The national fishing sector has high expectations regarding the results it can achieve after the meeting of its representatives this Thursday, February 23, with the delegation of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament that is visiting the country.

A delegation made up of members of the European Parliament, led by the President of the Commission, Frenchman Pierre Karleskind, planned to arrive in the country this Wednesday to familiarize themselves with the progress made by Ecuador and international obligations in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing., after that the country received a “yellow card” from the European Union in 2019, a status they also want to cancel after this visit.

Ecuador will invest 18 million dollars to control illegal fishing and thereby guarantee its exports to Europe

This was stated by the president of the National Chamber of Fisheries, Bruno Leone, who assured that the meeting with the European delegation will be held this Thursday at 11:00 in Manta (Manabí).

“We will propose, show them that we have made an effort since we received the yellow card, in October 2019, today we have a new Fisheries Act, a new regulation, sanctioning is much stronger, controls are carried out and now with our electronic platform we are almost ready for control processes related to fisheries management and everything related to import fishing,” Leone pointed out.

The leader hopes that after showing the progress Ecuador has made in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, the European delegates will present their criteria to the Parliament and recommend that the process of lifting the yellow card notification be initiated. , which is to warn about the improvement of the legal framework and its fight against illegal fishing.

In addition, European delegates will be shown the importance of fishing for the country’s economy.

Fishing is one of Ecuador’s main export products. Canned fish is the third non-oil shipment from the country to the world, after shrimp and bananas.

In 2022, these sales amounted to 1,367 million dollars, with a growth of 8%; while fish exports reached $269 million and instead recorded a 7% decline, according to official Central Bank data released by the Ministry of Production.

The Commission of the European Parliament is coming to assess how Ecuador is dealing with illegal fishing

Another aspect that will be presented to the parliamentary group is that of autonomous contingents, Leone said. On this issue, the leader explained that he will try to apply the same requirements to Ecuador to other producing countries.

“If so many controls and so many measures for the healthy management of marine resources are required of us, small countries, the same must be required of other fishing nations, I am talking specifically about Asian countries that undertake almost 98% of the autonomous contingent of pre-cooked and frozen tuna loins that Europe puts it into force,” he said.

On the other hand, the delegation which, in addition to Karleskind, includes Predrag Fred Matić (Croatia), vice president of the Commission; Gabriel Mato (Spain), Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (Spain), Rosanna Conte (Italy), Ladislav Ilčić (Croatia) and Francisco Millán Mon (Spain), will also meet with the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Julio José Prado , and with other national bodies, as well as with interlocutors from the aquaculture sector.

In addition to visiting the Manta International Port Terminal, the San Mateo Artisanal Fishing Port, the Eurofish Tuna Processing Plant and the Fisheries Monitoring Center.