NGOs urgent request to the Swedish Presidency on the EU’s fisheries control system

ClientEarth, the Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana, Our Fish, Sciaena, Seas at Risk, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation,  The Fisheries Secretariat, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF have sent a letter to Swedish Minister for Rural Affairs, Peter Kullgren, asking them to ensure trilogue discussions conclude with an ambitious agreement that future-proofs the EU’s fisheries control regulatory framework, without any backtracking or weakening of current control rules. We call on the Swedish Presidency to:

1. Ensure that all quantities of each fish species caught are recorded, without expanding the margin of error allowed (the margin of tolerance) when fishing operators estimate their catches.
2. Ensure full digital traceability of all fish and seafood products entering the EU supply chain without exemptions, including processed and preserved products.
3. Extend mandatory vessel tracking systems for all fishing vessels.
4. Make the installation of remote electronic monitoring (REM) systems – in particular CCTV cameras – mandatory on all fishing vessels over 12 metres in length and on those under 12 metres that are deemed either at risk of breaching the rules of the Regulation or likely to be complicit in the bycatch of sensitive species.

The ongoing trilogue negotiations provide the opportunity to establish the EU’s fisheries control framework for years to come. It must therefore ensure that EU fisheries will be properly and sustainably managed with the aim of minimising environmental impacts of fishing activities, ensuring food security, and creating climate-resilient and healthy marine ecosystems.