The Fisheries Council agreed on a new policy regarding sustainable aquaculture in the European Union (EU). The council hopes that it will lead to solid growth of the sector over the next few years.
Although a now a major fishing activity, fish farming in the EU has only seen spasmodic spurts of growth over the past 20 years – indeed the industry stagnated between 2000 and 2006, but it is now an upward curve again.
The new strategy also hopes that by growing the aquaculture sector, there will be less reliance on fish imports from outside the EU. The new policy is calling for future expansion of the industry to be sustainable and embracing innovation, technology development and real competitiveness.