The Community Fisheries Control Agency has organised the third annual seminar evaluating its operational activities. Whilst, in its first eddition, the issues debated revolved around best practices and guidelines for the future and, in the second one, around developing the concept of regional control areas, the third seminar aims focuses on the assessment of the effectiveness of the joint deployment plans. From 27 to 29 June, around 40 representatives of all EU Member States, the European Commission and the Member States have analysed how to become more effective. This event served also as the public farewell of the first CFCA Executive Director, Harm Koster, who approaches the end of its mandate.
Harm Koster is positive about the work done in the Agency from its launching under its responsibility. “In 2006 we started with three persons in Brussels and now there is a team of about 60 persons of which 53 employees and the rest contractual agents and national coordinators all based in Vigo. The work of the Agency is well recognised and has made a succesful contribution notably in important fisheries such as cod in the Baltic Sea, and bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic,“ said Koster. “In its short life, the Agency has been able to facilitate strong leverage of Member State inspection means enabling inspection practices and operations to become more cost-effective by promoting a rational and complementary joint deployment of resources. It has made an important contribution to Member States´ enhanced operational cooperation and to demonstrably better compliance in several areas.”
The focus of the seminar has been to assess the effectiveness of the joint deployment plans (JDPs). The JDPs are the main tool at European Union level to ensure operational coordination of the control and inspection activities by the Member States (MS). In organising the best use of human and material resources pooled by MS under JDP’s in a coordinated way, European added-value has been generated when compared with stand-alone Member States operations, namely by promoting uniformity and effectiveness of control, increased transparency of the control activities, level playing field for fishing industry and cost-effective use of national control resources.
In assessing the effectiveness of the JDPs, the Member States representatives have analysed the full cycle of the JDP assessment, the measurement of the impact of the JDPs, the stock status and its cost effectiveness.