Decisions from a conference in 2006 arranged by DG MARE, the EU Commission’s office for fisheries and other maritime issues, included the setting up a website on energy efficiency in fisheries. That website is now operative.
The aim to of the website is to spread information on that topic and share experiences relating to it. It includes reference documents and studies related to energy savings in fisheries, information on relevant EU research and funding opportunities, specific EU projects, past and upcoming events related to this issue and EU legislation.
DG MARE expects that its content will be enhanced with contributions from stakeholders, scientists and technologists.
“Energy efficiency is a key to profitability and has become not just a political but also a scientific issue”, the directorate says on the website, adding that “EU fishing fleets expend vast quantities of energy and that low overall efficiency is caused not by high oil costs but by structural deficiencies”.