Pelagic Fisheries
Last week, the closing conference ‘From Waves to Wisdom: Empowering Fishers through Sustainable Fisheries Training’ took place in Brussels. This conference was the closing event of the Catching the Potential project, and was hosted by MEP Isabel Carvalhais.
The project Catching the Potential is a cooperative effort of the fishing sector and educators to develop and implement an effective, international standard for sustainable fishing training for fishers. It played a central role in defining a training standard for sustainable fisheries and advocating its integration into the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW-F).
The closing conference brought again together relevant experts, stakeholders and policymakers to discuss the critical role of sustainable fisheries training in enhancing the interaction between fishing activities and the marine ecosystem. Participants received clear calls from MEP Isabel Carvalhais, who called for a solid training framework for sustainable fisheries within the European Union. Furthermore, DG MARE also highlighted the important role of training in promoting sustainable fisheries and improving the interaction between fisheries and the marine ecosystem.
In addition to many interesting speakers, PFA Secretary of Labour Affairs and Chair of the European Social Dialogue Committee, Cor Blonk, also had the chance to shine his light on the importance of standardised sustainable fisheries training:
“Free movement of people and labour is one of the EU’s fundamental rights, but fishers are limited in this by the lack of mutual recognition of Certificates of Competency and training certificates. It is up to the European Commission to transpose the revised STCW-F into an EU Directive and for EU Member States to mandate the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to carry out mutual recognition inspections on behalf of EU Member States.”
We are pleased to inform you that all insights, messages and urgent appeals from stakeholders have resulted in a reference resolution. This resolution calls to address the importance of new skills and knowledge needed for maritime professionals in a changing Blue Economy. The job of fishing is different from ten years ago. Fishing professionals now need knowledge and skills on people, planet, and profit to be sustainable entrepreneurs and provide a healthy important food source for current and next generations. With this resolution the partners of the CTP project share the importance of sustainable fisheries training for all fishers.
You can find the full resolution here.
The Catching the Potential consortium members CEFCM, CETMAR, Enaleia, BBZ am NOK, DRP, Novikontas, BIM, PFA, Europêche and ProSea
You can find here the Europêche press release: Conference on Sustainable Fisheries Training Charts International Milestone (chil.me)
Date Posted: 28th September 2023