The meeting was held jointly with the Scottish Fishermen's Federation and the NFFO said it was ground breaking in two senses - firstly it was a first encounter with someone who will hold a pivotal role in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, and secondly it marked important collaboration between members of the European Parliament and the federations in the new era of co-decision making.

The NFFO said Commissioner Damanaki  seemed eager to decentralise decision making within a reformed CFP to regional management bodies, member states and the fishing industry. In her view the CFP had “grown up” and now was the time to delegate responsibilities to those capable and with the will to take them on .
She was also insistent that delegated responsibilities should be subject to proper safeguards and guarantees to ensure that fundamental principles and objectives were observed. And she suggested that a reformed CFP could be based around options through which those member states and industry organisations  who wished to develop forms of regional administrative cooperation, or delegated responsibility, could do so, subject to a framework of safeguards.
 
The Commissioner was  advised by the federations that there was an inconsistency if the Commission advocated devolved responsibilities but still envisaged retaining the power to dictate which tools in the fisheries management toolbox – TACs, effort control, technical measures should be used in any fishery
Mrs Damanaki seemed  impressed that the two federations were heavily involved in regional advisory councils, indicating a willingness to work collaboratively with fishermen from other member states and with other stakeholders
Finally, she Received a detailed analysis of the current state of play in the western mackerel debacle and discussed both short term tactics and longer term strategy for bringing Iceland to the negotiating table with curtailed and more realistic ambitions.

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