Brussels, 06/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 5 June 2008, the European Parliament made slight amendments to the draft regulation to eliminate destructive fishing practices that threaten vulnerable marine ecosystems in the high seas (see EUROPE 9525 on the European Commission's proposal). Adopting a report by Duarte Freitas (EPP-ED, Portugal) by 579 to 35 with 13 abstentions, the EP scrapped the measures introducing 1000 metres as the maximum depth for deep sea trawlers. The EP says that the depth restrictions were pointless because no scientific studies proved that vulnerable marine ecosystems existed or ceased to exist above or below this particular limit.
Other amendments aim to ensure the regulation only apples to “vessels that use their fishing gear in a way that could threaten vulnerable marine ecosystems in the high seas, and not vessels having accidental contact with the seabed”.
In order to fish using trawlers in the high sea, EU ships have to obtain a special fishing permit from the competent authorities. Applications for such permits should be accompanied by a detailed fishing plan setting out the envisaged location of the fishing activities; the species targeted; the depths at which the fishing gear shall be used; and details of the characteristics of the seabed in the planned fishing zones. The MEPs believe that the type of fishing gear should be notified along with the planned depths because the different types of gear threaten the ecosystems differently. Along with the targetted species, the fishing plan should also set out exactly which species of fish are likely to be caught as by-catches.
To give member states time to prepare the new administrative procedures required under the regulation, the EP suggests that the regulation come into force 30 days after publication in the EU official journal, rather than 7 days after publication, as suggested by the European Commission. (L.C./transl. fl)