Commission to Simplify Fisheries and Aquaculture Data Collection

On 30 July, the European Commission proposed measures to simplify the collection and compilation of statistics on European fisheries and aquaculture.

The proposal replaces five existing rule sets with a single, streamlined system that reduces the reporting burden on Member States. By reusing administrative data already collected by the Commission, it allows Eurostat to compile fisheries and aquaculture statistics-such as catches and fleet data-without additional national reporting, cutting duplication and saving time and resources.

For the first time, the proposal introduces data collection on discarded catches, recreational fisheries, sensitive species, landings by third-country fleets at EU ports, and organic aquaculture production. The new data structure will also support the production of aggregated figures for transmission to international organisations, promoting global cooperation.

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