Joint activities benefit fisheries community
The primary role of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) is to coordinate and support national control and inspection activities, ensuring the effective implementation and compliance with the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) is approaching its 20th anniversary, marking two decades of dedication to effective and uniform fisheries control, inspection, and compliance. The agency’s work significantly enhances sustainable fisheries by ensuring adherence to conservation and management measures, benefiting both current and future generations. Additionally, EFCA fosters a level playing field across Europe’s fishing industry, guaranteeing that European obligations are uniformly observed and that all sectors receive equal treatment, regardless of their location.
EU institutions agreed to establish a European coast guard cooperation to further support national authorities carrying out coast guard functions. For that purpose, three European Union agencies, the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), the European Maritime Safety Agency EMSA), and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) amended their regulations in 2016. A tripartite working arrangement (TWA) was agreed to define the modalities of the cooperation between the three agencies. The aim is to support national competent authorities in the implementation of coast guard functions cross-sector and cross-border. The interagency cooperation has become part of the daily work of the three agencies.
As a result, EFCA, EMSA, and Frontex maintain and deepen their cooperation in the five areas defined by the common article in the respective founding regulations: information sharing, surveillance and communication services, capacity building, risk analysis, and capacity sharing. Since 2017, EFCA is tasked with cooperating with the other two agencies to support the Member States’ competent authorities. A significant segment of EFCA’s work is its support to national authorities responsible for various coast guard functions including fisheries control.
The activities agreed by the three agencies cover a wide range of issues:
- Cooperation with coast guard fora
- Implementation of the European Union Maritime Security Strategy
- Sharing of information
- Surveillance and communication services
- Capacity building
- Risk assessment
- Sharing of assets
The implementation of these actions is based on the annual strategic plan agreed between the three agencies, (EMSA, Frontex and EFCA) under the TWA. It includes cooperation actions between agencies in support of Member State authorities, comprising the organisation of seminars and workshops. EFCA also involves Member State authorities and promotes the implementation of multipurpose maritime operations in the areas where a joint deployment plan (JDP) is implemented. The cooperation with EMSA and Frontex was evaluated positively and is carried out effectively by the Independent Evaluation of EFCA (2017-2021).
EFCA is implementing a DG MARE dedicated project (2022– 2027) to promote coast guard cooperation. A web portal has been developed that hosts the practical handbook on European cooperation on coast guard functions. Available at coastguard. europa.eu it is also adding joint activities and outcomes of coast guard cooperation. The project also caters to the exchange programme for national authorities implementing coast guard functions that was launched last year under the coast guard project implemented by EFCA in close cooperation with EMSA and Frontex.
Through this programme, this year coast guard authorities and entities from nine Member States (Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain) and Iceland offered a total of places as hosts. There are different types of exchanges offered. that cover all coast guard functions, sea and air activities. It is important to note that the programme is intended to promote the exchange of knowledge, experience, best practices, and lessons learned. This is a very relevant topic today, bearing also in mind the high number of authorities that have responsibilities related to coast guard functions in Europe.
Positive effects on the fisheries community
Of direct benefit to the fisheries community is the availability of digital tools the European Coast Guard cooperation enabled, such as the integrated maritime service (IMS) for EFCA, which is dedicated to the fisheries control community, and which has been developed in cooperation with EMSA. The IMS for EFCA is an operational fisheries control geographical information system available for the fisheries control community in Member States, for EFCA staff and DG MARE users. The system is managed and hosted by EMSA and developed in close cooperation with EFCA. The system, using data in the general IMS system managed by EMSA, displays and stores different sources of vessel position data going back up to five years. There are around 1 300 users from the fisheries community. Another benefit is the availability of satellite imagery for fisheries control purposes. The Copernicus satellite imagery for fisheries authorities provided more than 1 300 images as well last year.
EFCA supports national authorities in carrying out coast guard functions by, among other things, sharing capacity by planning and implementing multipurpose operations and by sharing assets and other capabilities, to the extent that those activities are coordinated by those agencies and are agreed to by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned. Three vessels were therefore chartered for fisheries inspection and control as a primary task but were also able to serve as a multipurpose platform, in coherence with the mandate of EFCA to support the European coast guard initiative and provide added value to the national authorities in charge of coast guard functions. EFCA’s fleet consists of three offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) chartered, namely Ocean Guardian, Ocean Protector, and Ocean Sentinel. These vessels have been assigned as fisheries inspection platforms for joint deployment plans in line with the JDP planning (Western Waters, North Sea, and Mediterranean JDPs). The activities of EFCA´s offshore patrol vessels also benefit from the European Coast Guard cooperation. The remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) services from EMSA are available to the different communities and the service provided by the airplanes chartered through the cooperation with Frontex for maritime surveillance also serves the fisheries control community. It is worth adding that, besides fisheries control tasks, the EFCA’s patrol vessels are made available to multipurpose tasks in the framework of European cooperation on coastguard functions, such as assistance and pollution response operations, in cooperation with Member State authorities, Frontex and EMSA. The latter provided Ocean Sentinel and Ocean Guardian with oil dispersant spray booms, and an oil recovery trawl, to neutralise oil spills. This pollution response capacity was available to the EU Member States at their request.
In terms of operational cooperation with Frontex, the agency, based in Warsaw, is sharing with EFCA sightings from its operations. EFCA, thanks to the existing interinstitutional framework contract for air surveillance with Frontex, managed to charter air surveillance services, that in 2023 were deployed in the framework of the Baltic Sea (14 flights), North Sea (15 flights), Western Waters (15 flights), and the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (23 flights) joint deployment plans, and within the multipurpose maritime operation Adria, all coordinated in cooperation with the Member States concerned. Procurement for flights is shared with Frontex. All these examples show an integration of activities that make operations more efficient and cost effective.
Multipurpose maritime operations
Another important activity reflecting the European coast guard cooperation is the implementation of multipurpose maritime operations. The first such operations were led by Frontex in the Black Sea, and they are now being implemented in different sea basins. This year they were held in La Manche, the Adriatic Sea, the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. The aim of these operations is to enhance European cooperation on coast guard functions by providing increased technical and operational assistance to the host Member States by coordinating operational activities. The MMO in the Adriatic Sea from 16 September until 9 October 2024 was agreed between EFCA, EMSA and Frontex in cooperation with the authorities of Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. The operational activities were conducted in an operational area that included Italian, Slovenian, and Croatian sovereignty waters, contiguous zones, exclusive economic zones and international waters of the Adriatic Sea.
EFCA as the leading agency contributed with one offshore patrol vessel, the Ocean Sentinel, one fixed wing aircraft, and different systems supporting the operation. EMSA provided remotely piloted aircraft systems on board the patrol vessel and the maritime picture via the agency’s integrated maritime services. Frontex was supported by Croatia with three coastal patrol boats.
A model for collaboration with other agencies
The outcome of the cooperation just outlined is enriched through the cooperation framework with the European coast guard functions forum which has many member organisations. The agencies organise thematic workshops with the forum each year where open discussions at a technical level take place. In addition, fisheries communities receive training in aspects of common interest such as safety at sea and maritime surveillance. Moreover, exchange of risk methodologies used by other communities has been enhanced. The three agencies have got to know each other and are now used to working together. The cooperation between them provides a basis for cooperation with other EU agencies with different possibilities to participate in projects and to learn about new technologies that might be incorporated in fisheries control in the future. It is clear that the European cooperation on coast guard functions is an added value for Member States fisheries control authorities and for EFCA.
Pedro GALACHE
Head of Unit Strategy and Cooperation
European Fisheries Control Agency
Edificio Odriozola, Av. García Barbón 4
36201 Vigo
Spain
efca.europa.eu