Hybrid Event: The need for effective protection of shellfish waters – Ensuring access and quality of space

Tuesday 12 July 2022, 17:30 – 19:00 CEST

Address: Rue Wiertz 60, 1047 Bruxelles, Belgium
Room: ASP 5G1

Hybrid event hosted by MEP Pierre Karleskind

Chair of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament, and
Co-Chair of the ‘Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture’ Working Group of the European Parliament Intergroup on ‘Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development‘

EVENT REGISTRATION:

• If you would like to physically attend the meeting at the European Parliament, please fill in the Physical Attendance Registration Form

• If you would like to join the event online, please fill in the Online Attendance Registration Form.

With the European Green Deal, Europe aims to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, while stimulating the economy, improving the health and quality of citizens’ lives, enhancing biodiversity and building a sustainable future ahead. Towards this direction, aquaculture, and particularly shellfish farming, has a key role to play, in response to the need to develop a food industry, that is compatible with the fight against climate change. In addition to producing food of high nutritional value, shellfish farming plays an essential role in European food security and contributes to the socio-economic network of the coasts. Finally, it is important to note the low footprint production methods in aquaculture for harvesting and farming, as well as the provision of remarkable ecosystem services.

For all these reasons, shellfish farming fits perfectly into the European Green Deal’s vision. However, one of the major problems encountered in addition to access to space, is the quality of this space, in particular the quality of the water. Therefore, the effective development of European shellfish farming requires the establishment of a protection zone around the shellfish production areas, which implies the creation of a legislative tool which gives a specific status to these areas. As a result, this upcoming event of the European Parliament Intergroup on ‘Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development’ aims at addressing relevant challenges and opportunities ahead, warmly welcoming the key input of other EU institutions, NGOs, research institutes and the private sector, in order to unlock the full potential and multiple advantages of shellfish waters’ protection.

FINAL AGENDA:

17:30 – 17:40:    Welcome remarks by MEP Pierre Karleskind, Chair of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament, and Co-Chair of the ‘Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture’ Working Group of the European Parliament Intergroup on ‘Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development‘

17:40 – 17:55:    Presentation by Philippe Le Gal, President, CNC France

17:55 – 18:05:    Intervention by Veronica Manfredi, Director of Dir. C on ‘Zero Pollution’, DG ENV, European Commission

18:05 – 18:35:    Panel discussion with the participation of:

• Aad Smaal, Professor and Chair of the Sustainable Shellfish Culture at Wageningen University
• David Bassett, Secretary General, EATiP
• Karin Dubsky, International Coordinator, Coastwatch Europe
• Bruno Guillaumie, Secretary General, European Molluscs’ Producers Association (EMPA)

18:35 – 18:55:    Q&A session with the audience

18:55 – 19:00:    Closing remarks by MEP Pierre Karleskind, Chair of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament, and Co-Chair of the ‘Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture’ Working Group of the European Parliament Intergroup on ‘Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development‘