Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-10-Speech-2-304"
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"en.20040210.11.2-304"2
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"Mr President, the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party is satisfied with the Commission’s statement. The health risks associated with salmon have quite obviously been exaggerated. On the other hand it is obvious that eating farmed salmon is less healthy than eating wild salmon. This is one reason why the European Union should aspire to a policy on salmon that keeps as close to nature as possible, although salmon farms will of course still be needed for the production of both rainbow trout and salmon.
The Baltic Sea has its own migratory salmon stock. The rivers flowing into the Baltic have produced young that have migrated to feed on what the sea areas have to offer: shrimp and small fish. Contamination and the use of the water systems for floating timber and hydroelectric power production have had an adverse effect on breeding. This decline has been partially offset by introducing stocks of salmon into rivers, something which companies that produce hydroelectric power in particular have been obliged to do. That, however, has not had much effect. It has been estimated that as many as 95% of young salmon introduced in this way perish. On the other hand, there has been overfishing of salmon both in the open sea and in coastal waters close to the rivers in which they spawn. There have been continual disputes over salmon fishing rights.
Now that, with enlargement, the Baltic Sea is to become even more obviously an inland sea of the Union, a comprehensive plan should be drawn up to protect salmon stocks and organise fishing activity. Salmon breeding must be restored as closely as possible to its original natural state. Rivers and streams that make good spawning grounds must be made suitable to permit increases in salmon stocks. Fishways should be built on constructed waterways, and the spawning grounds in the rivers should be properly maintained. By promoting the natural regeneration of salmon stocks we can open up new opportunities for sport fishing and tourism based on it in all the countries with a Baltic coastline. Once the natural reproduction process for salmon is improved, the level of introduced fish stocks can be reduced and in the course of time perhaps abandoned altogether. The money saved can be spent on the building of fishways, the upkeep of spawning grounds, and boosting other fish stock levels. The fishing of Baltic salmon should start to see the implementation of the ‘spawn state principle’, which has been successfully applied in the North Atlantic within the framework of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation. Fishing has to be restricted so that the sustainable and natural renewal of salmon stocks is assured.
After the enlargement of the Union, the protection of the Baltic Sea, maintenance of its fish stocks and organisation of fishing activity in the region will no longer be matters of multilateral cooperation but a bilateral issue between the EU and Russia. I believe that Russia for its own part is prepared to take up the challenge of cooperation; the main responsibility, however, lies with us, the EU and the Member States of the Union."@en1
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