Unhappy with no mention in the proposal for the new European Fisheries Fund
Yesterday, 18 May the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) and the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association delivered a letter of concern to the European Council.
The Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries will meet in Brussels Monday 22 May. They are set to reach a political agreement on a Regulation that will establish the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) from 2007-2013.
Recreational angling or sportfishing has no mention at all on any of the Regulation’s 86 pages.
For years we have been informing the EU that there are recreational fishermen as well as commercial fishermen in the community. However, the EU continues to treat Europe’s 25 million recreational anglers as an inferior group that ‘fish for fun’.
What continues to be overlooked is the economic value and numbers of jobs that recreational angling generates. In many countries in the EU recreational angling is of higher economic value and creates more jobs than commercial fishing. Despite this the EU’s fisheries policies and funding programmes continue to shy away from any mention of the recreational angling sector.
Recreational anglers, sportfishermen and recreational fisheries are rarely used terms in the EU vocabulary.The EU could learn a great deal from the US, Canada and Australia where recreational fishing is a sector with its own identity and given an importance equal to commercial fisheries.
We are convinced from reading the European Fisheries Fund proposal that recreational angling is not excluded in benefiting from EFF funding programmes. However, to avoid any confusion in the future we urge ministers to make sure that recreational angling and its dependant industries is included in the final text.
