The conference will be the perfect occasion to gather together all interested stakeholders and policy-makers to discuss about the EP draft report on "State of play of recreational fisheries in the EU" drafted by MEP Norica Nicolai. 

Chaired by the rapporteur, MEP Werner Kuhn and MEP Ole Christensen, this conference is of great importance for both the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) and the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA) as it is an occasion to exchange facts and views with Members of the Parliament and representatives of the European Commission about many important issues raised by Ms Nicolai’s report. 

In particular, these issues touched upon in the report are of great importance to the angling community and dependent businesses: 

•The need for a proper definition of recreational fisheries which should be consistent across all EU legislation; 

•The need to look at and deal with the recreational sector not as one homogeneous sector, but a diverse sector comprised of segments making use of different catching gear (rod & line, nets, pots, spears…), which impact fish stocks and the environment differently, as well as generating very different economic output; 

•The need for more, better and regularly collected data on Marine Recreational Fisheries (MRF) both catch and socio-economic data - to get more precise and reliable information on impact on stocks over time, the economic value of the sector - including its importance for tourism businesses and coastal communities; 

•The need for inclusion of recreational fisheries in the next Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) on equal terms with commercial fisheries and aquaculture.