Brussels, 11/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 9 January, the European Commission adopted a proposal to update control measures on fishing activities in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) zone. Some of the arrangements adopted in 2004 and 2005 by CCAMLR have already been incorporated, although only provisionally, into the regulation on fishing possibilities for EU vessels for 2006. The Commission now has to create a more permanent basis for these measures in Community legislation.
Most of the rules introduced since 2004 by this regional fisheries organisation seek to enhance the monitoring of vessels authorised to fish, and to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities in CCAMLR waters. In addition, other measures forbid vessels from discharging various forms of waste into the sea: oil or fuel products (“except as permitted in the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships”), rubbish, food waste (“not capable of passing through a screen with openings no greater than 25mm”), poultry or parts thereof and sewage (“within 12 nautical miles of land or ice shelves or sewage while the ship is travelling at a speed of less than 4 knots”). The aim of these arrangements is to better protect the environment and avoid incidental catches of seabirds. In addition, CCAMLR has decided to launch a fish tagging programme with a view to improving knowledge of the situation and the existing inter-linkages between the various toothfish stocks (Dissostichus spp.) in the Southern Ocean, which constitute the main species subject to commercial fishing activities in the zone.
At the end of June 2006, the Council adopted a regulation improving catch documents for Patagonian toothfish, to better combat catches of this species in the CCAMLR zone (see EUROPE 9220). (lc)