Brussels, 12/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Tuesday 12 April that detailed rules had been adopted making the regulation on fisheries controls, that has been in force since 2010, fully up and running (see EUROPE 10024 on the adoption of the rules in 2009).
The new rules mean there can be monitoring “from net to plate” covering all the stages of the supply chain, with harmonised sanctions and a points system that could see fishermen who breach common fisheries policy (CFP) rules having their fishing licences suspended or even withdrawn. Some rules, such as the points system and the requirement to fit an electronic logbook (electronic recording of catches) will only come into force on 1 January 2012 in order to leave member states time to make preparations for them.
“If we can't enforce our own rules, this undermines the credibility of the whole common fisheries policy”, said Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki, adding, “I expect compliance with EU fishing rules to improve from now on”.
Elsewhere, the Commission has announced that: - the EU and partners (United States, Japan) are setting up a black list of vessels guilty of illegal fishing (70 vessels for 11 non-EU countries and five member states are currently under investigation); - Libya has decided to suspend its bluefin tuna fishing, as the EU had sought; - member states are to monitor imports of fisheries products from Japan and verify accompanying catch certificates, which must include the exact catch area and the date of catch. (L.C./transl.rt)