EU Confirms Commitment to Energy Transition in Fisheries and Aquaculture

The European Union confirms its commitment to the energy transition of the fishing fleet and aquaculture sector

• The EU Fisheries Ministers, representatives of the fishing sector and community institutions agree that the best solutions must be found to decarbonise and modernise the activity
• The energy transition must be accompanied by lines of investment and European funds to renew the fleet, build new ships, train and promote research into alternatives to fossil fuels
• In the Vigo meeting, the need to review concepts of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was also raised so that the regulations do not act as a brake on the modernization of the sector

The Informal Meeting of Fisheries Ministers (RIM) of the European Union (EU) ended yesterday, Tuesday 18 July, in Vigo with the commitment to advance in the decarbonisation of the fleet and aquaculture. Not only to achieve energy neutrality by 2050, but to guarantee the sustainability and profitability of the sector in the medium and long term in the current situation of volatility and high prices of fossil fuels.

The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU has ensured that the RIM of Vigo, which has been established these days as the community capital of fishing, becomes a great forum for the exchange of ideas to draw conclusions and face the future of fishing and aquaculture, strategic activities for food sovereignty that face important challenges, such as generational renewal, increasing their competitiveness at an international level, their digitization or the incorporation of women into the sector.

The Spanish Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, host of the informal ministerial meeting, has made a firm commitment to decarbonisation as a path in which European countries must move forward together: “It will not be an easy task or certainly immediate, but it presents us with a possibility for the future, not only of advancing in the energy transition, but of rethinking fishing in the 21st century”, he stated at the press conference after the RIM plenary session.

The Minister and the Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, have agreed that talking about decarbonisation opens up the opportunity to broaden the debate to the future of the fishing sector, its challenges.

Planas opened yesterday morning’s first part of the plenary work session on energy transition, in which Commissioner Sinkevičius also took part, and representatives of the main representative organizations of the fishing and aquaculture sector, who thanked for having had the opportunity to participate and expose your vision in this important ministerial forum.

In this first block, the report carried out by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESE) on the decarbonisation of the fishing fleet has been exposed, which raises the need to reduce CO ₂ emissions and fully supports the search for sustainable, renewable energy alternatives and commercially viable. He points out that ecofuels are positioned as the most viable alternative in the short term so that the fishing sector can leave fossil fuels behind, although at the same time he recognises that their prices practically double those of diesel today.

The EESC decarbonisation opinion states that the European fleet has an average age of 31.5 years and indicates that any change in energy source will require new vessels of unprecedented design with greater capacity on board (gross tonnage) to accommodate the new machinery. Given this circumstance, it recommends that the European Commission review the definition of fishing capacity in the regulations that include the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). It also shows its concern about the current limitations of the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (FEMPA) which, as the Commission itself has recognized, is not enough to carry out the necessary investments for the energy transition, for which reason it proposes to create a fund emergency to speed up the process.

The second work session has passed with the presentation and subsequent discussion of the points of view of the EU Fisheries Ministers and their delegations. The starting point of the debate has focused on three issues proposed by the Spanish Presidency. Firstly, the need to define a common strategy to decarbonise the European, artisanal and industrial fishing fleet, and the establishment of priorities and sustainable lines of investment. Likewise, it has been raised whether the measures contemplated in the FEMPA to support the energy transition and other funds are sufficient and what other measures should be adopted. And finally, whether it is necessary to reflect on maintaining the capacity limitations established by the PPC.

The ministers have agreed on the need to promote the energy transition of fishing and aquaculture, in order to strengthen the economic results of both sectors, their resilience, the reduction of emissions and to obtain new market opportunities.

Luis Planas, in his capacity as President of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Council, has thanked both the representatives of the different sectors, of the workers, of the women of the fishing sector as well as of the Member States and community institutions that have expressed their commitment to the energy transition of fisheries and aquaculture.

DEFINING A COMMON STRATEGY FOR DECARBONISATION

For the ministers, there is a need to define a common strategy to decarbonise the European fishing fleet, with medium- and long-term priorities and objectives that outline sustainable investment lines, both to renew the fleet with the construction of new, more energy-efficient vessels, promote innovation and technological development in the naval industry, as well as to improve the training and training of shipowners, crew members and fish farmers.

Regarding the use of alternative energies to those of fossil origin, the participants in the Fishing RIM have agreed that at this time it is not easy to have them available, especially for vessels that fish in medium and long distances, so who have agreed that it is important to intensify the role of technological contribution of universities and public and private research centres.

Most of the opinions of the Fisheries Ministers consider, according to Luis Planas, that it is necessary to reflect on the current configuration of the funds that can be used to finance these measures, either through FEMPA or other funds.

The meeting also discussed the aspects that could hinder the path towards decarbonisation, among which the current definition of fishing capacity within the framework of the CFP was highlighted. In his opinion, this limitation can be a barrier to promote generational change and the necessary incorporation of women into the fishing sector, given that the spaces for the crew are considered as part of the fishing capacity of the fleet.

A POWERFUL AND COMPETITIVE SECTOR

The Informal Meeting of Fisheries Ministers has become a differential element of the Spanish Presidency, since it is not frequent that Member States include a specific one on this activity in their high-level meetings during their rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The community fleet, made up of more than 71,000 vessels, can boast of being a world benchmark in the field of fisheries management, with environmental sustainability as a hallmark. Fishing and aquaculture activities also have an important capacity to establish population in coastal areas and play a dynamic role in the economy of the place where they are carried out and in the rest of the territory of each country.

The Fisheries Meeting included in its agenda a visit to the Spanish training and cooperation vessel Intermares and to the Vigo fish market. The first is configured as a true floating university and the fishing port is considered one of the first markets of fish for human consumption in Europe. These are two examples of the importance of fishing activity throughout the Spanish coast and, especially, in the autonomous community of Galicia, where half of the 8,700 vessels that make up the Spanish fleet are located. Spain is the largest community producer of fish, aquaculture products and canned food and has a leading international processing industry.

Technological innovation and the energy transition are two of the priorities that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) has set for its Presidency of the Council of the EU. The Government of Spain has scheduled another informal meeting of Ministers of Agriculture in Córdoba at the beginning of September, this time dedicated to new technologies as a tool for a more resilient agriculture in the face of climate change.