Brussels, 16/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Council of Ministers is expected to come to a qualified majority decision on Monday 19 March to adopt a general approach on the text ending exemptions to the general rule which, from 2003, has banned the practice by fishermen of removing the fins of sharks and throwing the remainder of the body back into the sea (finning). The Portuguese and Spanish delegations will vote against this general approach. Spain would have liked a temporary derogation for long-distance vessels (to maintain short port handling times and to guarantee the product quality and certification of origin). Portugal, too, would like additional time to find practical solutions to their processing on board. The Council is awaiting the European Parliament's first reading position before finalising its position.
Fish belonging to the taxon Elasmobranchii, including sharks, skates and rays, are generally very vulnerable to overexploitation due to their life cycle characteristics of slow growth, late maturity and small number of young, the regulation states.
Over the course of the last few years, some shark populations have been severely targeted and put under serious threat as a result of a dramatic increase in demand for shark products, fins in particular (as an ingredient in Asian soups). The 2003 regulation provides for the issue of special fishing permits allowing processing on board and authorising the removal of shark fins from the bodies. The Council, as advised by scientists and in line with the Commission's initial position, is now imposing a total ban on finning and is making provision for fish belonging to the various Elasmobranch species that are caught to be landed with the fin or wings still attached to the body. The regulation states to that, “where vessels flying the flag of a member state catch, retain on board, tranship or land sharks, the flag member state shall send to the Commission, by 1 May, a comprehensive annual report on the implementation of this Regulation during the previous year”. This report is to contain a range of information (number of landings where sharks were declared; number of inspections carried out during such landing operations; and number and nature of cases of non-compliance detected, including a full identification of the vessel/vessels involved). (LC/transl.rt)