Brussels, 19/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission adopted a proposal on Thursday 19 July to regulate fishing for deep-sea species in the North-East Atlantic. The proposal was due to be adopted on Friday of last week but the decision had to be postponed because of the opposition from French Commissioner Michel Barnier (see EUROPE 10654).
Deep sea ecosystems and the species that live in them are particularly vulnerable to human activities, the Commission says in a press release. The new regulation aims to ensure that deep-sea species are fished sustainably, that unwanted by-catches are reduced, that the impact on fragile deep-sea habitats is lessened and that more data on the biology of these species are made available.
The Commission proposes a more robust licensing system and a gradual phase-out (two years after the text comes into effect) of fishing gear that specifically targets deep sea species in a less sustainable manner, namely bottom trawls and bottom-set gillnets. These cause more harm to vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems than other fishing methods, and involve high levels of unwanted by-catches (20-40%, or more, in weight). Other commercial fisheries using bottom trawls will not be affected, as the proposed measures only concern fisheries that target deep-sea fish.
Fishermen will have to shift to more selective fishing techniques, which have less of an impact on deep-sea habitats. Vessels which have to change fishing gear to be able to continue fishing for deep-sea species will be able to apply for financial assistance from the European Fisheries Fund on condition that the new gear reduces the effects of fishing on non-commercial species.
Fishermen already cooperate with scientists to increase knowledge of largely unknown deep-sea ecosystems. To find ways to test less harmful fishing gear and switch to fishing techniques and strategies that have less impact on those fragile ecosystems, the Commission has decided to finance a study on this matter, in cooperation with companies involved in deep-sea activities.
Deep-sea fishing in the North-East Atlantic is carried out mainly by traditional coastal fleets (Portugal) and large trawlers (France especially, and Spain). In all deep sea fisheries account for about 1% of fish landed from the North-East Atlantic. Black scabbard fish and red sea bream are high-value deep-sea species, while others, such as blue ling and grenadier, are of medium value to fishermen. Some deep-sea stocks, including the orange roughy and deep-water sharks, are seriously depleted. Others, such as blue ling, roundnose grenadier, can be fished but this needs to be done in an environmentally sound way (avoiding unnecessary by-catches, for instance). (LC/transl.rt)