As a member of the European Union, Portugal is resuming work on the gradual application of an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, first by supporting environmentally-friendly policies that help preserve biodiversity, and second by fostering social and economic stability in coastal communities. The Common Fisheries Policy, amended in 2002, incorporated the underlying principles of this approach, attaching greater importance to the sustainable exploitation of living resources in line with informed scientific opinion and calling for precautionary measures in the management of fisheries and aquaculture.