On 30 July, the European Commission proposed measures to simplify the collection and compilation of statistics on European fisheries and aquaculture.
The proposal replaces five existing rule sets with a single, streamlined system that reduces the reporting burden on Member States. By reusing administrative data already collected by the Commission, it allows Eurostat to compile fisheries and aquaculture statistics-such as catches and fleet data-without additional national reporting, cutting duplication and saving time and resources.
For the first time, the proposal introduces data collection on discarded catches, recreational fisheries, sensitive species, landings by third-country fleets at EU ports, and organic aquaculture production. The new data structure will also support the production of aggregated figures for transmission to international organisations, promoting global cooperation.
