Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-23-Speech-4-008"
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"en.20031023.1.4-008"2
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"Mr President, I would like to congratulate Mrs Stihler on her report and thank her for her hard work on this highly controversial issue. As we have heard once again, the ICES has stated that cod stocks are in such a dire state of collapse that it is recommending the complete closure of the cod fishery in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the West of Scotland. It claims that years of stringent conservation measures have failed to rebuild stocks and that only the total shutdown of these fishing grounds will enable any meaningful recovery.
Of course, we know from bitter experience, that when the scientists once again call for the complete closure of the cod fishery, they also mean the virtual closure of the haddock, whiting, plaice and prawn fisheries, where cod is caught as a by-catch. Let me say this now to Commissioner Fischler and say it very clearly, because if there are any more cuts at the December Council meeting this year, it will spell the end of the UK white fish fleet. And I do not mean any more drastic cuts like last year, I mean any more cuts at all. The two previous massive decommissioning rounds have reduced the British white fish fleet by around 40%. The harbour workers and ancillary staff who rely on the white fish fleet for a living are now teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Any further cuts will be fatal. It would mean that, even if cod stocks ever do recover, there will be no UK fishermen there to catch them.
I do not intend to attack the scientists. There is nothing to be gained from shooting the messenger, but this most recent ICES report once again highlights the vital importance of listening to the advice of the fishermen as well as to the boffins. Last year scientists told us that haddock stocks were dwindling. The fishermen said this was rubbish. Now the scientists agree that there are an estimated 400 000 tonnes of haddock spawning stock biomass in the North Sea. So who is right?
Could I in addition say that it appears the scientists are not listening to each other when arriving at their grand conclusions. According to new scientific research from the respected Sir Alistair Hardy Foundation in Plymouth, which has been monitoring the North Sea for the last 70 years, stocks of cold water plankton, on which cod larvae feed, have been driven hundreds of miles to the north by an unprecedented rise in water temperatures. This perhaps explains why there is a great abundance of cod being caught around the Faeroes, Iceland and Norway, but none left in the North Sea. So for heaven's sake, let us start listening to the fishermen as well as the scientists. The fishermen have a vested commercial interest in seeing cod stocks recover. That is the only way we are going to get a decent living for our fishermen in the future."@en1
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