Brussels, 21/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - With the European Parliament (EP) to vote on 6 February on the basic regulation to reform the common fisheries policy (CFP), the Region of Brittany (France) spoke out on Monday 21 January against the ban on discards, a measure which it feels is inappropriate, even counter-productive. Breton elected representatives will agree to a reduction in discards, together with a policy of fishing gear selectivity. They hope that the Parliament will listen to the Regions and change the current position of its committee on fisheries, on both discards and maximum sustainable yield (MSY).
Pierre Karleskind, the deputy leader of the Regional Council of Brittany (in charge of Europe, the sea and the shores), said that one of the elements of the reform “which concerns us most is the ban on discards” (meaning all catches have to be landed), agreed upon both in the guidelines of the Council and in the position of the EP fisheries committee. “We want efforts to focus first and foremost on the selectivity of fishing gear”, he added. The Region of Brittany has concerns about the development of an animal bone meal sector which would be the outlet for the (unwanted) bycatches landed.
Karleskind welcomes the position of the EP and of the Council on the optional nature of transferable fishing concessions. The European Commission had proposed the system (a sort of privatisation of fishing quotas) to reduce the size of the fishing fleet. The representatives of Brittany reiterate their commitment to “collective management of fishing. Fish resources are a common resource, they should not be handed over to a market mechanism which would have major consequences in Brittany”, he stressed.
He argued in favour of improved knowledge of fish stocks to accompany the achievement of MSY, adding that the objectives (in terms of MSY) should not be determined abruptly. The Council has opted for 2015 where possible and 2020 at the latest, whilst the committee on fisheries of the EP is calling to go beyond the MSY before 2020. The Region of Brittany supports the Council''s position, which it feels is less tough on fishermen.
Annick Le Loch, an MP from Finistère, welcomed the majority that was forming “against the privatisation of resources”. We need to work on the MSY within a reasonable timeframe, she added. “A total ban on discards is something that we will not be able to accept in the very short term, because our boats are not adapted” to this. Additionally, she argued that a “risk of jeopardising relative stability” (allocation of fishing quotas between countries on the basis of historic catches) could arise from the “zero discard” rule.
Pierre Maille, President of the General Council of Finistère, welcomed the fact that the EP is not in favour of transferable fishing concessions. The ban on discards is “too brutal” a measure. Maille said that it would be a shame if the Council and the EP took fisheries measures which would translate into problems on our coastlines, problems which other European policies (Cohesion Fund or European Social Fund) will be called upon to put right. He also spoke in favour of measures to modernise the fishing fleet (motorisation, ease of use, on-board safety).
“The regions call on the European Parliament” to take reality and the diversity of fisheries into account more, said MEP Isabelle Thomas (S&D, France). But for the MSY, “we have managed to reach a compromise, even though I am very much against the way it has been laid out”. She described it as a scientific and mathematical measure making it possible to determine the level of quotas on the basis of the calculation of the renewal of the resource. But she spoke out against upping the ante in the form of words proposed by the committee, which aimed to bring fish stocks “above” the level which will make it possible to achieve the MSY by 2020 at the latest. She said that “above” brings with it the risk of a form of randomness in decisions on quotas. “It is becoming vague.” She would prefer “at the level” of the MSY or a level “equal to or greater than” the MSY. However, she failed to win over most of her colleagues within the committee on fisheries of the EP. The ban on discards “calls selectivity into question, creates a bone meal segment for discards and has no specific timetable for multi-specific fisheries”, she argued.
Alain Cadec (EPP, France) was unable to attend the press conference held by the Region of Brittany. He issued a press release in which he states that the eight EPP MEPs on the fisheries committee voted against the report by Ulrike Rodust (S&D, Germany) on the CFP basic regulation. “We are currently working on amendments for the plenary vote, designed to review the principle of the obligation to land, which is too radical a measure and impossible to implement for multi-specific fisheries such as we have in Brittany”, he stated. (LC/transl.fl)