The challenges faced in the Mediterranean are shared and require a collective response with fishers at the centre, EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, said on Tuesday regarding a high-level meeting Mediterranean fisheries, taking place in Nicosia.
Cyprus, as an island EU Member State in the Eastern Mediterranean, can play a substantial role in strengthening regional cooperation, said the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Maria Panayiotou.
In statements to the press following the informal Council of Fisheries Ministers and before the start of the high-level meeting, Kadis and Panayiotou highlighted the importance of cooperation in addressing the challenges facing the sector in the Mediterranean. Representatives of Mediterranean EU Member States, as well as representatives from third countries in the region, are participating in the meeting.
The meeting, Kadis said, would lead to the preparation and adoption of a new ministerial declaration, which is expected in 2027, under the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union, to set the course for the next decade.
He noted that the conference is taking place at a ‘critical crossroads’. He said that since 2017, when a similar summit was held in Malta and resulted in the ‘MedFish4Ever’ declaration, ‘a milestone for fisheries in the Mediterranean’, half of Mediterranean fish stocks have shown signs of recovery. ‘However, overexploitation and pressure on ecosystems remain serious challenges’, Kadis said. Therefore, he said, ‘today’s conference must be a turning point’.
‘It is time to strengthen our action in the Mediterranean, accelerate stock recovery, tackle illegal fishing, and enhance aquaculture, which is also part of the solution by complementing natural stocks,’ he added.
‘The challenges we face in the Mediterranean are common and require a joint response with fishers at the centre’, Kadis said. ‘We believe that through cooperation we can achieve positive results, and this meeting aims precisely at that, to promote cooperation among all countries of the Mediterranean region,’ he noted.
Panayiotou said that the high-level meeting on fisheries in the Mediterranean aims to prepare a new ‘MedFish4Ever’ declaration within the framework of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, which was adopted in 2017.
This declaration, she said, will aim to reaffirm the commitment of Mediterranean countries to continue efforts to improve fisheries management, combat illegal fishing, and strengthen the protection of coastal areas.
‘This discussion highlights the importance of a regional approach within the framework of the Common Fisheries Policy, particularly in a sea with the specific characteristics of the Mediterranean,’ the Minister said, noting that Cyprus, as an island EU Member State in the Eastern Mediterranean, can play a meaningful role in strengthening regional cooperation.
Participants will have the opportunity to exchange views on the key challenges and possible directions for action for the next decade, she concluded, thanking Kadis for the initiative to organise this ‘important meeting’.