Maria Damanaki, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Sir Richard Branson, Minister Tsaftaris and Pierre-Yves Cousteau exchanged views yesterday on fishing overcapacity in the framework of the International Fishing Capacity Conference "Global Fishing Capacity: Less is More" taking place in Thessaloniki (13-14.03).

Ministers and stakeholders high-level participants are discussing fishing overcapacity during the two-day event, under the auspices of the Greek EU presidency.

Damanaki noted that thousands of small coastal fishermen, active in Greece, who fish with traditional tools, will benefit from the EU's new fishery policy, since Brussels is "freezing" the funding of big fishing vessels and focusing on small ones in an effort to convey the importance of the viability of seas.

She also emphasized that “Reducing capacity is the way to go (…) What is also advisable is a carefully designed mix of structural and conservation tools, like rights-based systems, tighter controls and incentives for diversification. We will be discussing all thee approaches today and tomorrow.”

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