Fisheries are an important industry and historically speaking they have a very long-standing activity in the EU countries. Rational exploitation of renewable resources and the issues of market regulation, structural policy, oversight, control, and international cooperation in the area of fisheries are covered by the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

The EU’s Common Fisheries Policy deals with the issues of harvesting and managing fish, regulating the fisheries markets, structural policy issues, oversight and control, as well as international cooperation.

The CFP used to be part of the CAP; the establishment of a separate policy came after the accession of countries with large fishing fleets and maritime resources to the EU, as well as the growing need to solve specific problems, such as protection of fish resources.