The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to exchange knowledge and information.
Thus, the cooperation between EFCA and EEA will improve the coordination and implementation of their commitments and ensure joint activities. Some of the areas of the MoU are the marine protected areas (MPAs), restricted fishing areas (RFAs), risk assessment, zero pollution, and marine litter. Furthermore, the MoU also wants to do some operational pilot projects around that issues.
It is not their first step. The Commission made public the Pact for Fisheries and Oceans for sustainable fisheries management months ago, but the importance of this MoU is the clear concern of the UE to improve their environmental skills.
Fishing and aquaculture play an important role in the economy and employment in coastal regions. However, it is not only their economic and social aspects that are significant but also their environmental ones.
Based on these principles, EFCA was one of the forerunners of the European Green Deal and its related strategies.
The Pact would be based around the following principles of transparency, full compliance with existing rules, a framework to support the sector, improved governance with closer links to other policy areas, and a forward-approach thanks to research and innovation.
