The Long Distance Fleet Advisory Council (LDAC) is an EU fisheries body representing stakeholders of both the fishing sector (including catching, processing and marketing sectors, and trade unions), and other groups of interest (environmental NGOs, consumers and civil society). It is currently composed by more than 50 members from 12 EU coastal Member States. It is recognised in the CFP Regulation (UE) No 1380/2013 as an organization aiming a European Interest.
Its mission is to provide advice to the European Institutions (Commission, Council and Parliament) and EU Member States on matters related to Fisheries Agreements with Third Countries, relations with Regional Fisheries Organizations (RFOs) in which the EU is a signing party, or with international organizations in whose waters the Community Fleet is operating, as well as on business relations and the international market for fishing products.
Its main goal is to promote the conservation of marine biodiversity and the sustainable use of fishing resources. More specifically, it is focused on three key areas of work:
- Fighting against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The LDAC is actively engaged with the European Commission and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) on this topic.
- Promoting the external dimension of the CFP and coordination with other EU policies, particularly for environment, development for cooperation and trade. The LDAC
- Improving transparency and governance in decision making in fisheries management, for instance through the Tuna Transparency Initiative (TTI) in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
