EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki is launching an EU-wide campaign, INSEPARABLE, to raise awareness on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.
"For centuries, we Europeans have been inseparable from the sea and its fish. Fish are an important part of our diets, keeping us healthy. Fishing provides us with jobs. Fish help us prosper. This is why the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, agreed on in 2013, boosts the European fisheries and aquaculture sectors to make them more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable," the campaign proclaims.
In 2013, the European Commission, together with Member States' governments and the European Parliament, agreed the new Common Fisheries Policy to boost the European fisheries and aquaculture sectors and make them more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.
INSEPARABLE urges Europeans to eat, buy and sell sustainable fish. Citizens will be given information on how they can make the small changes in their everyday lives to ensure Europeans can keep fishing tomorrow.
On the campaign's website there are resources to help people choose seafood that comes from healthy populations, is fished responsibly and produced sustainably. You will find:
· Information from the European Commission and on the Common Fisheries Policy
· Inspirational stories on sustainable seafood
· Information on sustainable seafood in each EU country.
Commissioner Damanaki will also host two events in the framework of this awareness campaign, in Hamburg and in Athens. The events will emphasize the need for consumers to diversify their fish choices and the detrimental effects of discards in northern countries while attention will be raised on the problem of consuming juveniles in southern countries.