Cyprus committed to improving fish stocks

Cyprus remains committed to improving the state of fish stocks, Director of the Environment Department Kostas Hadjipanayiotou said on Monday.

It is important to achieve sustainability of the fishing sector the director said, especially for small-scale fleets and to eliminate illegal fishing.

Hadjipanayiotou spoke at the MedFish4Ever conference in Malta, which focussed on challenges for fishing in the Mediterranean region.

“For the last six years, we have been working to achieve the goals of the MedFish4ever Declaration and, although important steps have been taken, the situation of some stocks remains vulnerable,” Hadjipanayiotou told the conference.

Cyprus is continuing to collect data on the issue to assess Mediterranean fish stocks and the impact of the fishing sector on the ecosystem.

“Since 2019, we have also […] significantly improved our knowledge of recreational fishing, which is an important activity in Cyprus, and recently, we have implemented an electronic catch-reporting application,” the director said.

The application is expected to enable better monitoring and regulation of recreational fishing on the island.

Hadjipanayiotou said the MedFish4Ever declaration had made it easier to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which takes advantage of the lack of uniform application of rules and technical measures and gaps in digital cooperation between coastal states.

Cyprus is contributing to improvement in this area by deploying remote electronic monitoring systems ((REMs) that operate in international waters and monitor stocks under management plans.

Moreover, Cyprus has designated managed marine protected areas (MPAs) under various protection regimes, such as SPAMI, Natura 2000, and MPAs with artificial reefs. Additionally it has established an offshore fishing prohibited area (FRA) covering the sea mount Eratosthenes, which represents approximately 19 per cent of the total marine area of the island, including its EEZ (exclusive economic zone).

These actions contribute substantially to the EU biodiversity strategy which aims to safeguard 30 per cent of Europe’s seas by in 2030, Hadjipanayiotou said.

On the sidelines of the conference, the Cyprus fisheries and marine research department received an award for the innovative use of REM, including CCTV technology.