20/02/14: Feeding our image, by Alistair Lane

Alistair Lane, executive director of
the European Aquaculture Society

Below is an extract by Alistair Lane, executive director of the European Aquaculture Society. The column  appears in the January/February 2014 edition of International Aquafeed magazine, available now in English, Spanish and Chinese. 

The political horizon for European aquaculture development has not looked this good since the Commission published its first strategy for the sector back in 2002. Although the growth targets set out back then were not achieved, at least we now know why not. 

The Federation of European Aquaculture Producers' 'Aquaculture in Motion' event held in Brussels in November looked in detail at the latest EU Guidelines for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture, I published earlier this year. FEAP presented its position on the four priority areas of the document, namely the simplification of administrative procedures for operating licenses, the application of coordinated spatial planning to identify suitable areas, enhancing the competitiveness of EU aquaculture and promoting a level playing field for EU operators. The event also showcased the diversity of European aquaculture with presentations on the status of development of national strategies from France, Hungary, Spain and Germany. 

The first two of these priority areas were recently formally recognised by the European Committee of the Regions as being key issues that need addressing by the regional and local authorities that actually oversee the licensing process.