Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added113. Calls on the Commission and Member States to endeavour to ensure that every programme and actions aimed at attracting young people to the fishing sector carried out under the CFP must contribute to achieving gender equality;

AddedExternal dimension of the CFP and oceans’ governance

Added114. Calls on the Commission to invest more effort in promoting the CFP as a policy model for ocean governance, by using the EU’s position in RFMOs, free trade agreements and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements, and more generally in international forums; stresses that this will be essential to ensure fair competition for EU operators and to defend the interests of the EU’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors at a global level;

Added115. Calls on the Commission to monitor the distribution of the EU’s financial contributions, ensuring that these are allocated to the fisheries and aquaculture sectors;

Added116. Calls for the role of RFMOs to be strengthened and calls on the Commission to propose a general framework for the negotiating mandates for participation in these organisations; further calls on the Commission to ensure Parliament’s involvement at the earliest stages of the drafting of measures and recommendations for adoption within RFMOs, in a manner that does not undermine the EU’s negotiating position;

Added117. Considers that there should be no ocean area and relevant fisheries resource that is not covered by the relevant RFMO; calls on the Commission to promote the creation of new RFMOs, where necessary, as well as the adaptation of existing ones, in international forums, to improve the protection of fish stocks and the sustainable management of fishery resources and to defend the sustainable activities of the fleets operating in these areas;

Added118. Points out that SFPAs with non-EU countries provide mutual benefits both to the EU and to partner countries; underlines that recent SFPAs include human rights clauses and integrate the needs of local populations;

Added119. Considers it imperative that the Commission fully respects all aspects of international law when engaging in the external dimension of the CFP;

Added120. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the CFP objectives are fully integrated into the EU position in all international environmental forums, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), where questions relating to marine biological resources are discussed;

AddedImports and trade and Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing

Added121. Considers that imported aquatic food products must be subject to rigorous monitoring and certification procedures, to ensure they come from sustainable fisheries, and to high health, environmental and social standards, that are as strict as those applied to EU products; is of the view that this should be required by means of specific clauses in the new trade agreements negotiated by the EU;

Added122. Points out that the traceability system for fresh, frozen and processed aquatic food products imported into the Union, including for tuna loins imported under the autonomous tariff quotas’ (ATQs) regime, is essential, in order to meet consumers' expectations through information with a view to improving food safety and allowing checks on third-country imports, alongside measures to fight against IUU fishing; calls for a more harmonised approach in the EU in relation to the implementation of IUU-related EU-legislation;

Added123. Recalls that the EU is the largest and most attractive import market for seafood and aquaculture products; calls for this position of commercial strength to be leveraged to protect the interests of EU consumers in promoting high standards and of the EU sectors, to prevent its partners from reneging on agreements or commitments and to foster a level playing field at international level, in particular on social, economic and environmental standards;

Added124. Welcomes the fact that the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement incorporates a direct link between trade and fisheries provisions; calls on the Commission and the Council to ensure that fisheries negotiations with the UK as well as with other coastal states in the North-East Atlantic are also linked to issues pertaining to trade and access to the EU single market;

Added125. Underlines the importance of the EU’s zero-tolerance policy regarding IUU fishing, in the light of it still being an occurrence on the international level including examples ranging from a lack of transparency on illegal fishing operations to modern slavery, as in the case of some Chinese vessels, and regrets that unauthorised seafood continues to be sold on a number of EU markets;

Added126. Points out that the Commission and the Member States must redouble their efforts to tackle IUU fishing and ensure that seafood consumption in the EU does not contribute to it;

Added127. Calls on the Commission to strengthen the EFCA's role to fight IUU fishing;

Added128. Calls for all free trade agreements with third countries to include a section on tackling IUU fishing;

Outermost regions

Change 19

Removed38. Considers that the CFP does not sufficiently address the specific needs of the outermost regions;

Added129. Considers that some aspects of the CFP do not sufficiently address the specific needs of the outermost regions; calls on the Commission and the concerned Member States to address this situation on the basis of Article 349 TFEU and through a regionalised approach, as enshrined in the CFP, and, where necessary, to make the adjustments needed;

Change 20

Changed39.130. CallsPoints to the specific features of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the outermost regions; calls on the Commission to propose a programme of options specifically relating to remoteness and insularity (POSEI) for fisheries and aquaculture, similar to that of agriculture;

Change 21

Changed40.131. Stresses that EU and national support for the renewal of the artisanal fleets is of vital importance for these regions; calls on the Commission, in particular, to adapt its guidelines for the analysis of the balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities (COM(2014)0545) to the characteristics of the outermost regions;

Change 22

Removed41. Insists on the need to support selective fishing methods, such as anchored fish aggregating devices used by artisanal fleets in the outermost regions;

Added132. Underlines the importance of carrying out robust studies to assess the marine biological resources in all Union waters and, in particular, in the outermost regions;

Removed42. Stresses the need to provide the necessary resources to improve scientific knowledge of the outermost regions’ exclusive economic zones;

Added133. Insists on the need to support selective fishing methods, such as anchored fish aggregating devices used by artisanal fleets in the ORs, provided that such devices contribute to sustainable and selective fishing;

RemovedClimate change

Added134. Stresses the need to provide the necessary resources to improve scientific knowledge of the ORs’ exclusive economic zones;

Removed43. Stresses that mitigation and adaptation are key in the CFP to address the climate change challenge;

AddedClimate change and other challenges for the future

Removed44. Highlights the need for more resilient ecosystems and more resilient economic fishing sectors;

Added135. Stresses that climate change mitigation and adaptation are key challenges that are insufficiently tackled by the current CFP;

Removed45. Encourages the Commission and Member States to increase human and financial resources to fisheries science related to climate change;

Added136. Stresses that the efforts made by the fishing industry to improve the stocks’ sustainability and to commit to keeping them in good condition once a good status is reached will be meaningless if climate change is not addressed;

Removed46. Calls on the Commission to design tools and funding opportunities for the sectors affected by climate change;

Added137. Strongly emphasises the need for scientific research to focus more on the interactions between environmental changes due to climate change and fish stocks, in order to avoid blaming the depletion of stocks solely on the fishing industry;

Added138. Stresses that fishers and the rest of the seafood chain are not a cause of climate change but rather victims of it;

Added139. Considers that the aquaculture sector is capable of providing a consistent contribution to ecosystem services for society, and that pond aquaculture, algae and shellfish farming can contribute to decarbonising the EU economy and mitigating climate change; stresses, however, that carbon sequestration by algae and shellfish farming is limited depending on the production method and use when the product is harvested; calls on Member States to promote efficient short supply chains, where appropriate, with a view to contributing to combating climate change;

Added140. Points out that certain aquaculture practices, such as mussel or oyster farming and pond polyculture, can be successful models for future emissions credit systems, in the context of EU climate legislation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support this type of green business;

Added141. Calls on the Member States to continue encouraging the promotion of algae farming and facilitate the use and development of algae as food and feed; highlights that there is untapped potential in algae farming for creating new jobs and providing ecosystem services and more environmentally friendly food and feed;

Added142. Calls on the European Commission to take into account, when revising the Common Fisheries Policy, that the ocean’s characteristics (temperature, density, salinity, oxygen saturation, etc.) have changed over the last 10 years;

Added143. Highlights the need for more resilient ecosystems through connected and effectively managed marine protected areas, as a basis for resilient and profitable economic fishing sectors;

Added144. Stresses that, for fisheries, resilience to climate change is achieved through diversified fishing zones and targeted species;

Added145. Encourages the Commission and the Member States to increase human and financial resources to fisheries science related to climate change and decarbonising the fleet, analysing the impact of climate change on the state of fisheries and its environment;

Added146. Calls for innovation in monitoring the impact of climate change on stocks in the framework of a close collaboration between the scientific community and stakeholders, in order to increase the reactivity and to develop adapted management tools;

Added147. Calls on the Commission to design tools and sufficient funding for the sectors affected by climate change;

Added148. Calls on the Commission, in order to promote the circular economy in the fisheries sector, to set up European programmes for fishers to collect litter at sea, if they are able to do so, during periods when they are unable to go fishing, and thereby supplement their income;

Added149. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address and follow up on all provisions of the CFP that have not been implemented;

AddedRecreational fisheries

Added150. Stresses the urgency and need to improve the collection of data from recreational fisheries catches; urges the Commission and the Member States to include in the European Data Collection Framework, Regulation (EU) 2017/1004, all species subject to TACs and quotas, in addition to those included in multi-annual management plans (MAPs) and under the landing obligation;

Added151. Stresses the need for data to assess the impact of EU recreational fisheries on the marine ecosystem and marine biological resources in EU waters, including data on by-catch, in particular species protected under EU or international law, data on impacts of recreational fisheries on marine habitats, including vulnerable marine areas, and data on impacts of fisheries on food webs;

Added152. Underlines that recreational fishing could be having a significant impact on fish stocks; welcomes the progress made in the revision of the Fisheries Control Regulation and calls on Member States to ensure that recreational fisheries are conducted in a manner that is compatible with the objectives of the CFP;

AddedAquaculture

Added153. Recalls the importance of aquaculture to guarantee long-term food security and contribute to meeting the growing world demand for aquatic food, as well its contribution to create growth and employment for EU citizens, to better preserving ecosystems and biodiversity and be part of a more circular management of resources;

Added154. Stresses that farmed seafood, as a source of protein for food has a lower-carbon footprint and required the least use of natural resources that other terrestrial livestock, and has an important role to play in helping to build a sustainable food system;

Added155. Recognises the role of the strategic guidelines and the Multiannual National Strategic Plans for the development of a sustainable and resilient aquaculture;

Added156. Regrets that since 2014 European aquaculture has been stagnant and limited progress has been made in reducing the administrative burden and integrating aquaculture into maritime, coastal, and inland spatial planning;

Added157. Underlines that European aquaculture is far from reaching its full capacity and that the EU import dependence rate is very high since almost 75 % of the total seafood that is consumed in the EU is imported from third countries;

Added158. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote the growth of low environmental-impact aquaculture, which includes not only mollusc and algae but also freshwater and marine finfish farming, rather than promoting the growth of low-trophic aquaculture; stresses in particular the importance of finfish production in the supply of the EU market, due to the scale of the imported tonnages involved (94 % in 2021);