Conference on sustainable EU fisheries

On 8-9 November, the Fisheries Secretariat and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) held a conference in the European Parliament on Sustainable EU fisheries – facing the environmental challenges.

Under the patronage of the Dutch Presidency of the Council, the Fisheries Secretariat and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) held a high level conference in the European Parliament on 8 and 9 November 2004. The aim of the conference was to discuss the environmental challenges facing the EU fisheries sector and ways to overcome these. The conference brought together over 100 experts from Europe and further afield, to discuss and identify ways of putting the EU on track to meet its international commitments.

Five discussion papers focusing on key issues were developed to support discussions during the conference (PDF files):

1. State of Europe’s regional seas
2. Production of fish
3. Consumption and trade
4. Policy instruments
5. Governance

Conference programme and presentations:

• Conference Programme
• Opening address by Chris Davies, MEP, Liberal Democrat Party, UK
• Opening address by Rob van Lint, Director, Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur beheer en Visserij, The Netherlands
• Opening address by Francesc J. Subirats i Martí, President, GIROPESCA, Spain
• Key note address: EU policy – past and present efforts to achieve sustainable fisheries by Jörgen Holmquist, Director-General, DG Fisheries
• Key note address 1: State of the marine environment by Rainer Froese, Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften
• Key note address 2: Social implications of an environmentally sustainable fisheries sector by Serge Collét Senior Researcher, University of Hamburg
• Key note address Production by Lutz S. Asbeck, Managing Director, Unilever Frozen Fish International
• Key note address Governance by David Symes, University of Hull, UK
• Key note address Instruments by Anthony Cox, OECD
• Key note address Consumption & Trade by Rupert Howes, CEO, MSC
• Group session on Production – presentation by Peter Tyedmers,
• Group session on Governance – presentation by Douglas Wilson, IFM
• Group session on Instruments – presentation by Dirk Reyntjens, IEEP
• Group session on Consumption & trade – presentation by James Brown, IEEP & Mahfuzuddin Ahmed, World Fish Center