Commissioner Joe Borg and the Chairman of the State Committee for Fisheries of the Russian Federation, Mr Andrey Krainiy, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on dialogue on fisheries. The aim of this memorandum is to facilitate communication on fisheries issues between the two parties, build trust and understanding, and strengthen their mutual cooperation. Commissioner Borg commented: “I warmly welcome this new step in our working relationship. Our Russian colleagues fully share our commitment towards sustainable fisheries and the fight against illegal fishing throughout the world. I trust that today’s agreement will form the basis for new avenues in our cooperation and will help to break down any barriers or misunderstandings.” The EU and Russia have a long history of cooperation in fisheries, in particular in the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. The memorandum sets up a framework for closer contacts between the European Commission and the State Committee, to improve the information flow related to conservation, management of fish stocks, trade in fisheries products and the different aspects of policy making; to enhance cooperation in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU); to improve coordination of the EU and Russian positions in international fisheries organisations such as the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) and the North-west Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) and to enhance scientific cooperation. The memorandum of understanding is part of a wider process of improving EU-Russian contacts, which was agreed at the EC-Russia summit in 2005. Similar memoranda have been signed in other policy areas.
