Contact
Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson
Director of Business and Development
jonas@matis.is
The FarFish project involves 21 companies and institutions from all over Europe, Africa and South America. In addition, a number of international organizations and representatives of individual countries involved have committed themselves to participating in the project as needed. The project is managed by Matís.
Matís and the United Nations University Fisheries Training Program (UNU-FTP), located in Iceland, are participants in the FarFish research and development project, funded by the Horizon 2020 European Research Program. The project aims to promote the European Fleet's access to non-European waters, to increase knowledge of the fish stocks that the fleet visits in those areas, to identify the value chains involved in catching these vessels, and to increase knowledge of fisheries management among stakeholders. fishing come; it is among both the relevant coastal states and European economies.
"About 20% of the catch of the European fishing fleet is taken from outside European waters. These catches are obtained, among other things, in international waters and within the jurisdiction of coastal states, where agreements have been made on the accessibility of the European fleet. Agreements with coastal states are in some ways, and what is directly related to this project are, on the one hand, special agreements between individual fishing companies and authorities in each region and, on the other hand, agreements made by the European Union with individual states against financial support for fisheries infrastructure those URLs. These negotiators have been controversial, with the European Union and the European Navy being accused, among other things, of plundering the resources of poor countries, especially on the west coast of Africa. In response to this criticism, the Horizon 2020 research program has decided to support research and development efforts to promote improvements in this area; that's where the FarFish project comes into play, "says Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson at Matís.
The FarFish project will focus on six sea areas, within the jurisdictions of Cape Verde, Mauritania, Senegal and the Seychelles, as well as international waters in the Southeast and Southwest Atlantic. Information will be collected on the biologically, ecologically, economically and socially important aspects of the fishery and that information will be made available; efforts must be made to increase the responsibility of the European fleet when it comes to utilization and information; and knowledge of the fundamentals of fisheries management will be built up among coastal stakeholders and the intra-European fishing fleet.
It is clear that this is an extremely important issue and that the garden is not attacked as it is minimal. Although it is also important to keep in mind that if the project succeeds in promoting any kind of progress in this complex and often uncontrolled fishery, it will have a decisive effect on the development of important fish stocks and the livelihoods of many people, both in coastal countries and outside Europe. in Europe.
Further information farfish.eu