Brussels, 25/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - In a position recently made public, representatives from the European fishing sector admitted that there were differences over the level of flexibility that should be granted to the systems for allocating fishing rights (EUROPE 9374 on consultation launched by the European Commission on the theme of fishing rights).
Europêche (the Association of national organisations of fishing enterprises in the EU) and COGECA (General Confederation of Agricultural Co-operatives in the EU) clearly noted the fact that the Commission “does not intend to interfere in the choice and implementation of one or the other fishing management systems, which are to remain within the competence of the member states”. These organisations highlight the advantages and disadvantages of individual transferable fishing quotas (those which can be hired or purchased as part of a fishing heritage, for example): better awareness among fishermen but also the risk of concentrating rights in the hands of a small number of big businesses.
Those in the industry admit that setting individual fishing quotas that are possibly transferable, could threaten the principle of relative stability (allocation of fishing quotas to member states while taking each country's historic rights into consideration). On this point, opinions part company within Europêche/COGECA: some members believe that relative stability is an “essential pillar” of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and cannot be altered; others (particularly the Spanish) believe relative stability “cannot be considered immutable” insofar as the state of the European fishing fleet has significantly evolved.
Those in the sector are calling on the Commission to carry out studies in an effort to find solutions to the problem of fishing quota consumption imbalances (discrepancy between allocated quotas and catches made). (lc)