Brussels, 13/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission adopted a communication suggesting that the specific access regimes to resources on the "Shetland box" and the Plaice Box be kept in place. In this way, it is responding to the provisions of the regulation of December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fish resources, which was adopted during the reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP). The communication does not refer to the protected zone of 50 miles along the Irish coast ("Irish Box"). This problem was resolved at the end of 2003, when the Council reached agreement on a system to limit fishing effort in the western waters (EUROPE 8562).
Shetland box: this specific fishing authorisation regime along the coast of Scotland was put into place on 31 July 1983, to preserve species of particular importance in the region and which were "biologically sensitive". This regime, which was extended during the reform of the CFP of December 2002, provides an upper limit of 128 (62 British, 52 French, 12 German and two Belgian) on the number of ships of 26 m or more which are authorised to catch demersal species (haddock, cod, whiting, saithe and anglerfish) in the area. The experts' assessments of the advantages of the restrictions were highly inconclusive. The interested parties which took position (United Kingdom, Germany and the North Sea Regional Advisory Committee) spoke in favour of keeping this regime in place. In the view of the STECF (Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries), which advises the Commission, getting rid of these rules could lead to an increase in fishing effort. For all these reasons, the Commission suggests an extension of three years to the Shetland Box regime, in order to allow more detailed studies to be carried out.
Plaice Box: this regime was put into place in the North Sea in order to reduce the volume of discards, particularly of plaice, in fishing for flatfish. In 1989, a zone ("Plaice Box") was closed to beam trawlers with motor power exceeding 300 horsepower (hp) or 221 kW. Originally, this closure applied for the second and third quarters of the year; in 1994, it was extended to the fourth quarter and then, in 1995, the fishing closure was extended to the whole of the year. Scientific investigations have shown an increase in fishing effort by trawlers of below 300 hp and by other fleets (otter trawls, shrimp boats). According to the Commission, current restrictions are not the best way to reduce discards of younger stock. Germany would like the current rules to be kept in place, whereas the North Sea Regional Advisory Committee has taken position in favour of changes. The Commission feels that it would be most prudent to keep the Plaice Box in place in its current form (without setting a date for its extension), pending additional assessments, but recommends that controls be stepped up, in order to ensure that vessels operating in the zone are respecting the authorised limit on motor power.