Brussels, 26/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - During a conference in Venice on Wednesday, which was organised by the European Commission and the Italian Presidency, the coastal countries of the EU and the member countries of the General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (GFCM) committed to take measures to improve the fight against illegal fishing, especially of bluefin tuna. This was announced by the French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Hervé Gaymard, on the same day, during a telephone interview granted to a few journalists.
The conclusions of this conference provide for two politically important agreements, said Mr Gaymard: - the establishment of a "white" list of boats which observe the rules and a "blacklist" of vessels flying the flag of convenience, and which are suspected of illegal activities; - setting priority protection zones in this area which, unlike an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles, do not affect use of fishing grounds or mineral rights, just the fish population.
It is worth noting that unlike the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, given its specific nature, has no EEZ, and that the coastal countries have a 12-mile zone constituting territorial waters. Beyond this limit, therefore, exploitation of resources is international. Mr Gaymard indicated that these protection zones last week gave rise to "opposition for political reasons" (between Slovenia and Croatia, and between Cyprus, Greece and Turkey), but that the States with objections on this issue "have withdrawn them".