Discussed fish discards with the European Parliament

The Norwegian minister for fisheries and coastal affairs, Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, met members of the fisheries committee in the European Parliament today, and held political discussions with the EU commissioner for fisheries, Maria Damanaki.

Berg-Hansen is in Brussels this week to discuss common challenges faced by Norway and the EU in the fisheries and seafood sector. The minister for fisheries and coastal affairs has also visited Norwegian exhibitors at the European Seafood Exposition and met with the Scottish minister for fisheries, Richard Lochhead.

"Norway is a major seafood exporter and the EU is our largest market. A total of 20% of EU's seafood imports come from Norway. Furthermore, the Barents Sea contains the world's largest cod stocks, thanks to responsible management based on the precautionary principle. Other countries are aware of this, and we experience great interest in Brussels for the Norwegian management models," says Berg-Hansen, who spent a lot of time on this issue in the parliament.

Norway and the EU have a significant voice in fisheries management globally. Matters discussed at the meetings included reform of EU's common fishery policy, trading in seafood and fisheries management.

"The EU is now in the middle of its process of reform of its common fisheries policy. I have expressed my full support for commissioner Damanaki’s proposal to introduce a ban on discards of fish. This is an important matter, and I highly appreciate the close dialogue we have with commissioner Damanaki and the fisheries committee of the European Parliament," says Berg-Hansen.