Elements with tag safety at sea
‘A fisher’s life, a fisher’s future’ has been the motto of the international conference organised by the Fishing Industry Safety and Health (FISH) Platform last week in Thailand. The FISH Platform is a world leading group of experts involved in safety and health in the fishing industry. Globally, most commercial fishers are located in the Southeast Asian region, characterised by a low level of ratification of international conventions aimed at protecting fishers’ health, safety and working conditions. The Platform considered it about time for public authorities, experts, employers and workers to come together to share experiences in the implementation of such conventions, social dialogue, and to jointly push for the sustainable management of the fishing industry. Europêche has joined the call.
The title perfectly summarises the message unanimously given by governments during the Ministerial Conference on Fishing Vessel Safety and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, organized by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the Government of Spain in Torremolinos this week. The Conference aims to promote the widespread adoption of the Cape Town Agreement (CTA), a key IMO treaty for safety of fishing vessels, which so far has not entered into force due to low ratification levels1. Thanks to the recent accession of Spain and the boost provided by the Conference, nearly 50 countries signed a Declaration to enhance safety at sea by promoting the entry into force of the CTA and combating IUU fishing.
As part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been given a prominent role to regulate and discipline global fisheries subsidies. The main goal is to eliminate IUU1 subsidies and prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing by 2020. In order to speed up the complex intergovernmental negotiations, a High Level Event on Trade, Climate Change and Oceans Economy took place in Geneva this week, where Europêche presented the huge progress made in Europe, to eliminate harmful subsidies and secure the sustainable and responsible management of fisheries resources.
The Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament has voted yesterday on the new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) that will cover the budgetary period 2021-2027. Europêche appreciates the strong stand of the Parliament against the 5% budgetary cut proposed by the European Commission to compensate for the upcoming Brexit gap in the EU budget. The Parliament has called instead for a 10% budget increase (total envelope of €7.74 billion in current prices) compared to the Commission’s proposal to face the many upcoming challenges for the sector. Furthermore, Europêche welcomes the efforts made by the Committee to deliver their position on the new fund before the end of the current legislative term to avoid any delays as well as their focus on the socio-economic sustainability of the fishing fleet.
The European fishing sector, represented by a consortium of fisheries organisations, together with the Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Mr Millán Mon, co-hosted a successful reception yesterday evening in the European Parliament. The event brought together a wide range of fisheries stakeholders, including representatives of EU Institutions, industry and civil society with the aim to present and disseminate the results of the EU project called ‘SAFEFISHING’, aimed at promoting best safety practices at work and reducing the accident rate in the fishing sector.
Yesterday, 28 February 2017, during a seminar organised by the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) in the framework of the European Shipping Week, Thierry Coquil, Director for Maritime Affairs in the French administration, delivered a message of the French Secretary of State for Transport Alain Vidalies, which also included concerns on fisheries.
At the Plenary session held on 4th November 2016, the EU Social Partners in the fisheries sector* had a positive meeting with Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, to discuss the many pressing issues facing the fishing sector; particularly concerning safety, health and working conditions at sea.
Today, the Council of the EU approved a Directive regulating working conditions in the fisheries sector, following a long-standing request from the EU Social Partners (the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), Europêche* and Cogeca).
The new joint project of the European social partners for sea fisheries (Europêche and ETF) has kicked off today in Amsterdam. Following a selection process, Europêche and ETF will count with the participation of specialists to develop a wide range of studies for a safer, healthier and more worker-friendly fisheries sector in Europe and worldwide. The action will focus on trade measures to combat forced labour, develop guidelines on recruitment of migrant fishers, develop a training programme for medical examination of fishers and update a mobile app to facilitate communication on fishing vessels (FisherySpeak).