The European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Virginijus Sinkevičius, said on Thursday 12 May that he intends to take action to protect marine protected areas from the effects of bottom trawling.
In front of the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries, he considered it premature, in view of the demands for reform made by Gabriel Mato (EPP, Spain) and Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spain), to launch a review of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) as early as the end of 2022.
Fishers need time to implement the current CFP, the Commissioner said. The Commission will only adopt a report evaluating the CFP, but the Commissioner is ready to assess “what works well and what doesn’t” in order to define policy guidelines for the future. The Committee on Fisheries is preparing a report evaluating the CFP, according to Mr Mato.
Bottom trawling. For Virginijus Sinkevičius, it is “clear and proven that bottom trawling has a negative impact on the seabed”. This is of course a problem, because if it has an impact on ecosystems, on carbon sequestration, on fish stocks, “we need to address it, specifically in marine protected areas”, he added. “We need to act together with the sector, helping them and ensuring investment in fishing techniques that are less damaging to the seabed”, Mr Sinkevičius said.
The Commissioner told Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA, France) that the Commission expected to adopt “before the summer break” the Action Plan to Conserve Fisheries Resources and the protection of marine ecosystems. The Action Plan aims to “build bridges” between the CFP and environmental legislation, the Commissioner said. Among the issues, he mentioned improving the selectivity of fishing gear, how to limit the impact on sensitive species, improving scientific data and governance.
The Action Plan will address the sensitive issue of the seabed, including how to “reconcile the use of bottom fishing gear with biodiversity objectives”, he confirmed.
Controls. The Commissioner called for progress in the Parliament/EU Council negotiations on the revision of the control systems for fishing activities.
“The pace is too slow to get results. We cannot backtrack”, he warned.
Delegated act. Concerning the delegated act refused by Parliament on the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), the Commission is “working on a new delegated act” (EU Member States will be able to comment on this new text) and “I hope that we will be able to present a new delegated act soon” (see EUROPE 12892/13).
Cormorants. Member States are encouraged to fully implement preventive measures to avoid damage caused by cormorants. Countries can make use of the derogations provided for in the Birds Directive. Given the existing flexibilities, the Commission does not plan to change the legal protection regime for cormorants, the Commissioner said. The Commission is ready to complete the EU Cormorant Platform (see EUROPE 12950/12).
Senegal. “We have made every diplomatic effort at different levels within the Commission with regard to Senegal. I have to admit that there is a lack of response from the Senegal side and we need to look into possibilities to move forward. According to the Commission’s legal services, the force majeure criteria for providing assistance under EMFAF to EU vessels affected by the situation are unfortunately not yet met”, the Commissioner said. EU vessels cannot access Senegalese waters even though a fisheries agreement allows them to do so (see EUROPE 12900/20). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)