In a letter to the European institutions, the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) and the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA) have requested explicit mention of recreational fisheries in the CFP.
The recreational fishers have requested full โsectorโ recognition under the CFP, which would give them the same status as commercial fisheries and aquaculture. This would also bring the EU into line with the USA. Moreover, an explicit mention in the CFP of their sector would most likely improve access to the fisheries fund.
They argue that explicit recognition in the CFP would help to ensure management coherence for stocks such as salmon, which cross between rivers and the sea. This could represent a change in the way that open sea and coastal salmon fisheries are managed. A particular problem is mixed fisheries, which exploit a significant number of salmon from two or more rivers. In these cases, the anglers recommend that specific measures for mixed stock salmon fisheries are taken to ensure that no individual stock is exploited unsustainably.