Maritime recreational fisheries: In the framework of the common fisheries policy

Abstract

In recent decades, the phenomenon of marine recreational fisheries has experienced remarkable growth worldwide. Within the European Union, it is essential to advance in specific management tools that allow optimizing the socio-economic potential of the recreational sector. So far, public control over recreational fisheries has been carried out through the registers of licenses and authorizations. However, the existence of a dispersed legal framework regarding the regulation of the legal instruments of intervention on fishing is preventing the obtaining of precise data in the area. This scenario reveals the importance of developing a common legal framework for recreational fisheries on a European and specifically at the level of sea basins. To this end, the implementation of the new governance principles —specifically, the regionalized approach to management based on the marine basin, and the promotion of the participation of all “interested groups” in fisheries matters—, not only would it facilitate improvement in data collection, but would also allow progress in the full recognition of the recreational sector within the framework of the Common Fisheries Policy and facilitate the sustainable management of recreational fisheries with a view to the implementation of the instruments of the Integrated Maritime Policy of the European Union.