European social partners in the fisheries sector – ETF, Cogeca and Europêche – support measures to continue reducing the carbon footprint of the fishing sector. Social partners welcome the initiative of the European Commission to support the energy transition and the decarbonisation of the fleet.
Last week, during a social dialogue committee meeting, social partners adopted a joint resolution on decarbonisation, stressing that the energy transition needs to be fair and just, taking into account the complexities and limitations of the fisheries sector. Likewise, during the transition, relevant skills and competencies need to be developed and supported to safely use these technologies.
The transformation to alternative fuels and alternative propulsion engines must consider the segmentation of the EU fleet, which is composed of a large part of small-scale fisheries and uses different kinds of fishing techniques. The funding for the necessary technological updates will need to cope with this reality and with the fact that the average age of vessels is high in the EU (31,5 years old), and some vessels will need to be replaced rather than upgraded.
Juan Manuel Trujillo, President of the ETF Fisheries Section, said: “Our sector is facing many difficulties, in particular in certain regions: lack of perspective for fishers, reduced profitability margin, increasing average age of workers and lack of attractiveness towards young generations. The decarbonisation shall be an opportunity and not become an additional stress factor for fisheries”.
Ment van der Zwan, the Europêche spokesperson in the Social Dialogue Committee, added: “It is in our own interest to speed up the introduction of new and more efficient technologies. The European strategy goes in the right direction, but more efforts are needed to accompany the fishing sector in this quest. We need a timeframe that allows a fair transition in which no one is left behind. Likewise, in the race towards zero-emissions, fishers will need adequate financing, no legislative barriers, such as the current definition of fishing capacity, port infrastructures and directions from technological suppliers.”
The Social Partners are engaged in the partnership for the energy transition in fisheries launched by the European Commission and are committed to giving their contribution to the process together with the policymakers and relevant stakeholders.