Brussels, 16/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - Jaroslaw Walesa (EPP, Poland) backs the main thrust of the objectives of the European Commission proposal on the multiannual management plan for cod, herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea. He is due to present his draft report on the matter to the European Parliament fisheries committee on 24 February (see EUROPE 11239 for last Council debate).
The rapporteur is looking to minimise the impact of by-catches on the main stocks. The Commission also wants the plan to protect flatfish (plaice, turbot and flounder) which are caught in the same nets as the cod, herring and sprat. The proposal puts in place measures to protect the flatfish. The rapporteur is suggesting an amendment stating that measures are needed in response to by-catches of plaice, turbot and flounder. However, should the by-catch of flatfish be excessive, the Commission needs to react and regulate it by using an adequate set of technical measures, he adds.
A further difference is that the rapporteur wants more account taken of the regionalisation principle to allow for “timely reaction to abrupt changes in the status of the stocks covered”. Furthermore, there are good arguments, Walesa says, for keeping certain existing rules, with a view to protecting the cod stocks during spawning time and supporting small-scale artisanal fisheries. Some amendments have been tabled to: - allow small scale fisheries to fish cod in coastal areas during summer months with no negative effect on pre-spawning and spawning concentrations; - provide for a review of the plan three years after it comes into force, then a further review after five years. (Lionel Changeur)