Maritime affairs and fisheries : safeguarding the future of our seas, generating new prosperity.
Date: 2014-07-01
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communication
Subjects: common fisheries policy, dissemination of EU information, fishing regulations, marine environment, maritime area, public awareness campaign, sea, sea fishing, sustainable development

T H E   E U R O P E A N  
U N I O N  
E X P L A I N E D

Safeguarding 
the future of 
our seas, 
generating 
new prosperity

Maritime 
affairs and 
fisheries

‘Wh en  i t  co m es  to   m an agi n g t he   s eas 
and   o c eans   we   have  t o  be  s mar t; 
s m ar t er  t han  w e h ave  ev er  b een . ’

Mar ia  D am anaki , C o m m iss io ne r  fo r 
Mar it im e Af f airs   and  Fis he rie s 

CONTENTS
A smart maritime economy  
is a lasting maritime economy  .  .  .  .  . . 3

How the EU goes about it .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . . 4

What the EU does  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . . 6

What’s next?  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 10

Find out more  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 12

The European Union explained: 
Maritime affairs and fisheries

European Commission
Directorate-General for Communication
Publications
1049 Brussel
BELGIUM

Manuscript updated in June 2014

Cover and page 2 picture: © European Union

12 pp. — 21 × 29.7 cm
ISBN 978-92-79-38263-5 
doi:10.2775/78430

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 
2014

© European Union, 2014
Reproduction is authorised. For any use or reproduction 
of individual photos, permission must be sought directly 
from the copyright holders.

THE EUROPEAN UNION 
EXPLAINED

This publication is a part of a series that explains  
what the EU does in different policy areas,  
why the EU is involved and what the results are.

You can see which ones are available to download at:
http://europa.eu/pol/index_en.htm

How the EU works
Europe 2020: Europe’s growth strategy
The founding fathers of the EU

Agriculture
Borders and security
Budget
Climate action
Competition
Consumers
Culture and audiovisual
Customs
Development and cooperation
Digital agenda
Economic and monetary union and the euro
Education, training, youth and sport
Employment and social affairs
Energy
Enlargement
Enterprise
Environment
Fight against fraud

Maritime affairs and fisheries 

Food safety
Foreign affairs and security policy
Humanitarian aid
Internal market
Justice, citizenship, fundamental rights
Migration and asylum
Public health
Regional policy
Research and innovation
Taxation
Trade
Transport

A smart maritime economy  
is a lasting maritime economy

3

Seas and oceans are essential to human life in more 
ways than one. They regulate our climate and through 
the centuries have given us food, transport and 
recreation. Now, thanks to technological progress, they 
can also give us pharmaceuticals, minerals and possibly 
infinite energy — as long as our exploitation is 
responsible, our methods are safe and our trading is 
cautious and fair.

Equally crucial is the economic value of the sea in our 
society. Today, 3 % to 5 % of the EU’s gross domestic 
product (GDP) comes from the maritime sector. Some 
90 % of foreign trade and 43 % of intra-EU trade take 
place via maritime routes. European shipbuilding 
accounts for 10 % of global production — and it is 
number one in the world for value of production.  
Almost 100 000 boats are in operation around Europe, 
either in fisheries or aquaculture. And next to these 
traditional industries, other more recently developed 
activities, such as mineral extraction and wind farms, 
are evolving fast.

However, unsustainable exploitation threatens the 
fragile balance of marine ecosystems, the competition 
for the use of sea space is becoming increasingly fierce 
and both the wildlife and the human activities that 
depend on the sea suffer from environmental damage 
and biodiversity loss.

The European Commission works to ensure that our 
exploitation remains rigorously sustainable and the rich 
maritime heritage of Europe grows nonetheless. The 
premise is that the two — environmental protection 
and economic growth — are intertwined and 
interdependent rather than opposed.

While un updated common fisheries policy remains the 
cornerstone of a rational and fair harvesting of seafood, 
our integrated approach to the sea ‘system’ seeks to 
respond coherently to the multitude of challenges that 
Europe’s seas face today: from pollution to overfishing, 
from urbanisation to coastal erosion, from safety to 
security. To achieve this, the Commission facilitates the 
cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and 
across borders for an environmentally sound 
development of the European maritime economy; it 
tailors management for each different sea-basin; and 
when it makes sense it provides common tools that can 
help EU countries apply modern and appropriate 
national strategies.

MAIN WORLD PRODUCERS (2011) (CATCHES AND 
AQUACULTURE)

(volume in tonnes (live weight) and percentage of total)

Total

177 632 194

100 %

China
Indonesia
India
Peru
EU-28
United States
Vietnam (*)
Philippines
Japan (*)
Chile
Russia
Myanmar
Norway
South Korea
Bangladesh
Thailand

 65 903 381
 13 601 723
 8 879 499
 8 346 461
 6 143 294
 5 559 838
 5 555 000
 4 971 799
 4 755 093
 4 436 484
 4 391 154
 4 150 091
 3 572 608
 3 260 930
 3 124 677
 2 868 436

37.1 %
7.7 %
5.0 %
4.7 %
3.5 %
3.1 %
3.1 %
2.8 %
2.7 %
2.5 %
2.5 %
2.3 %
2.0 %
1.8 %
1.8 %
1.6 %

(*) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimate
Source: Eurostat and Eumofa for EU-28 and FAO for other countries.

Most of the EU's catches are taken in the eastern Atlantic 
Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

MARITIME AFFAIRS AND FISHERIES4

How the EU goes about it

As the sea is an elaborate system in itself, made even 
more complex by the multitude of human activities 
around it, the Commission is advancing on several 
fronts at the same time. It has reformulated its 
common fisheries policy so that harvesting is cut back 
to levels determined by scientists, long-term plans 
allow for the recovery of weakened stocks and discards 
are phased out through a series of tools and technical 
solutions. Management is tailor-made for each sea-
basin and region. When we fish outside the EU, we only 
fish within scientifically safe margins and only once the 
local populations have satisfied their seafood needs.

We have made it a priority to improve our knowledge 
not only on the state of stocks (indispensable for any 
management decision), but also on the sea in general: 
its depths, its living organisms, its sediments and 
currents and so on. We are creating the conditions for 
all surveillance authorities to share data in real time, so 
as to improve rescue operations and the fight against 
crime. And we have created a legal framework for EU 
countries to plan their use of sea space or multiple uses 
of the same space.

There are almost 100 000 fishing boats  
in operation around Europe.

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The EU promotes sustainable fisheries.

Internationally and through its bilateral relations the EU 
promotes the principles of sustainable fisheries, of 
biodiversity protection and of good governance, and 
projects them onto a worldwide scale. It is the driving 
force behind the recovery of bluefin tuna stocks and the 
global fight against illegal fishing. On illegal fishing in 
particular the EU applies not only its political weight but 
also its market weight, by refusing to import products 
that do not comply with international rules.

The transition to sustainable fishing and the creation of 
smart marine and maritime sectors (the ‘blue economy’) 
obviously need investment, and the Commission fuels 
that with adequate financial support. Between 2014 
and 2020, €6.5 billion will go to finance projects that 
span across the maritime domain and foster 
diversification, innovation and sustainable growth (see 
also ‘What’s next?’).

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THE EUROPEAN UNION EXPLAINED 
 
 
 
TOTAL CATCHES PER MEMBER STATE (2011)

(volume in tonnes (live weight) and percentage of total)

Spain
Denmark
United Kingdom
France
Netherlands
Germany
Portugal
Italy
Ireland
Sweden
Poland
Latvia
Lithuania
Finland
Estonia
Croatia
Greece
Belgium
Bulgaria
Hungary (*)
Czech Republic (*)
Romania
Malta
Slovakia (*)
Cyprus
Slovenia
Austria (*)

 860 030
 738 846
 599 523
 443 549
 364 964
 224 592
 214 779
 212 730
 206 177
 179 836
 169 593
 156 130
 137 063
 119 686
 77 942
 70 534
 62 847
 22 191
 8 956
 6 216
 3 990
 3 254
 1 920
 1 608
 1 163
 719
 350

17.59 %
15.11 %
12.26 %
9.07 %
7.46 %
4.59 %
4.39 %
4.35 %
4.22 %
3.68 %
3.47 %
3.19 %
2.80 %
2.45 %
1.59 %
1.44 %
1.29 %
0.45 %
0.18 %
0.13 %
0.08 %
0.07 %
0.04 %
0.03 %
0.02 %
0.01 %
0.01 %

Total EU-28

4 889 188

100.00 %

TOTAL CATCHES OF WORLD’S LEADING PRODUCERS (2011)

(volume in tonnes (live weight) and percentage of total)

China

Peru

Indonesia

United States

EU-28

India

Russia 

Japan (*)

Chile

Myanmar

Vietnam

Norway

Philippines

Thailand

South Korea

Bangladesh

Mexico

Malaysia

Iceland

Morocco

Taiwan

16 046 114

 8 254 261

 5 713 101

 5 162 997

 4 889 188 

 4 301 534

 4 261 503

 3 848 955

 3 466 945

 3 332 979

 2 502 500

 2 433 811

 2 363 679

 1 862 151

 1 761 785

 1 600 918

 1 571 437

 1 378 799

 1 154 199

 964 704

 903 892

17.02 %

8.75 %

6.06 %

5.47 %

5.18 %

4.56 %

4.52 %

4.08 %

3.68 %

3.53 %

2.65 %

2.58 %

2.51 %

1.97 %

1.87 %

1.70 %

1.67 %

1.46 %

1.22 %

1.02 %

0.96 %

5

(*) 2010 data
NB: Not relevant for Luxembourg.
Source: Eurostat.

Four countries account for 
almost half of the  
EU's total catches.

(*) FAO estimate
Source: Eurostat for EU-28; 
FAO for other countries.

MARITIME AFFAIRS AND FISHERIES 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6

What the EU does

Switching to sustainable fisheries: the 
reform of the common fisheries policy

The new common fisheries policy has been in force 
since 1 January 2014. Its overall objective is to make 
fishing sustainable from an environmental, economic 
and social perspective. The new common fisheries 
policy seeks to let stocks recover, do away with 
wasteful practices, empower the sector and boost the 
aquaculture industry.

Fishing sustainably means fishing at levels that do not 
jeopardise the fish population’s ability to reproduce. In 
time, healthier stocks give better yields, and this 
reduces the time and effort (and fuel!) necessary to 
fish: instead of fishing desperately on dwindling fish 
stocks, we can fish rationally on abundant ones. This is 
bound to bring new prosperity to the fishing sector and 
end its vulnerability to external factors and its 
traditional dependence on public subsidies. Citizens, on 
the other hand, can count on a stable supply of healthy 
protein and be reassured on its origin.

Next to the sustainability targets, another essential part 
of the policy is the timeline to stop discarding, that is 
throwing away, undesired fish after it has been caught. 

EU AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION PER PRODUCT TYPE (2011)

(percentage of total volume)

Seawater ﬁsh (including salmon and 
trout farmed in seawater)

Deadlines vary according to the fishery and the sea-
basin, starting gradually from 2015 with fish living in 
the upper water layers and covering all fish by 2020. To 
simplify and localise management and adapt it to 
regional specificities, countries are able to take the 
conservation measures of their choice under EU 
umbrella laws; this process takes due account of the 
industry’s know-how and of its fundamental role in the 
good stewardship of the sea. Market-based approaches 
allow fishermen’s organisations to gain a stronger 
position on the market and get more money for the fish 
they catch. In any case, the longer-term approach of 
recovery plans that span across a few years is bound to 
improve market predictability and thus investment and 
planning.

Meanwhile, the underlying strategy is to promote 
income diversification, help small operators and boost 
the fish-farming industry as a high-quality complement 
to wild fisheries. When fishing outside our waters, EU 
fishermen are bound by the same sustainability rules as 
at home: they fish within scientifically set limits and in 
a way that does not harm the local fleets.

In addition, since reliable and exhaustive information 
about the state of marine resources is essential to 
support sound decision-making, new obligations bind EU 
countries to collect and share scientific data about fish 
stocks and the impact of fishing at sea-basin level.

Healthier stocks — and a more varied economic fabric 
of coastal areas — work in favour of robust economic 
performance, inclusive growth and enhanced cohesion 
in coastal regions, thus contributing to the Europe 2020 
strategy for economic growth.

Molluscs and crustaceans

For more information on the reform, please see the CFP 
reform website: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/
reform/index_en.htm.

27 %

23 %

50 %

Freshwater ﬁsh
(including trout and eels farmed in freshwater)

Source: Eurostat and Eumofa.

Aquaculture accounts for around 20 % of  
total EU fisheries production.

THE EUROPEAN UNION EXPLAINED7

Blue growth: marine and maritime 
sustainable growth

To make it through the crisis, Europe needs the 
contribution of all sectors of its economy. In this 
context, the ‘blue economy’ has a role to play. It 
represents roughly 5.6 million jobs and accounts for a 
gross value added (GVA) of €495 billion per year.

But it can produce many more jobs if we invest in the 
right field at the right time. And this is what the 
Commission’s blue growth strategy does. We have 
identified the most promising sectors, the most 
rewarding investments and the trains — so to speak 
— that Europe should catch lest someone else does. 
These range from established sectors such as coastal 
tourism (€183 billion GVA per year) or aquaculture to 
developing sectors such as marine biotechnology (€14.1 
billion GVA per year), to prospective sectors such as 
deep-sea mining or ocean energy — and they appear to 
carry huge employment potential.

Tourism has an expected average annual growth of 2 % 
to 3 % (the cruise sector is predicted to grow by 60 % 
in this decade, generating 100 000 jobs), ocean 
renewable energy is expected to grow nearly tenfold 
before 2020 (the offshore wind sector should grow 
sharply from 35 000 jobs in 2010 up to a possible   
170 000 by 2020) and seabed mining’s global turnover 
could rise exponentially in the next 10 years.

We are therefore providing guidance and legal 
frameworks for EU governments to accompany this 
growth in a smart way and reap all the benefits as 
quickly as possible, but with no environmental damage. 

Blue growth can make a real, tangible and positive 
difference for the economy and thus for the citizens of 
Europe. The items that follow are some, but not all, of 
the tools we are making available to EU nations for a 
better future.

The winning governance structures: 
sea-basin strategies

If one looks at the Earth from space, no national or 
regional borders are visible but rather earth and sea. 
And it is easy to see how the people who live around a 
given sea-basin may have a lot in common. Our 
maritime policy is centred on sea-basins. By putting the 
players together, sea-basin strategies target the needs 
of operators and people on the ground precisely and 
directly. They align funding from different countries and 
various sources on commonly agreed objectives. They 
move steadily toward social goals like employment, 
accessibility and quality of life — as one of the more 
advanced sea-basin strategies, the one for the Baltic 
Sea, shows.

A sea-basin strategy places EU administration, national 
governments, local authorities, operators, industry and 
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on a par, as 
partners in ensuring coherent outcomes that benefit 
their people and their environment. This does not need 
any extra money: it is simply a mechanism to ensure 
that existing funds are spent consistently and within a 
long-term framework, so as to guarantee better and 
multiplied effects. In other words, it is a form of smart 
management.

The EU is a member of the 
International Commission  
for the Conservation of 
Atlantic Tunas.

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MARITIME AFFAIRS AND FISHERIES 
 
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Controlling sea traffic as we do sky 
traffic: integrated maritime surveillance

Compartmentalisation often leads to duplication. The 
maritime surveillance bodies monitoring commercial 
traffic are distinct from those investigating illegal 
trafficking. But in the digital era there is no reason why 
they should not share information. Thanks to EU 
support, technical solutions have been developed that 
improve the flow of information between maritime 
authorities while preventing unauthorised access. This 
will enable authorities to better combat crime and 
protect merchant ships and fishing boats from threats. 
They will also join forces for interventions, and improve 
not just policing activities but also rescue operations. 
This kind of integration also implies a better use of 
public money.

8

The European Maritime and 
Fisheries Fund will help 
improve the quality of life 
along Europe’s coastal 
regions.

Planning the use of sea space as 
carefully as we do on land: maritime 
spatial planning

While globalisation gives a boost to shipping, ports and 
shipbuilding, new ways to use the sea are materialising, 
such as wind parks, fish farms and mineral extraction 
farms. This leads to competition for space and to a 
potential degradation of the marine environment. 
Without coordination, the ambiguity surrounding the 
interplay between policies can delay projects, make 
return on investment unclear or force expensive legal 
fees. By contrast, locating a wind farm across state 
borders can be more efficient and environmentally 
sounder than building two in two separate and more 
vulnerable spots. Relocating shipping lanes away from 
protected areas reduces the risk of environmental 
disasters. And so on.

For these reasons, we have created a framework for 
maritime and coastal spatial planning for our nations to 
plan their use of space and even multiple uses of the 
same space. Through the transparent and collective 
involvement of all players, the EU’s maritime spatial 
planning framework ensures a stable and fair set of 
rules that enables all activities at sea to develop and 
grow. This tool has already been shown to accelerate 
investments and lower legal and administrative costs 
for companies.

THE EUROPEAN UNION EXPLAINED 
 
 
9

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Europe’s ‘blue economy’ 
contributes over 5 million 
jobs to the economy.

Science and us: marine knowledge 2020

It is often said that we know more about the surface of 
the moon than the depths of our oceans. It is true, there 
are large gaps in our knowledge of the sea and the 
knowledge that we do have is scattered over a 
multitude of incompatible and incomplete sources.

Marine knowledge 2020 pools good quality and coherent 
marine data together and makes them freely and 
publicly available. We have already drawn a first digital 

map of our seabeds and are working with European 
scientists and engineers to gather the existing data and 
thus increase our understanding of seas and oceans.

Clearly, entrepreneurs need data to develop their 
ventures and increase their competitiveness. But freer 
access to data is not only for professionals. It is also 
about the democratisation of knowledge and will help 
ordinary citizens get involved in decisions concerning 
their coasts and seas.

The Baltic Sea strategy is an EU success story, bringing 
countries together to work on common goals. 

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Supporting mobility and career 
prospects across sectors

Maritime industries today cannot find enough people 
with the right qualifications, skills and experience. An 
increasing shortage of maritime professionals and 
officers stunts the growth of maritime industries in 
Europe — which is particularly unacceptable at a time 
of high unemployment. Our maritime policy is trying to 
tackle challenges such as training in one sector 
exclusively (for example fishing), opaque opportunities 
for mobility and insecure employment prospects.

To make maritime jobs more attractive, we will increase 
professional mobility between sectors and between 
countries. We will also focus on the maritime skills 
needed for the future rather than the levels of 
knowledge needed today.

MARITIME AFFAIRS AND FISHERIES 
 
 
 
10

What’s next?

A modern and fit financial instrument

In parallel to the reform of the common fisheries policy, 
a new fund for the EU’s maritime domain was 
developed to cover the period between 2014 and 2020: 
the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, worth €6.5 
billion. This new fund replaces the existing European 
Fisheries Fund and also groups a number of other 
ancillary funds into a single instrument. Red tape has 
been cut so that beneficiaries have easier access to 
capital.

The fund helps achieve the ambitious objectives of the 
fisheries reform. As we relieve pressure on the stocks 
and leave them time to recover, the communities 
depending on fishing need support in coping with the 
transition and in supplementing their income. The fund 
helps operators to modernise their way of fishing, find 
ways to add value to their catches or find alternatives 
to fishing: for example they may choose to replace their 
nets with more selective ones in order to reduce 
by-catch or to develop new technologies that could 
lower the impact of fish farming on the environment.

In other words, projects that boost innovation and 
economic diversification, that create new jobs or 
improve quality of life are eligible. In the past, bottom-
up initiatives in areas such as processing, catering or 
tourism have produced excellent results, so this is 
strongly encouraged now. And small-scale fishermen, 
young fishermen and local fisheries get special 
attention and intensified aid.

The fund also strives to develop European aquaculture 
in a sustainable way. It rewards innovation and 
promotes new strands, such as non-food aquaculture. It 
aims to improve data collection and control 
programmes, so as to ensure that the rules for 
responsible and sustainable fishing are complied with.

But the fund is not just a catalyst for sustainability and 
good economic performance. It is also a vehicle to 
deliver the Commission’s social agenda. Spouses, who 
often play a fundamental role in the family fishing 
business, can now get support for training or other 
economic activities related to fishing. Producers’ 
organisations get help to plan production and marketing 
in a way that meets the expectations of an increasingly 
discerning public.

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There is an ever-increasing 
demand for seafood.

THE EUROPEAN UNION EXPLAINED 
11

Aquaculture employs around 
65 000 people in the EU.

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Above and beyond fisheries, scientific projects such as 
creating a high-resolution map of the European seabed 
or making marine data available to firms and 
researchers all over Europe are equally contemplated. 
Projects such as maritime spatial planning, integrated 
maritime surveillance and marine knowledge, which can 
help avoid duplications and reduce costs through 
cooperation and coordination across sectors, are given 
particular priority.

The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund is used to 
co-finance projects with Member States according to 
the principle of ‘shared management’. Each national 
government draws up an operational programme for 
the time period in question, specifying how they intend 
to spend the money allocated to them. Once the 
programme is approved by the Commission, the 
Member State selects the projects that are to receive 
funds. Both project eligibility and programme 
implementation are monitored by the Member States 
and by the Commission.

THE 15 MAIN SPECIES CAUGHT  

BY THE EUROPEAN UNION (2011)

(volume in tonnes (live weight) and percentage of total)

Herring

Sprat

Mackerel 

Sandeels

Sardine 

 509 951

10.46 %

 413 415

8.48 %

 376 333

7.72 %

 335 023

6.87 %

 307 963

6.31 %

Horse mackerel

 159 756

3.28 %

Cod 

 146 634

3.01 %

Jack and horse mackerel

 133 531

2.74 %

Anchovy

 126 115

2.59 %

Round sardinella

 123 600

2.53 %

Skipjack tuna

Yellowfin tuna

Blue shark

Hake 

Plaice

Source: Eurostat.

 121 056

2.48 %

 102 132

2.09 %

 100 270

2.06 %

 85 256

1.75 %

 82 668

1.70 %

The European sprat and the Atlantic herring are the most 
commonly caught fish in the EU.

MARITIME AFFAIRS AND FISHERIES 
 
12

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Find out more

 X Reform of the common fisheries policy: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/reform/index_en.htm
 X Integrated maritime policy: http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/policy/index_en.htm
 X European atlas of the seas: http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/atlas/index_en.htm

ISBN 978-92-79-38263-5 
doi:10.2775/78430

THE EUROPEAN UNION EXPLAINED