Brussels, 12/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - Acting on the request of the Dutch government, the European Commission adopted a decision on Thursday 12 June, that will significantly cut back on fishing activity in the protected Voordelta zone. This decision is the result of a commitment made by the Netherlands to take environmental protection measures to compensate for the loss of biodiversity caused by the expansion of Rotterdam port (on the sea).
The Commission decision: - establishes five protected zones for seals and birds within which most fishing is banned; - and bans boats of more than 191 kW with tickler chains (to facilitate their catches when they trawl deep sea flat fish or prawns) coming into this zone.
This is the first time that a member state has requested the assistance of the Commission to protect marine ecosystems in zones of 12 nautical miles by using Article 9 of the 2002 Regulation (2370) on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) to this end. The measures all fall within 3 nautical miles of the coast and the only member state to be affected by them will be Belgium.
The Commission is committed to encouraging the extension of the Natura 2000 network into marine areas and is committed to promoting the use of measures under the Common Fisheries Policy to protect such habitats while they are pending final designation as Natura 2000 zones. (L.C./transl.rh)