Fisheries

Fish and seafood are highly valued by consumers. Germany is only about 20 percent self-sufficient in respect of fish. Nevertheless, the coastal fishing sector still plays an important role, as it also processes the large quantities of fish that are imported from all over the world, especially from Norway and China, but also from other EU states.

Overview of topics

The German fishing industry

The German fishing industry constitutes an important, modern economic factor that provides both a sense of identity for the region and work for more than 30,000 people – in fishing, in fish processing and in the retail and catering trades.

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Germany’s Proposal for a Marine Protected Area in Antarctica

The Federal Government strongly advocates the expansion of marine protected areas in Antarctica and submitted a request for a marine protected area (MPA) in the Weddell Sea to the international Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) as early as 2016. Unfortunately, however, it has since then not been possible to have this proposal adopted within the framework of CCAMLR, as the necessary consensus within CCAMLR, which counts a total of 27 members, has to date not been achieved.

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Protecting the marine environment

On the basis of international marine protection agreements, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) is involved in improving the state of the North and Baltic Seas as well as the North Atlantic. This involves following through on national and international commitments.

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Whale conservation

The Federal Government of Germany is resolutely opposed to commercial whaling. This also applies to scientific whaling.

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