Fisheries and aquaculture supply valuable protein for human consumption. At the same time, illegal fishing, inefficient control, overcapacity for some fleets and over-fishing, aggravated by the effects of climate change, lead to the need to reconciling utilization with conservation while considering social and equity issues.

Increasing productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring the rational development of production and thus ensuring a fair standard of living for the fisheries and aquaculture community, are some of the basic objectives of the EU Treaty that EBCD embraces.

Equitable involvement of stakeholders in the decision making in the EU, despite the institutionalized dialogue in the framework of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture and the recent creation of the Regional Advisory Councils, is still another challenge that EBCD is striving for.
Furthermore marine issues are gaining increasing attention by the international environmental fora . Equitable stakeholders' involvements include, in our view, also consultation of fisheries experts in these fora .

Both stakeholders' participation and solid scientific basis are the main ingredients for reliable regulation and good governance

© EBCD, European Bureau for Conservation and Development