Brussels, 09/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - In the European Commission's adoption of an action plan for the conservation of fish stocks in the Mediterranean (adopted on Friday), the Commission proposes setting up a Fisheries Protection Zone (FPZ), which will mean that the control of fishing activities could be applied over a wider area thus deterring illegal practices and counter act the pressures exercised on certain stocks, as well as establishing new Total Allowable Catches (TAC) for swordfish, albacore and other small tunas, small pelagic (mid-water) stocks such as sardines and anchovies and some crustaceans such as Norway lobsters and red shrimps. This fishing action plan for the Mediterranean is one of the most important aspects of the second package of reform proposals in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). It will be followed by other measures related to improvement of scientific advice, control and monitoring of fisheries activities and fishing beyond EU waters. Commissioner Franz Fischler, justified this ambiguous strategy by referring to the worrying level of stocks of blue whiting, sole, land lobster, as well as the wish to fight more effectively against unfair fishing practices of some fishing fleets. According to Mr Fischler, the creation of a protection zone would allow the number of third countries to be covered by Community regulations and facilitate inspections and significantly contribute to eradicating illegal fishing (a reference to certain Middle East fleets that fish in the international waters of the Mediterranean).
Mr Fishcler underlined that the declaration on the protection zones would be much more effective if it was implemented in consultation with all third countries involved. The Commission is thus proposing that Member States debate the issue next year and to check whether it would be suitable to establish limited access for third countries or as a priority, set up better inspections of fishing activities. If the debate does allow for a clear Community position to be outlined, the following stage will consist of arranging a conference of all Mediterranean countries to find a common approach. The Commission also weighs up the pros and cons in its action plan for a joint declaration for fishing protection zones. Some of the downsides include: the risk that Community fleets would not be able to have access to certain zones if countries such as Croatia and Tunisia follow the Community example (this difficulty could be overcome, according to the Commission, by introducing bilateral fishing agreements); significant political difficulties in some regions; problems involved in establishing lines for zones in the narrower zones of the Mediterranean.
The Commission objective would consist in introducing some kind of order into the jurisdiction of the waters, which suffer from a number of incoherencies. Spain has established a fishing protection zone of 49 miles in the Mediterranean and Malta likewise with one stretching for 25 miles. The demarcation lines on national waters vary from 6 nautical miles in Greece to 12 nautical miles in France, Spain and Italy. The Commission concludes that the declaration of fishing protection zones that go up to 200 miles in reference lines, would constitute an important contribution in improving fisheries management, given that in the Mediterranean, approximately 95% of Community catches are 50 miles off the coast.
The Commission proposes that control of the amount of fishing exerted by the fleet become the basic instrument of management in Mediterranean fisheries and for significantly reducing the depletion of fish stocks. As well as the limitation measures for catches (the current TAC and a quota exclusively applying to red tuna), the commission believes that is would be more than necessary to introduce and/or increase access limitation measures (associated with an appropriate licensing system and fishing permits) in the same way as a reduction in the size of the fleet and the length of time spent fishing. Fishing effort management must be based on the experience of the implementation of simple rules such as the maximum number of fishing days allowed annually short working weeks, the banning of fishing outside of working days and the setting up of a maximum working day that applies outside the port, as well as limits on the number of hours for fishing per day. The Commission believes that the use of VMS already in place for some vessels and its proposed extension to all vessels over 10 metres will substantially help in ensuring compliance with the management of fishing effort. Other measures for encouraging sustainable fishing, according to the Commission, would be to restrict the number and size of certain fishing gears on board vessels. In some cases the reduction in the number and size of certain fishing gear on boats could prove useful. The Commission proposes to increase the selectivity of fishing gear so as to catch as few young fish as possible and reduce the amount of discards. Areas could be closed to protect high concentrations of young fish. There will be a review of minimum landing sizes and adequate labelling of fisheries products will ensure their implementation. Some recreational fishing activities will be included into fisheries management as they represent more than 10% of total catches.