The London-based Foundation’s analysis found that each Member State including Portugal could up their efforts to ensure fair access to fish stocks.
“Even though the total amount of catches allowable in European waters is agreed through negotiations between European ministers, the distribution of fishing rights is subsequently determined by each government”, the report noted, adding “much more” could be done to guarantee fair access.
Based on feedback from 12 EU State Members (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), the Foundation’s report examines how decisions are made and what consequences they may have.
“Fisheries must be both sustainable and fair. Portugal could better support fishermen and fishing communities on the coast through better management of fishing opportunities”, says Griffin Carpenter, one of the economists who developed the report.
While some EU Member States “perform better than others”, fisheries management in all of them “is expensive and low in public revenue”, the report highlights, and warns that access to the fishing industry for new entrants “is difficult and the transparency of many of the systems of fishing possibilities is low.”