Past Events

Chair: Jan-Dag Pohlmann Online meeting

• ICES meeting calendar details
• WGEEL information

• Meeting information

• IWC68 Meeting information

Decision-makers of today meet region builders of tomorrow to discuss sustainability in the Baltic Sea region. Aimed at Baltic residents between 16 and 30 years old. Register before 30 April!

• Event information
• Registration

The West Coast Maritime Week is an initiative from Region Västra Götaland in Sweden to increase awareness of our marine environment and the sustainable use of its resources. During the Week, hundreds of activities will be taking place along the Swedish West Coast, from Ängelholm in the south to Strömstad in the north.

• More information about Västerhavsveckan

After consultation with the Member States and the relevant Advisory Councils, the European Commission has put forward a proposal to extend the current derogation under the CFP (Art. 5.2 of Regulation 1380/2013) from the rule of equal access to waters, which authorises the Member States to restrict fishing in the coastal zone, up to 12 nautical miles. This derogation tends to honour historical agreements with neighbouring countries, and also enables Member States to reduce the fishing pressure in biologically sensitive areas and provide stability for small-scale coastal fisheries. Unless it is extended, the derogation expires on 31 December 2022. This adopted act is open for feedback for a minimum period of 8 weeks. To provide feedback, see the link below.

• COM initiative and feedback process

Online seminar in Swedish, 13:00 - 13:45. More information here.

The date is tentative due to the pandemic. The seventh Our Ocean Conference will draw partners globally to identify solutions to sustainably manage marine resources, increase the ocean’s resilience to climate change and safeguard its health for generations to come. This meeting was originally scheduled to take place in December 2020 in Palau. It has been postponed, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The six areas originally selected for the focus of the conference are as follows: climate change, marine pollution, marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, sustainable blue economy, and maritime security. The sixth Our Ocean Conference took place in Oslo, Norway, from 23-24 October 2019.  A SDG Knowledge Hub Summary is available here. Summaries for previous years are also available for: 2017,  2016, 2015 and 2014. Website

On 25 June 2021, OSPAR will hold a ministerial meeting hosted by the Government of Portugal in Lisbon. The meeting had originally been planned for June 2020 but was postponed in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the on-going uncertainty around COVID-19, the arrangements for the meeting will be kept under review. The meeting will look back at OSPAR's 2010-2020 strategy and celebrate successes. It will also look to the future with the launch of a new 2020-2030 strategy and work towards what still needs to be done to achieve OSPAR's vision of "a clean, healthy North-East Atlantic, used sustainably".  

• Meeting information

The European Commission is inviting views on a draft Implementing Regulation regarding the identification of energy efficient technologies and a proposed methodology to determine the normal fishing effort of fishing vessels. The initiative establishes a methodology for measuring the reduction of CO₂ emissions from different fishing vessel engines, in order to provide a harmonised framework covering all Member States. It is related to the inclusion of funding for replacement or modernisation of a main or ancillary engine of a fishing vessels of up to 24 metres into the new European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF). Any vessel between 12–24 metres that receives such support, must ensure that the engine emits at least 20 % less CO₂ or uses 20 % less fuel than the previous engine. The consultation is open from 25 June to 23 July 2021.

• Commission initiative and consultation