New organization established to develop fisheries in Europe

Eurofish, a new international organization for the development of fisheries in Eastern and Central Europe, has officially come into existence with the signature of the constituent agreement by Romania, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization announced today.

In a statement issued at its Headquarters in Rome, the agency said Romania was the fifth country to become a member of Eurofish, together with Latvia, Albania, Denmark and Norway.

Several other European countries are also expected to join Eurofish during its first Governing Council session in Copenhagen next January, FAO said. The Council will decide on the work plan, staff arrangements and other key issues of Eurofish, which will continue to build on the activities of Eastfish, a trust fund project established by the Danish Government in 1996 and managed by FAO.

For six years Eastfish has been supporting the development and modernization of aquaculture and fish processing in Central and Eastern Europe, promoting private sector investment and partnership, developing projects with governments and acting as a catalyst for trade and market opportunities. Eurofish will also be a member of the FISH INFOnetwork, a network of regional marketing information services that FAO set up in the late 1970s.

Through GLOBEFISH, a unit in its Fisheries Department, FAO plays a coordinating role in the INFOnetwork activities. Other members of INFOnetwork are INFOPESCA for South and Central America, INFOFISH for Asia and the Pacific), INFOPECHE for Africa, INFOSAMAK for the Arab Countries, EASTFISH for Eastern and Central Europe and INFOYU for China.