Fishers of the Future closing event takes place Tuesday 14 January 2025, 10:00 - 12:00, in Brussels and online.
Photo: European Commission
On Tuesday 14 January the European Commission will play host to the "Fishers of the Future: towards 2050" event, focusing on the likely future changes to the profession, role and identity of the fishing sector during the next decades.
The event, which is also available to attend online, marks the close of the Fishers of the Future Foresight Study, launched by the European Commission in 2023, with the aim of sharing the results of the study with stakeholders and relevant target audiences.
The EU-wide participatory study was led by Tetra Tech and partners and a network of country experts covering 22 coastal Member States and outermost regions, exploring "who fishers are, what drives them now and what may drive them in the future".
The study considered these questions alongside the developing challenges of climate change, generational renewal, marine pollution, and competition for access to maritime space, among other factors, and produced four hypothetical scenarios for the future, as well as future profiles of fishing professionals.
Costas Kadis, the new European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, will open the event, with the project results presented by Tetratech's Macarena Davies, who is the lead coordinator of the consortium for the Fishers of the Future study.
This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring various representatives from European fisheries organizations, including Stylianos Mitolidis, Director of Fisheries Policy for the Mediterranean and Black Sea in the European Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), Cor Blonk, Chair of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee (SSDC) for Fisheries, Sergio Lopez, Chair of the South West Waters Advisory Council, and Emiel Brouckaert, Chair of the North Western Waters Advisory Council.
The event will be concluded by Stephen Davies, Advisor, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE).
More details and registration information are available here.
