The European Commission is making it easier for fishermen and Member States to comply with EU rules, by adopting new, simpler rules for data collection in the fisheries sector for the period 2017-2020.

The new streamlined rules will also pave the way for gathering more and better data to help close persistent gaps in our knowledge about fish stocks. They will give scientists and decision-makers a better idea of how fisheries are affecting marine and maritime ecosystems, while also providing more data on the Mediterranean and long distance fisheries.

The EC says that reliable fisheries data are needed to assess the health of fish stocks and the marine environment and meet the EU's objective of ensuring sustainable fisheries by 2020 at the latest.

Fisheries data are collected in a number of ways: in ports or at sea by observers onboard commercial fishing vessels; through scientific surveys at sea to locate and follow fish stocks; by compiling control data from logbooks, sales notes and satellite data; and through socio-economic surveys of the fisheries, aquaculture and processing sectors.

The European Commission proposed to simplify the current data collection rules in June last year. This proposal is currently being discussed in the European Parliament and the Council. The rules adopted this week will ensure that systematic and consistent data collection continues in the meantime.

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