Low Impact Fishers of Europe says implementing existing fisheries rules, rather than reopening the Common Fisheries Policy, should be the priority as the EU prepares to publish its Vision 2040 strategy.
On the eve of the EU’s Vision 2040 for fisheries and aquaculture, a European small-scale coastal fishers’ group says existing rules should be enforced rather than reopening the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) executive secretary Marta Cavallé issued the warning before Tuesday’s publication of Vision 2040, the European Commission’s 15-year strategic framework for EU fisheries and aquaculture.
First announced in the European Ocean Pact in June 2025, the strategy aims to set the direction for the sector and draws on the Commission’s ongoing evaluation of the CFP.
LIFE argues that reopening the CFP would mean years of uncertainty that the sector cannot afford.
The priority, in its view, is to properly implement and enforce the existing rules, alongside an Ocean Act that gives small-scale fishers a fair share of fishing opportunities and space.
The organisation has previously called for the implementation of Article 17 of the CFP, which provides for environmental, social and economic criteria in allocating fishing opportunities.
“Small-scale coastal fisheries are at a turning point and have no more time to lose in a lengthy and uncertain process of reforming the CFP,” Cavallé said.
“The problem is not the rules themselves; we need an implementation and enforcement plan driven by the spirit of the law and stronger accountability that brings stock and social recovery.”
“We also need an ambitious Ocean Act that establishes a binding mandate for Member States to create an Action Plan in support of SSCF and to allocate fishing opportunities and space fairly,” she said.
LIFE notes that a European trade media outlet reported last week on a communication issued by Europêche, Copa-Cogeca, EFFAT and ETF and addressed to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
The communication called for an urgent revision of the CFP, and asked for both Vision 2040 and the Commission’s 2027 Work Programme to include a commitment to such a revision.
