Brussels, 03/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - Spain is one of the first member states to implement an action plan, designed jointly with the European Commission, which seeks properly to record the catch data gathered by fishermen. On Friday 3 August, the European Commission adopted this action plan which will also help reinforce the effectiveness of fisheries controls. This will ensure that the data provided to controllers are complete, reliable and on time, so that fisheries quotas can be respected and, thus, overfishing avoided. As Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki pointed out, “a robust control system is a prerequisite for sustainability, and improving controls throughout the EU is a high priority for me”. “I congratulate Spain on the effort they took and hope that other member states will follow suit. We are already working with them to that end”, she added.
The action plan for Spain, drafted following two years of system auditing, consolidates the measures that the Spanish Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food started to implement this year. New procedures and reinforced logistical support are designed to make controls more efficient and cost-effective. Thanks to rigorous enforcement of quotas, the stocks will be more abundant and all fishermen will enjoy a fair and equal access to fisheries resources. The Commission is firmly of the views that, despite the constraints, this action plan will benefit Spanish fishermen. (MD/transl.rt)