Economic+Fishing

a. Trade amongst countries/fishermen - How do fishermen exchange fish? - Can fishermen buy bycatch from each other? - Do fishermen share data with one another? b. Who funds the following branches and how? - How are funds distributed? - Equipment/Gear cost - Observers (data) - Marketing/ Taxing on marketing - Studies for environmentally friendly methods - How is their bycatch supported, does the government suppor them? c. What countries work together? - How do they share data/do they share data? - Do they exchange bycatch? e. What are the policies for financial support? - How much money is each country given? - Can countries exchange money? - How much money is given to observers, bycatch, equipement/technology equipment, etc.?

Lillian R-Braga __Economical Fishing__ (EU subsides) Within European fishing regulations and funds there are two different categories for support systems. The first one is called structural support. This sector is funded by the European Union that helps expedite the fabrication of supplies and organization of goods. Four different community structural funds also go hand in hand with helping fishers financially. (Fisheries) One of the four branches is called European Fishing Funds. The EFF is given a budget of 4.3 billion Euros for 2007-2013 that is dispensed into recycling fishing boats, supporting environmentally friendly manufacturing methods, aquaculture, marketing methods, and help to finance the distribution of funds. (EU subsides/Generation) Shared financial measures for fishing policies and laws of the sea, and European Regional Development Fund, which helps inform people by doing research and development in a particular region are two other segments. (Fisheries) Lastly European Social Fund helps benefit people by improving their skills to enhance their job possibilities. The second division, national or state aid, is a large part of the Commission Regulation. (Europa/EU subsides) National and state aid help give out loans at reduced interest rates, and also gives out grants to companies that help knowledge the European Union program. Grants go towards research, education, health, and protection to the environment. Countries that are a part of the European Fishing Union have a stable ground to help them as their foundation. (EUROPA) Countries must apply to be a part of the Fishing Union and very few countries are considered candidates: Finland, Turkey, Iceland, Switzerland, and Croatia. In Europe they are also trying to reduce bycatch by increasing required laws. Although these laws enforce fishermen to be more aware of bycatch, pots and traps catch a lot and there is still more research to be done to prevent overfishing. (Lack) In Europe 60% of live fish caught in their equipment is tossed back into the sea. (EU Subsidies) Over the past 29 years the European Union has been trying to rearrange the fishing fleet. This fleet has been growing rapidly, leading to a large drop of European fishing stocks. Ways that they have been trying to prevent these problems are by coming up with sterile ways of managing seafood onboard, along with ecological fishing methods, and specific gear that will prevent the increase of bycatch. (World) According to reports form the European Commission 72% of stocks overfish. Europe is also the fourth largest producer of fish and aquaculture, and is not giving their stock time to reproduce because they are over fishing so much. They need to be saving the fish for the coming generation. There has also been discussion about reforming the Common Fisheries Policy to help for laws that will ensure that total catches never surpass a certain limit. Unreported and unregulated fishing is another law they are going to begin re-enforcing. (Fisheries) In Europe they have a VMS, which stands for Vessel Monitoring System. This system helps fishermen located fish, and their movement within areas of the ocean. The European Union uses satellites to calculate the location of fish, and with this information it is shared and reported to all fishermen. Within this system there has also been a push for other countries to convert into using this technology to help all fishermen gain access to this data.