Brussels, 24/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday the European Commission adopted a proposal by written procedure submitted by Commissioner Franz Fischler to curb the accidental capture of dolphins and harbour porpoises by restricting the use of driftnets in the Baltic and phasing them out completely by January 2007 (in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean this has existed since 1 January 2002) and imposing an obligation on some fishermen (in the Baltic, North Sea, the Channel and the Celtic shelf) to use of pingers allowing them to keep away from these species. The measures taken by DG Fisheries under the 1992 Habitats Directive have been insufficient to adequately protect these animals.
According to a specialist on the case at the Commission, the proposed measures for the Baltic Sea will involve around one hundred boats fishing for salmon and which mainly come from Sweden, Finland, Poland and Denmark, where the cost of such an acoustic alarm system rises to EUR 40-100 per head (in the knowledge that the apparatuses will have to be placed at every 100-200 meters on each net. These driftnets would be progressively phased out by 1 January 2007 when their use would be completely prohibited. The Commission proposes to limit the length of driftnets in the Baltic to 2.5 Km. Provisions for inspections are also proposed, such as the obligation for Community shipowners (in the Baltic Sea, west of Scotland, Irish coast and even in the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean) to accept on board observers in charge of assessing accidental captures of cetaceans.