For five years already we have been engaged in a pending revision of the EU’s fisheries control regulation, in which, among other things, it is suggested that:
- recreational gear are to be marked
- certain recreational boats are to be registered and tracked
A political agreement was reached very recently. The legal text is expected to be published shortly, to be followed by a final adoption vote by the Council and Parliament.
The revised Control Regulation increases the amount of recreational fishing catch data for an increased number of species. It also makes it obligatory for all recreational fishers to be registered or licensed.
This paves the way - but is not mandatory - for collecting more and better socio-economic data e.g. via the recreational fishing app, which has to be up running in all EU (sea) countries within the next two years (before January 10, 2026).
