Brussels, 17/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - Next Tuesday in Strasbourg, the European Parliament will debate the problem of fish bycatches in fishing boat nets and which are thrown back in the sea. The president of the fishing parliamentary committee, Philippe Morillion (ALDE, France) will call on the European Commission to take urgent measures to set up an international action plan on the reduction of bycatches. This oral question will be followed by a debate but parliament will not adopt the resolution.
According to the most recent data published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, non selective fishing practices leads to 7.3 million tonnes of non-defined marine species discarded every year. In his oral question, Morillion points out that over the last ten years, the EU allocated EUR 8 million from its budget every year to more than 400 research projects aimed at increasing the selectivity of fishing gear, reducing bycatches and measuring the effects of fishing on the environment. According to the EP fisheries committee, it is imperative that crucial bycatch measures are developed.
Mr Morillion pointed out that currently there was no international FAO action plan on this question, whereas it is, he believes, one of the “min problems of fishing in the 21st century. 180 scientists representing NGOs appealing for the adoption of such an action plan internationally, as well as several Member States of the FAO, have already made commitments to support such a proposal at the next FAO COFI (Committee on Fisheries) meeting in March 2005, explained the MEP. However, no country has as yet made a commitment to taking the initiative for such a proposal, regretted Mr Morillon, who is calling on the European Commission to propose an international action plan on bycatches at the next COFI FAO meeting in March. Morillon asked whether the Commission was aware of the fact that “if such an international bycatch reduction plan was not included in the FAO agenda for 2005, it will be necessary to wait for the next COF session in 2007?”