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The European Union’s (EU) Fisheries Commission recently agreed on a substantial budget of €6.4 billion ($8.22 billion) for its European Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF) -- a pot of money for a wide range of projects to help develop sustainable fisheries, and for those in the communities who rely on fisheries to make a living.

This EMFF fund, and its associated FLAG projects (Fishing Local Action Groups) is already established in some 21 EU member states, responsible for no less than 300 individual projects aimed at improving quality of fish, and of the lives of fishing folk in small rural coastal communities.

I was invited to attend a presentation on this subject in the European Parliament building in Brussels this week (Nov.