Stakeholders from France, England, Ireland and Wales attended a two-day workshop in Cork last week with a view to establishing a new code to protect the natural environment of the Celtic Sea from the effects of marine activities, World Fishing reports.
The workshop was hosted by Pisces, a marine project funded by EC LIFE+ that aims to develop holistic guidelines promoting a healthy marine environment in harmony with marine activities such as fishing and shipping, aquatic tourism and offshore infrastructure.
Roger Cook of the Welsh Federation of Sea Anglers said: "It’s great to be here with stakeholders who have a lot of information and knowledge of what’s going on, and we’re all coming here to share the objective that there are real advantages to us all if we can get this ecosystem based management thing right.”
The workshop was the first step in a process that will see consultations with various interested sectors before the final guidelines are published in 2012, fulfilling requirements of the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive which requires member states to achieve or maintain 'good environmental status' by 2020.