There are too few fish, and too many boats trawling EU seas. This has led to a dramatic drop in fish stocks. Member States came together to vote on fishing quotas in order to reverse this trend.

Flashback:  Re-stocking fish in EU seas

The truth is: we have too many boats   and too few fish in the EU.

Measures are being taken   for this industry

In recent years, fishing quotas   were introduced for some species,

the fleet was drastically reduced   and the EU prepared the ground

for a full-fledged reform   to come into force from 2013.

Europeans have almost   fished their seas to exhaustion.

This is why some species on the verge   of extinction have a special quota,

Fishing quotas went from 28,500   tonnes in 2008 to 22,000 in 2009.

The aim is to lower the cap   to 19,950 in 2010.

That amounts to a 30%   reduction in 2 years.

For us it is important to keep the balance   between this sector's economic health

WE NEED A LONG TERM   PERSPECTIVE, Pedro Guerreiro.

We need to define which resources   are available based on scientific studies

and the socio-economic   consequences of their use.

Officially, the European Parliament   has no say on fisheries policy,

but the 27 take their support   into consideration.

This happened at the end of this   mandate with wide media coverage

when MEP's voted with urgency in favour   of fishing quotas for bluefin tuna in 2009.

Environmental NGO's lobbied to prevent   this good will from coming to nothing.

Preventing illegal fishing was   another EU goal during this mandate.

a new EU law would see fines ranging   from 5,000 to 300,000 euros.

Regarding illegal sea fishing, some   countries like Denmark went further

and fixed cameras to the boats   to detect irregularities.

EU fleets have already decreased   dramatically.

It went from 97,678 boats   in 1999 to 88,188 en 2007.

The harsh reality is no longer questioned:   the sector needs restructuring.

European fisheries   need a new direction.