The North Western Waters Regional Advisory Council (NWWRAC) will hold its next Executive Committee meeting in Paris the 21st of April where a number of key issues such as the review of the Common Fisheries Policy, the reform of the control policy or the marine spatial planning will be discussed with representatives of the EU Commission, national administrations from the Member States and the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES).
Furthermore, a number of own initiatives are expected to be put forward to improve management of stocks such as West of Scotland haddock, nephrops in VII, scallops in the Channel and Celtic Sea cod.
The NWWRAC is the principal stakeholder group, incorporating representatives from the fishing industry and environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s), consumers and other interested parties. The NWWRAC is consulted by the EU Commission and ICES on all matters relevant to the North West Waters, and it is expected that there will be lively debate at this meeting.
The Chairman of the NWWRAC, Sam Lambourn, stated that he is looking forward to the meeting and hopes that it will help deliver on a number of issues in particular an agreed way forward on a response to the Commission’s proposed reform of Control and Enforcement: “This policy is very important to the fishing industry as it could have very serious ramifications; the RACs need to provide advice now which will ensure practical and fair implementation of this policy,” he said.
Mr. Lambourn is also anticipating an update on where the Commission are at with the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), adding: “I hope, by the time the meeting is held, that the Commission will have issued its proposals for the reform of the CFP so that we can kick-off our discussions on this matter.”
The meeting will commence at 10am and will run until 5pm on 21st April in the CNPMEM headquarters in Paris and all stakeholders with an interest in fisheries management in area VI and VII are welcome to attend. All relevant information for the meeting can be obtained by contacting the NWWRAC Secretariat at nwwrac@bim.ie or visiting www.nwwrac.org
