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Map of the week – Fisheries local action groups

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Map of the week – Fisheries local action groups

Fish are a vital food source for humanity and the fisheries industry is an important employment sector around the world. However, this resource is under threat as overfishing has caused dwindling global fish stocks with over 29% of stocks classified as overexploited and 61% as fully exploited1.

In order to ensure this food source will be available for future generations, EU’s common fisheries policy is committed to set sustainable fishing limitations in European waters. These allow catches to be as high as possible without threatening the fish population size and long-term productivity, protecting both the fish as well as the fishermen and consumers that depend on them. In addition, the policy also includes funding for Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) across Europe. These are local, bottom-up initiatives that aim to develop the local fisheries sector in an environmentally friendly as well as socially and economically sustainable way2. In 2014, there were 312 FLAGs established in the 21 EU Member States2. You can use our map of the week to see where these FLAGs are located. To find out more about your local FLAG and the projects they are undertaking you can click on it to go to their website.

Access the map

The data in this map were provided by the European Commission – DG for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

1 https://www.worldwildlife.org/publications/living-blue-planet-report-2015

2 https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/cms/farnet/tools/flags