Brussels, 31/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - In its proposals on fishing quotas in the Atlantic and North Sea for 2015, the Commission has put forward a “scandalous and wrong-headed” measure on sea bass, states Alain Cadec, who chairs the European Parliament fisheries committee, in a press release published on Friday 31 October.
The Commission is proposing that, for recreational fishing, catches be restricted to one sea bass per fisher per day. “Do they want to kill recreational fishing and the whole economy that goes with it? Everyone is ready to take responsibility to preserve this species, like, for example, French recreational fishers who have imposed a minimum catch size of 42 cm. This initiative has shown its worth, resulting in a substantial reduction in catches. Professional fishermen have also made significant efforts in terms of biological recovery periods. Despite this, the Commission is trying to be ultra-zealous in arbitrarily imposing a very strict limit. This really is bureaucratic self-delusion”, Cadec says. He is in favour of European measures to protect sea bass “but they have to be sensible”. He calls on the new commissioner, Karmenu Vella, who takes office on 1 November, to review this “scandalous proposal”. He also calls on the French government to oppose the measure and, working with the other member states, to propose alternatives so that “the sea bass can be protected sensibly”. “There are 3.5 million recreational fishers in France, 2 million of whom are in one way or another involved with sea bass. Can one be surprised that wrong-headed measures from the Commission encourage euroscepticism?” he asked. (LC)