Brussels, 23/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - Members of the European Parliament's fisheries committee consider that the proposal to ban all drifting gillnets is too extreme.
On Wednesday 14 May, the European Commission adopted a proposal to introduce a total ban from 1 January 2015 on fishermen having on board or using any kind of drifting gillnets (see EUROPE 11079 and 11089). This ban would target all fishing vessels in all EU waters.
Jaros³aw Leszek Walesa MEP (EPP, Poland) said that this radical proposal is unwelcome at the very time that Europe is introducing the regionalisation principle into fishing measures, precisely to take into account the different specificities in the industry. Blanco Lopez (S&D, Spain) said that the proposal is “very disproportionate” and is therefore calling for another study to be published on the economic and social effects of such a ban. Clara Eugenia Aguilera Garcia (S&D, Spain) described it as an extreme proposal that did not comply with Common Fisheries Policy rules. Francisco José Millan Mon (EPP, Spain) called on the Commission to review this proposal and explained that 425 ships in Spain were involved in small-scale craft fishing with drifting gillnets. He therefore called for the big vessels to be targeted and for small-scale craft fishing to be left alone.
Isabella Lövin (Greens/EFA, Sweden) admitted that there was a lack of data on the impact of these fishing techniques on the environment. She called on the Commission to provide a more precise definition of these nets and advocated technical measures rather than a ban.
Rapporteur Renata Briano MEP (S&D, Italy) recognised that the dossier was “complicated” and explained that they needed to protect the environment and protect jobs and fishing techniques that are already sustainable. She wants the Commission to provide more data. The draft report will be presented to the committee at the beginning of December. It will be voted on during the fisheries committee on the 21 and 22 January, and the plenary vote in the European Parliament will take place in February 2015. (LC)