Brussels to simplify EU fisheries and aquaculture statistics

According to the Commission, its proposal will replace five existing sets of rules with a single, simplified and integrated system that will reduce the reporting burden on EU member states.

It will enable the reuse of administrative data already collected by the European Commission for the compilation of European official statistics on fisheries and aquaculture. This, it said, will allow Eurostat to produce statistics on catches and the Union fishing fleet without requiring additional reporting from member states, thus eliminating duplication and saving time and resources.

The proposal also introduces for the first time the collection of data on discarded catches, recreational fisheries, sensitive species, landings from third-country fleets in EU ports, and organic aquaculture production. The new data structure will also allow for more aggregated figures to be produced and transmitted to international organisations, to promote global cooperation.

“With this proposal the process of data collection on fisheries and aquaculture across the EU will be simplified and the statistics will be made more accessible and usable by everyone. By smartly reusing existing data, we are ensuring that EU policies are better informed and more efficient to support sustainable prosperity,” EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification Valdis Dombrovskis said.

EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis commented: “This proposal will not only improve the quality and availability of fisheries and aquaculture data but also reduce the administrative burden on member states. It will allow us to make more informed decisions and support the long-term sustainability of our fisheries more efficiently.”