PRESS RELEASE

“Legal framework a barrier for small-scale fishermen”

A seminar and informative meeting was held in Piraeus, on Saturday 28th January 2017 for the pilot project “Measures to support seminar and informative meeting was held in Piraeus, on Saturday 28th January 2017 for the pilot project “Measures to support small-scale fisheries in the EU Mediterranean waters” (MARE/2014/04 – SI2.723876) in Greece, Cyprus and Malta with the presence of Ms Evangelia Georgitsi from Directorate General of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission.

The meeting was organised by APC s.a. and was conducted by Mr Nikos Anagnopoulos, President and CEO of APC s.a. with the participation of representatives from Cyprus and Malta, small-scale fishermen from Poros, Nea Makri, Marathon, Kithira, Ikaria, Pelion, Kyklades, Arkadia, Nisiros and Kalymnos and also the President of the Pancypriot Association of Professional Fishermen.

The meeting also attended representatives of the Region of Attica, staff from the Directorate General of Sustainable Fisheries and staff from the Management Unit of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food and staff from various regional Fisheries Departments.

APC s.a. staff presented the objectives, the progress of the project and the preliminary results of the survey. Also presentations were given by Mr Dimitris Vatsos from the Department of Fisheries in the Region of Attica, Ms Fotini Mane, staff of the Fisheries Department Regional Unit of Piraeus for the problems of fisheries in the area of Piraeus, Ms Marina Petrou, Head of the DG of Sustainable Fisheries of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food for the Common Fisheries Policy, and Ms Efthimia Giokala, Head of the Management Unit of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, in relation to funding opportunities from the Operational Programme for Fisheries 2014-2020.

All participants agreed on the need to subsidize fisheries associations for their participation in the Mediterranean Advisory Council as it is a full-time job with considerable travelling abroad. For the Greek fishermen it is important to withdraw the obstacle of the existing legislative framework related to Fishermen Associations in order to facilitate their participation in the decision-making process. Towards this direction an amendment of the Law 4015/2011 was proposed in order to be forwarded in the relevant authorities. Finally, it was agreed that closer cooperation among fishermen in the Mediterranean will be beneficial.

A relevant tool for information that can be used by fishermen is the site of the project (http://www.eastmedfishers.eu).

For APC s.a.

Nikos Anagnopoulos

President & CEO