A joint statement on capacity management within the global fishing industry was recently signed at a two-day conference in Greece.
Opened on March 13 by Greece's deputy prime minister and foreign minister Evangelos Venizelos, the conference featured presentations and keynotes from Greece's Minister of rural Development and Food, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, and Pierre-Yves Cousteau, founder of Cousteau Divers and goodwill ambassador of the International Union for Conservation.
The two day event concluded with the signing of the joint statement on capacity management by the European Union and the United States, as well as Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, and Colombia.
The signing of the joint statement comes following the recent reform of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, which seeks to eradicate what is remaining of overcapacity in the European fleet. It also hopes to ensure sure that when EU vessels fish in the rest of the world, the vessels only fish within scientifically safe margins and only after the food needs of the local populations have been covered.
