Sustainable fisheries: Launch of Energy Transition Partnership for EU fisheries and aquaculture

Today, the Commission is launching the Energy Transition Partnership for fisheries and aquaculture at the high-level conference ‘Joining forces for the energy transition in EU fisheries and aquaculture’. The Partnership will provide a central platform for all actors of the sea to share knowledge and solutions,  and coordinate efforts in order  to achieve a climate-neutral sector by 2050, as set out in the Communication on the energy transition in EU fisheries and aquaculture. It will notably help address some of the most pressing challenges in the energy transition process such as the need for new professional skills, ensuring sufficient financing, and closing the gaps in knowledge, research and innovation. The Commission will coordinate the work of the partnership.

Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginius Sinkevičius, kicked off the process during the high-level conference, inviting all stakeholders to join:

To succeed, we need the contribution of all actors across the fisheries sector. This Partnership is a roundtable where all voices in the debate must be heard - from the fishers and aquaculture farmers to research institutes, shipbuilders, gear developers and ports. Today, the European fisheries and aquaculture sector is still highly dependent on fossil fuels. This dependency is affecting its sustainability and making it vulnerable to the high variability in fuel prices and energy crises. The energy transition will make the sector more resilient and we need to start working in it now.

Additionally, the Commission is making available a tool to help fishers better predict the impact of the energy costs on their profits. The Commission's Joint Research Centre has just released a new tool to assess the impact of fuel costs on the economic performance of the fishing sector. This digital tool allows users to estimate the effects of possible fuel prices on key economic indicators, such as value added and profit.

To join the partnership or receive more information, visit the event website or download the leaflet.