European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis announced that he embarks on a series visits to coastal regions of Europe as of Friday, “beginning symbolically from Cyprus.” Kadis met on Thursday with Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Maria Panayiotou, in Nicosia, to discuss issues pertaining to his portfolio.
After the meeting, which lasted for more than an hour in the presence of officials, Kadis told journalists that they exchanged views with the Minister on the thematic areas covered by his portfolio, noting that they also affect Cyprus as an island state.
“So I presented the priorities of the European Commission and I listened carefully to the issues that present challenges for the fisheries sector in Cyprus”, the Commissioner said and added that on Friday he will attend together with the Minister of Agriculture a meeting with representatives from the fisheries sector. “It is our moral obligation to listen to the people who at the end of the day implement the policies that we decide” he went on.
Asked whether there are more meetings planned with fishermen from other parts of Europe, Kadis replied that “tomorrow a tour starts from Cyprus symbolically and will reach all the coastal areas of Europe, even the offshore areas, the isolated island regions of Europe.”
He also pointed out that the fisheries sector has certain characteristics in Cyprus, noting that there is the issue of the obstruction of Cyprus’ fishing vessels and issues concerning fishing grounds in which they can fish, but also issues from invasive species which cause damage to the fisheries sector and affect the fish stocks.
For her part, Panayiotou said that it is very important that supporting coastal fisheries is among the Commission’s priorities, stressing that “we want to ensure the sustainability of our fishermen who every day, through difficult weather conditions, are really struggling to stay in the field and remain sustainable.”
The Minister added that “the problems raised by the Commissioner are the ones that we know very well that they (the fishermen) strive with, and we are trying to solve them, always in cooperation with the Commission, so that we can be there for them in a practical way.”