Yesterday, the EU Social Partners in the fisheries sector, represented by Europêche and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), presented at the European Parliament the results of a major initiative aimed at creating a safer, healthier, and more worker-friendly fisheries sector across Europe. The dissemination conference, hosted by MEPs Nicolás González Casares (Socialists and Democrats) and Paulo do Nascimento Cabral (European People’s Party), provided an opportunity to showcase innovative tools developed under the EU project Pillars of the Sea 3: Roadmap towards socially sustainable fishing.

The ETF held an important conference today, spotlighting the working conditions and fair pay challenges faced by non-EU fishers employed on EU vessels. The event gathered a diverse group of policymakers from the EU Commission, Parliament and the ILO, experts, and industry stakeholders to address wage discrepancies and non-EU workers conditions in the sector. 

The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), Europêche and COGECA – European fisheries social partners- jointly adopted a resolution at their plenary meeting, urgently addressing the critical state of the Mediterranean fisheries. This decision highlights shared concerns about the situation of fisheries in the Mediterranean where coastal communities are suffering from sizeable reductions of fishing effort, and the need for sensible EU policies to support both environmental, social and economic dimensions.