Summary of the 2013 annual economic report on the EU fishing fleet (STECF-13-18)

The 2013 Annual Economic Report (AER) on the European Union (EU) fishing fleet provides a comprehensive overview of the latest information available on the structure and economic performance of EU Member States fishing fleets. This summary report serves to highlight some of the key findings of the 2013 AER. Results on the economic performance indicate that the EU fishing fleet was again in profitable in 2011, with 6% of income being retained as netprofit. On the whole, the EU fleet showed improvements in most of the main economic performance indicators analysed when compared to 2010. Projections for 2012 indicate increased income for over three-fifths of the fleets analysed but positive profit margins for less than half. As outlined in the Commission Decision of 26 August 2005 establishing a Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries 2005/629/EC the STECF draws up the Annual Economic Report on the European Fishing Fleet. In response to a request from DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (Structural Policy and Economic Analysis Unit) to facilitate its dissemination to the wider public, the STECF issued this summary document in addition to the 2013 AER full report. This summary report was reviewed and released by the STECF by written procedure in September 2013.