Commission proposes strategy for fish farming that could create up to 10,000 jobs in six years (to be presented to Council on Tuesday)

Brussels, 19/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Commission adopted a strategy on the sustainable development of European fish farming which comes within the context of the reform of the common fisheries policy (announced in EUROPE of 4 September, p.13). Commissioner Franz Fischler's aim is to create between 8,000 and 10,000 full-time jobs between 2003 and 2008, precisely in coastal regions which will have suffered the worst consequences of the restructuring of the fisheries sector. This strategy, which will be presented to Member States at Tuesday's Agriculture/Fisheries Council, also has as aim to offer safe and good quality fisheries products and promote animal health and welfare standards.

Furthermore, new proposals for reform will be adopted, through the written procedure, on the following subjects: fishing in the Mediterranean (see EUROPE of 12 September, p.9), improving scientific opinions, the control and follow-up of fisheries activities and fishing in non-Community waters.

Here is an overview of the measures being proposed to develop fish farming in Europe:

• Secure employment: fish farming is called upon to offer "alternative jobs" for fishermen who leave the "catching" sector of the fisheries industry, the Commission acknowledges, recommending for that an increase in production in fish farming of 3.4 to 4% a year. The Commission suggests redirecting public aid on measures to strengthen existing businesses, encourage training, monitoring, research and development activities and promote clean farming technologies. It proposes specific aid for aquaculture activities that are particularly beneficial for environment protection and extending existing legislation on organic products to include aquaculture.

The Commission also believes that it would be necessary to stimulate demand of aquaculture products by creating quality labels and launching information campaigns to improve the image of the industry. Fish farmers are urged to set up partnerships to co-ordinate supply as a way of making up for the lack of economy of scale of small farms. The Commission recalls the importance of the role of women and recommends that Member states make use of European Social Fund programmes to improve opportunities in fish farming. To improve governance, stakeholders are urged to set up codes of conduct and codes of good practice to reduce the risk of distortion of competition.

• Safety of aquaculture products and animal welfare: reviews of the levels of dioxin in feed and food are planned for 2004 and 2006 and should reduce the maximum tolerated levels, the Commission stipulates, adding that monitoring and control of the presence of antibiotic and other residue products will be strengthened. It recommends that Member states encourage research into toxic algal blooms, as well as proposing modifying some of the existing pharmaceutical legislation in order to address the specific needs of aquaculture. It recalls, moreover, that it is currently participating in a Council of Europe initiative aimed at formulating a recommendation on farmed fish. Once this recommendation has been adopted, the Commission may consider proposing specific legislation.
• An environmentally sound aquaculture: the Commission sets out ideas to slow down the deterioration of the quality of water around aquaculture sites and to combat the risk of the development of alien species and genetically modified organisms. It will also examine whether or not to include intensive fish farming in the scope of the directive on integrated pollution prevention and control which monitors industrial activities with a high pollution potential.

The Commission states that in Europe aquaculture represents at least 80,000 jobs (equivalent to 57,000 full-time jobs) and that this activity has especially developed in rural or peripheral areas dependent on fisheries where alternative employment is chronically lacking. The main aquaculture products are fish (trout, salmon, sea bass, sea bream) and molluscs (mussels, oysters and clams). In 2000, production amounted to 1,315,000 tonnes in volume for a value of 2.5 billion euro (17% of the volume and 27% of the value of the total EU fisheries production).