​​​​​​​.