Brussels, 21/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 19 September, a fierce battle of words took place at the European Parliament between those in favour and those against the removal of shark fins at sea. The result was a confused vote that opens the way to keeping in place possible derogations to this highly criticised practice.
Members of the fisheries committee made amendments to the initial proposal aimed at putting an end to exemptions that still allow shark fins to be removed on board fishing vessels, and for the mutilated, live sharks to be thrown back into the sea. European ministers had decided to place a ban on the practice in March (EUROPE 10576) but approval is still required from Parliament.
Rapporteur Maria do Céu Patrao Neves (EPP, Portugal), whose vote was adopted by a slim majority (11 for, 10 against and 3 abstentions), recommended, however, that the derogations should be kept in place. During the parliamentary committee vote, MEPs endorsed the principle of putting an end to the exceptions and of thus making it an obligation for sharks to be landed with their fins. Another, contradictory amendment was also voted, however, referring to keeping the derogations in place. According to the rapporteur, the extent of those exceptions must be limited, through the issuance of special fishing permits solely for freezer fishing vessels. Also, several specific measures were proposed for strengthening the control of the prohibition of finning, including: the obligation to trans-ship and land shark carcasses and fins together in the same port; the obligation for vessel owners to hire an independent body to carry out controls in the ports where local authorities are unable to; and the obligation of masters of freezer vessels to keep detailed records on the catches.
Finning on European fishing vessels has been banned since 2003. However, some fishermen have been granted derogations allowing them to remove fins on board and to land the carcasses separately, including in different ports. As a control measure, inspectors use a simple weight ratio system to verify whether the fishing boats bring back more fins than officially caught sharks. Spain and Portugal are the only States to grant special permits allowing finning at sea. It will be up to the European Parliament plenary session to decide, early 2013, possibly after talks with Council. (LC/transl.jl)