Fishing and aquaculture are important, as providers of food and employment for many people in coastal and rural areas. There have been several factors that led to a crisis in the European fishing industry. In recent years demand for fish has greatly increased, and stocks were relatively low throughout Europe. .
Fishermen have been under pressure to cover rising investment costs, and from new technology entering the market. Instead of using one net, a boat can now trawl four nets which increases their total catch. Sonar and satellites are used to identify large shoals, which allows the fishermen to be more efficient and catch larger quantities in one go. Before returning to port factory ships can freeze and process hundreds of tonnes of fish and therefore can trawl over larger distances for longer periods of time. Basically fishermen were catching too much too quickly, whilst trying to out catch rivals. This new technology led to inefficiencies both financially and in terms of respect to natural resources. Environmental problems also resulted from this increased use in new technology. Fish that are of the wrong species or are too small still become trapped in the nets, the majority die and are discarded. This can seriously upset the food chain balance and has a disastrous effect on breeding stocks. The seabed can also be damaged as a result of beam trawlers and other fishing gears with heavy chains. This can damage both fish spawning and feeding areas on the seabed. These problems have a direct effect on the sustainability of existing fish stocks, and overfishing depletes stocks even further. .
In 1983 the European Commission established the Common Fisheries Policy (CPF), in response to the depletion of fish stocks and the problems arising from increased competition from outside the EU. .
Fishing is important to the European Union on two accounts. Firstly, the Community is one of the largest fish producers in the world.