Developed as part of the EU Social Partners’ latest project under the Sea Fisheries Social Dialogue Committee, the platform goes far beyond a traditional project website. It captures the outcomes of years of cooperation between workers and employers in the fisheries sector and positions them within a broader strategy for sustainable and socially just fisheries.

“We often see how lack of access to clear information can cause parties to get stuck in developments. This publicly-accessible platform is designed to provide everyone with relevant updates on social policy actions, in a user-friendly way. It’s more than just a digital space, it’s a living tool that gives access to useful material, tools and policy recommendations with the purpose to improve the social dimension of fisheries,” said Cor Blonk, Chair of the Sea Fisheries Social Dialogue Committee.

Recognised in the 2020 Eurofound report[1] as the representative bodies for the sector, Europêche and ETF have been central actors in EU social dialogue. Their work through the Committee continues to produce results with international relevance.

Shaping global standards

The Committee’s policy work and actions extend well beyond the EU:

• The Guidelines on the Medical Examination of Fishers, developed by the social partners, were adopted at the joint ILO–IMO committee meeting in February 2024 and are being proposed as the basis for an IMO model course[2].
• The Fair Recruitment Guidelines of Migrant Fishers, developed under the latest project, will serve as a reference during the ILO’s 2025 Tripartite Meeting of Experts, helping shape new international standards for fair recruitment in the fishing sector[3].

These developments highlight the Committee’s growing voice in global labour policy and its ability to turn dialogue into meaningful, institutional change. “Social dialogue is more than just dialogue, it’s about delivering meaningful impact on the ground”, said Juan Manuel Trujillo, Workers’ Spokesperson. “This platform reflects our impact and opens up new ways to share knowledge, tools, and ideas with the entire fishing community helping to build a stronger, safer and more attractive sector.”

What the platform offers

The new digital hub features key components of the Committee’s joint work:

• A clear introduction to who we are and how EU-level social dialogue functions in the fisheries sector;
• Access to core tools and deliverables, including the Fishery Speak App, Recruitment Guidelines, and Medical Examination Guidelines;
• Dedicated space for project outcomes;
• A hub section to keep stakeholders informed and engaged with the Committee’s ongoing work.

The platform is designed as a living tool that will grow and incorporate future actions, guidance and contributions from across the EU fisheries community.

As the fisheries sector continues to face complex challenges — from labour shortages and safety risks to climate pressures — this new hub offers a shared space for solutions, dialogue and action, built on the work of social partners.

The platform is available at: https://socialdialogueseafisheries.eu

[1] Eurofound (2020). Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Sea fisheries sector. Study for the Sectoral Social Dialogue Series. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin. Available online.

[2] International Labour Organization (2024). New guidelines on medical examination of fishers adopted by the International Labour Organization and International Maritime Organization. News release, 22 February 2024. Available online.

[3] International Labour Organization (2024). ILO underlines power of social dialogue to promote decent work in fisheries. News release, 5 December 2024. Available online.

Press Contact:

Rosalie Tukker, Senior Policy Advisor of Europêche │ Email: rosalie.tukker@europeche.org 

Andrea Albertazzi, Fisheries Policy Officer of ETF │ Email: a.albertazzi@etf-europe.org

EU Social Dialogue Press Release – New digital hub

With the support from the European Commission, Pillars of the Sea 3 united industry specialists and stakeholders to deliver actionable solutions that address social sustainability in the fisheries sector. The initiative, part of the European Social Dialogue for Sea Fisheries, emphasises fair recruitment, worker safety, occupational health, and effective communication for multinational crews, paving the way for a safer and more worker-friendly industry worldwide.

Social Partners expressed appreciation for the European Parliament’s support, particularly from MEPs Casares and Cabral, in highlighting essential advancements and tools designed to strengthen fair labour practices, safety, and health standards within the EU fishing industry and beyond. The sector also aims to foster socially responsible fish sourcing and consumption within the EU market. ‘We invite policymakers to use the tools and policy recommendations developed under this initiative to continue advancing the social dimension of fisheries and ensure comprehensive sustainability across the EU.’

With strong participation from the International Labour Organization (ILO), the conference highlighted the project’s global impact on fishers’ health and safety. The ILO Director for the EU, Verboven, closed the event, underscoring a shared commitment to improving working conditions at sea. Representatives from ILO’s EU and international offices attended, showing support for the project’s health initiatives.

In an earlier phase, the EU Social Partners, in collaboration with the International Maritime Health Association (IMHA), developed vital guidelines for fishers’ medical exams, which the ILO and International Maritime Organization (IMO) officially adopted in February. Building on this success, the new project phase offers a dedicated Training Programme for medical practitioners, helping them conduct fitness exams required under the ILO’s Work in Fishing Convention (C188). With the IMO’s upcoming revised Code (IMO’s Code of the International Convention on the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel) soon to introduce similar requirements, these combined efforts are set to strengthen health standards across the fishing industry worldwide.

Key Areas of Focus for ‘Pillars of the Sea 3’:

1. Trade measures to combat forced labour in fisheries
   The project examined the potential for EU customs authorities to restrict seafood imports from vessels or countries with documented labour abuses, including forced and child labour. This effort seeks to protect human rights and foster sustainable practices throughout the seafood supply chain, in line with the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy.
2. Guidelines for fair recruitment of migrant fishers
   This pillar provides comprehensive guidelines for fishing companies and crew agencies to promote ethical recruitment practices and uphold workers’ rights as well as model contracts of employment based on EU legislation and international labour standards. These guidelines aim to enhance transparency in hiring and to attract skilled young professionals to the fishing industry.
3. Training programme for medical examination of fishers
   Addressing fishers’ specific occupational health needs, the project developed a training program for medical practitioners authorised to conduct mandatory medical exams for fishers under ILO’s Work in Fishing Convention (C188). This programme ensures that practitioners can identify and manage the unique health risks associated with fishing.
4. ‘Fishery Speak’ Mobile App
   Based on feedback from stakeholders, the project enhanced the Fishery Speak mobile application, a mobile glossary of essential maritime terms, by adding new languages and functionalities. These updates improve communication among multinational crews, contributing to safety and effectiveness on board.

Support and Vision for the Future

The conference, held at the European Parliament, underscored Europêche and ETF’s commitment to advancing the Common Fisheries Policy’s social objectives. With the European Commission’s support, this project tackles labour rights, ethical recruitment, occupational health, and the global fight against forced labour, setting a new standard for socially responsible and sustainable fishing practices.

Co-funded by the EU under the Social Dialogue Support Program (Project Number: 101051878), Pillars of the Sea 3 is a 2-year project that began on September 1, 2022, and is set to conclude in 2024.

Press contact:

Rosalie Tukker, Europêche Senior Policy Advisor: rosalie.tukker@europeche.org

Andrea Albertazzi, ETF Fisheries Policy Officer: a.albertazzi@etf-europe.org

EU Social Partness Press Release – Dissemination Conference Pillars of the Sea

Our Journey and Achievements

In previous work, the EU Social Partners in the fisheries sector created comprehensive medical guidelines for fishers. We are thrilled to announce that these guidelines have been adopted globally by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). This new set of guidelines, finalised during a joint meeting from 12 to 16 February 2024 in Geneva, will help improve the medical examination process for fishers worldwide. These guidelines, developed in collaboration with the International Maritime Health Association (IMHA), aim to ensure that fishers are healthy and fit for their important but demanding roles, ultimately improving their health and safety at sea. The IMO will introduce a similar requirement through its newly developed Code of the International Convention on the Standards of Training and Certification of Watchkeeping of Fishing Vessel Personnel (STCW-F).

Project Overview

“Pillars of the Sea 3” builds on our previous achievements, addressing various pressing issues through its four key pillars:

1. Guidelines for the Recruitment of Migrant Fishers: This pillar continues the development of model contracts to facilitate compliance with EU and international labour regulations, addressing abusive and fraudulent practices in recruitment.
2. Training Programme for Medical Practitioners: Building on the guidelines developed in the previous project, this pillar aims to train medical practitioners in the specific health risks associated with fishing, ensuring they can provide appropriate medical care and certification.
3. Legal Analysis on Market and Custom Tools to Combat Forced Labor: This pillar explores the potential for EU customs and legislative tools to restrict seafood imports from vessels or countries identified for labour abuses, aligning with the EU’s commitment to human rights and sustainability.
4. Refining the ‘Fishery Speak’ App: Enhancing this interactive glossary with additional languages and technical updates to improve communication and safety on board fishing vessels.

Join Us at Our Dissemination Conference

We invite policymakers, fisheries stakeholders, and media to keep an eye out for the upcoming dissemination conference in the fourth quarter of the year in Brussels, date to be determined. This event will highlight the impactful results of our project and discuss future steps toward ensuring socially sustainable fishing practices in the EU and beyond.

Background

Fishing, a fundamental yet challenging industry, has often seen legislative attention centred on environmental issues, overshadowing the essential working conditions of fishers. The sector suffers from low ratification levels of international conventions on fishers’ working conditions and a lack of coordination among national and international bodies. This gap has led to a decline in EU citizens joining the profession and labour challenges worldwide.

 Press contact: 

Rosalie Tukker, Europêche Senior Policy Advisor, rosalie.tukker@europeche.org

Social Partness Press Release – Enhancing Social Sustainability in EU Fisheries

Safety and health at sea have always been a top priority for both partner organisations involved in the EU project. This action seeks to propose concrete improvements to the EU fisheries policies that could offer better health, working conditions and safety at sea for fishers. In addition, the project aims at enhancing socially responsible fish sourcing and consumption in the EU market.

The activities of the project will run for the next two years. The Social Partners will meet during the European Maritime days of 2023 (Brest, France) and of 2024 (Svendborg, Denmark) to assess, measure and make progress. The final results will be presented in Brussels in the second half of 2024.

About the EU project

The project, co-funded by the EU, partially implements the work programme of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Sea Fishing in order to significantly make progress in various key areas of interest for Social Partners.

Pillar 1: Guidelines for vessel owners on decent recruitment of migrant fishers. The guidelines will be based on EU legislation and other binding international instruments and be used to constitute model contracts between a fisher and a private employment agency, between a fishing vessel owner and a private employment agency, and fisher’s work agreement.

To be developed by international expert on social affairs, Estelle Brendtall.

Pillar 2: Training programme for doctors performing medical examination of fishers. In the previous project, the Social Partners successfully developed guidelines on the medical examination of fishers. As a continuation of this work, it is essential for doctors, who conduct medical examinations and issue medical certificates, to receive training via guidance which fit the specificities of sea fishers.

To be developed by International Maritime Health Association (IMHA).

Pillar 3: Legal analysis on market and custom tools to combat forced labour in the fishing industry. This pillar will explore the possibility for EU to restrict or prohibit seafood imports from fishing vessels or countries identified for child or serious labour abuse including no respect of basic human rights on board fishing vessels.

To be developed by Marinnleg foundation.

Pillar 4: Upgrade of the ‘’Fishery Speak’ app, an interactive glossary, providing an overview of the main phrases used on board a fishing vessel. The aim of this upgrade is therefore to add further languages identified as essential and the necessary uploads and technical updates of the mobile application.

To be developed by IT company, Innatial developers SL.

Press contacts:

Daniel Voces, Europêche Managing Director (+32.2.230.48.48 or daniel.voces@europeche.org)

Andrea Albertazzi, ETF Fisheries Policy Officer (+32.470.93.05.89 or a.albertazzi@etf-europe.org)

EP Press Release – Launch pillars of the sea

The appalling absence of officials from the Directorate-General on Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) at the Social Dialogue meeting dedicated to discussing the status of the Mediterranean was harshly criticized by the Social Partners. ETF, Europêche and Copa-Cogeca stressed that their Committee is a key actor of the democratic legislative process, enshrined in the EU Treaty, that cannot be overlooked.

The Social Partners called for fisheries policies based on proper socio-economic impact assessments and for fisheries management measures that fishers can cope with. See their Resolution.

Juan Manuel Trujillo, ETF Fisheries Section Chair stated: “We want to have a thriving Mediterranean fishing sector that is sustainable from an environmental point of view. But at the same time, we want the industry also to be capable of offering quality jobs to  Europeans citizens and long-term economic perspective to companies”. He warns that under no circumstances the social partners “want to end up in a situation where the consumption of fishing products in the EU is delegated to imports of products of doubtful origin”.

During the meeting, the Social Partners also insisted on the need to wait for the results of scientific evaluations measuring the effects of the restrictions introduced in 2019-2021 to adjust fishing effort before proposing further reductions that would only make the sector to suffer even more.

Europêche’s spokesperson in the European social dialogue, Ment van der Zwan, added: ‘’Aware of the delicate situation in the Mediterranean Sea, the fishing sector is already taking its responsibility, reducing its activity at sea, which is benefiting the recovery of fish stocks as reported by scientific data. Yet, the obstinate application of the multiannual management plan on the Western Mediterranean, which has already reduced trawler fishing activity by 17.5% over the past two years (23.5% in 2022) accompanied by new measures restricting fishing operations, is driving most businesses below their breakeven point. The situation is untenable, we are destroying our own coastal communities, our culture, our heritage, to reach short-term unrealistic EU policy objectives”.

Social Partners Press Release – Viable and Sustainable Fishing Activity in the Mediterranean Sea

Sea fishing is a remote profession and therefore deprived from immediate medical assistance at a level shore-based people can rely on. In relation with the relevant safety challenges performing their work at sea, it’s important that fishers on board fishing vessels are qualified and fit for their duties. This reality is well recognised by international and European legislation[1] which require fishers to hold a valid medical certificate issued in accordance with their provisions.

In practice, however, despite the obligation for fishers to hold a medical certificate, there are no specific international guidelines for the medical examination of fishers, in stark contrast with merchant seafarers.

“In the making of international medical guidelines for the examination of seafarers, fishers were shockingly excluded. While certain countries apply guidelines for seafarers to fishers, those guidelines haven’t been designed with that goal in mind, and they don’t completely fit specificities of sea fishing”, said Ment van der Zwan, Europêche Spokesperson in European social dialogue.

European social partners, the ETF and Europêche, have been working together with the International Maritime Health Association (IMHA) on closing this gap in international occupational health and have now published guidelines for fishers and their specific working environment.

“In such a physically-demanding job, the existence of specific guidelines for medical examination of workers is a must. We hope that these new guidelines will be used as a tool by doctors performing medical examinations to have a clear understanding of the unique aspects of fishing, as their professional judgement is critical to the health and safety of fishers. Competent authorities should also harmonise the criteria used for the medical checks of fishers and thereafter mutually recognise certificates of medical fitness. The increasing internationalisation of fishing makes such harmonisation even more important.” underlined Juan Manuel Trujillo, ETF Fisheries Section Chair.

The ETF and Europêche will continue to promote the harmonisation of standards for the medical examinations of fishers at European and International level. Using harmonised approaches and carrying out systematic monitoring programs will be vital in improving fishers’ health and safety.

[1] ILO Work in Fishing Convention C188, the EU Council Directive 2017/159 and STCW-F.

Guidelines on medical examinations of fishers

Press contacts:

Rosalie Tukker: Policy Advisor of Europêche, rosalie.tukker@europeche.org

Andrea Albertazzi: Fisheries Policy Officer of ETF, a.albertazzi@etf-europe.org

EP and ETF Press Release – Medical Guidelines

Fishers are a cornerstone of seafood supply and food security in Europe. Still, they haven’t been prioritised in vaccination programs, exposing them to growing infection rates on fishing vessels and preventing the necessary crew changes around the world.

Unlike many other workers, fishers are limited in what they can do to avoid infection in their workplaces. The work of fishing crews takes place in confined spaces, where it is impossible to maintain physical distance and with the high risk of coronavirus transmissibility. Additionally, the often long periods of stay on board ships make it challenging to immunise them on the pre-established schedule for the general population. Europêche and ETF believe that this unique situation requires a special approach to vaccinations and call on Member States to develop new protocols at once.

“The fisheries sector has been recognised as an essential and strategic sector during the pandemic for its vital work in the supply of seafood and food security,” says Ment van der Zwan, Europêche Spokesperson in the European social dialogue. “To protect the supply, we need to protect the workers that support it and guarantee their speedy access to vaccines“.

The social partners have outlined a list of guidelines that can help states establish vaccination protocols for fishers in a way that responds to their specific working environments. They call for prioritisation of fishers in vaccination, coordination of vaccinations through national authorities, and, where possible, provision of single-dose vaccines for workers who remain on board for long periods. They also emphasise the need to establish a right to receive vaccination not only in the flag state but also in their country of residence and in port states.

“This vaccination must be available for all crews operating under European flagged vessels, whatever their nationality,” added Juan Manuel Trujillo Castillo, ETF Fisheries Section Chair. “This is common sense, particularly for the numerous fishing crews working on vessels that operate for weeks without returning to port.”

The social partners’ appeal aligns with the recent call of five UN agencies, encouraging governments to “give priority to fishers, seafarers and aircraft crews in their national vaccination programs.”

ETF and Europêche call on the European Commission to urge EU Member States to support the key workers of the fishing industry during the coronavirus crisis and prioritise their access to the vaccine to keep essential fishing operations running.

Press contacts:

Rosalie Tukker, Policy Advisor of Europêche, rosalie.tukker@europeche.org

Andrea Albertazzi, Fisheries Policy Officer of ETF, a.albertazzi@etf-europe.org

EP and ETF Press Release – Fishers vaccination