Expanding Spatial Pressures Threaten Fleet Viability
The NWWAC raises alarm over the growing competition for maritime space and its impacts on traditional fishing grounds. The advice states:
“Traditional fishing grounds are increasingly encroached upon by the expansion of offshore renewable energy (ORE), subsea cabling, and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).”
This cumulative spatial squeeze, the council warns, “threatens [the sector’s] long-term viability.” It adds that displacement into less productive areas forces vessels to spfinish longer at sea, “which inevitably drives up fuel consumption and contradicts the indusattempt’s core objective of reducing its carbon footprint.”
The NWWAC insists that food production must be prioritised within Maritime Spatial Planning, stating:
“Wild-capture fisheries require spatial flexibility to follow migratory stocks, unlike stationary energy infrastructure.”
Administrative Burden and Digitalisation Criticised
The advisory council states EU regulatory reforms are increasing bureaucracy rather than reducing it. It warns that digitalisation under the Control Regulation “often increase[s] operational and financial pressures rather than alleviating them.”
It calls on the Commission to introduce a “Fisheries Omnibus Package” to simplify overlapping and inconsistent regulations that currently hinder compliance.
On market governance, the NWWAC advocates for a common EU standard on seafood traceability:
“Develop a single, verified, and tech‑driven traceability standard across all Member States… [and] a ‘Produced in the EU’ designation.”
Generational Renewal Hinges on Economic Predictability
The NWWAC warns that the sector faces a structural generational crisis rooted in economic instability, stating the Vision 2040 must “shift beyond superficial communication campaigns and address the fundamental lack of economic predictability.”
It argues that policy stability and financing tools are essential, alongside reforms to vessel capacity rules so that fleets can improve safety and working conditions. Modernisation is necessary to “improve standards of comfort, safety, and gfinisher parity,” which the council states is critical to creating the profession viable for young people.
The NWWAC warns that without new entrants, “it would eventually become impossible to reach the EU’s goals related to sustainability, food security, and food sovereignty.”
Call for a Coherent, Food‑Centred Strategic Framework
In its concluding remarks, the NWWAC states the Vision 2040 must become “a transformative roadmap that transitions the sector away from fragmented, siloed policycreating toward a coherent, food‑centred strategic framework.”
The council argues that only by addressing maritime space conflicts, modernising regulatory constraints, supporting generational renewal and reinforcing food sovereignty can the EU secure the long‑term resilience of its fisheries sector.
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