Seafood industry organisations have reiterated their shared call for the development of an EU Action Plan for Blue Foods, building on the momentum generated by the recent Ocean Pact.
Representatives from the European Bureau for Conservation and Development (EBCD) and the EU Seafood Alliance – composed of EAPO, Europêche, FEAP, and Seafood Europe (former AIPCE.CEP) – met with the cabinet of the Commissioner for Cohesions and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto, to discuss the urgent need for fisheries and aquaculture — key providers of healthy, low-carbon, and nutritious food — to be recognised as strategic sectors within the EU’s food systems framework.
‘The Commission linked agriculture and food in its Vision for Food and Agriculture 2040; the same ambition must now be applied to fisheries and aquaculture through a Blue Food Action Plan embedded in the Vision for Fisheries and Aquaculture 2040,’ the group stated.
The Alliance representatives stressed the importance of promoting competitiveness through simplification of administrative procedures and a genuine level playing field, attracting young people to the fishing and aquaculture sectors through targeted investment allowing for modernisation and innovation, and strengthening policy cohesion and coherence across legislation impacting food systems and blue economy.
Positioning blue food products as strategic to Europe’s food security, climate and biodiversity goals, and rural and coastal development is seen as a key issue. EBCD and the EU Seafood Alliance state that many challenges could be unlocked through a comprehensive EU Action Plan on Blue Foods, which would support innovation, research, investment, and the decarbonisation of the seafood value chain, arguing that such an initiative would ensure that the EU becomes a global leader in sustainable food systems and aligns with its commitments under the Ocean Pact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Today the associations within the EU Seafood Alliance represent 15 National Associations from nine Member States and two Third countries (UK, Norway), and account for more than 3,900 enterprises and 128,000 persons (more than 80% representation at EU level). The value of the output of the industry represented by AIPCE.CEP amounts to around €34 billion.
The delegation meeting Commissioner Fito’s cabinet included Despina Symons (EBCD), Esben Sverdrup-Jensen (EAPO), Anne-France Mattlet (Europêche), Szilvia Mihálffy (FEAP), and Katarina Sipic (Seafood Europe – AIPCE.CEP)
