FISH has in collaboration with a wide network of international and national NGOS, under the lead by Seas At Risk, produced a joint NGO paper on priorities for the MSFD programmes of measures.
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is the first all-encompassing piece of European legislation specifically aimed at the protection of the marine environment, with the ultimate objective to achieve a Good Environmental Status (GES) in all European waters by 2020 at the latest. The directive is now at a phase where countries must adopt programmes detailing the necessary measures to achieve Good Environmental Status by 2020.
Early and effective public participation and consultation in the development of the programmes of measures is a prerequisite for their success. The joint NGO paper aims to facilitate the participation process and to support NGOs and national authorities in their work with developing measures. It includes the priority measures and targets NGOs would like to see implemented for a selection of the MSFD descriptors, i.e. commercial fish and shellfish, biodiversity, eutrophication, contaminants and marine litter, as well as recommendations for the establishment of an ecologically coherent network of well-managed marine protected areas. It also provides good practice guidance for organising effective public participation and consultation.