The control and enforcement of fisheries in Poland

This case study assesses Poland’s compliance with EU laws for detecting, prosecuting and sanctioning illegal fishing practices by its vessels and in its waters. It is based on a combination of desk-based research, interviews with key stakeholders and freedom of information requests. Our key findings and recommendations include:

• that the detection of infringements needs to be more effective; currently infringements are only reported for around 2% for both land and sea inspections;
• that guidance and training need to be issued to control and enforcement authorities so that sanctions are appropriately dissuasive; the data from one region shows that average fines are just €288 (£258) for “serious” infringements;
• that the legal framework should be simplified as it is overly complicated and misleading with a number of cross-references (or lack of thereof) which make the Polish enforcement legislation inconsistent with itself.

This report is part of a series of case studies on the control and enforcement of fisheries in Europe, with other case studies including in England, the Republic of Ireland and Poland. A summary report brings together findings from all four countries to make broader recommendations.

• Read the series