The third and the last mechanisms are producer organizations. There are now more than 160 producer organizations in the European Union. Those are voluntary organizations set up by fishermen or fish farmers to assist in selling their product. Their members must include a minimum percentage of vessels in that sector, not discriminate in terms of nationality or location of their members within the European Union, and must comply with other European Union regulations. Organizations are required to develop plans to adjust fish catches to market demand. There are several empowerments for the given. For example, they are empowered to take produce out of the market if prices fall below levels set by the council of ministers and receive compensation from the community. So, in this case, fishermen have no loses. Also, I would like to mention that the European Unions fishing fleet numbers (88,000) are the second largest in the world and can fish freely across the European Union catching nearly six million metric tones a year. …
