Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-387"
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"en.20050222.21.2-387"2
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".
Mr President, few things have come to symbolise the failure of the common fisheries policy more than the spectacle of by-catch. As we see from this oral question, the situation is not unique to the EU. It is a worldwide problem and the Commission can offer leadership on the issue by proposing an international plan of action. I am delighted that this evening the Commissioner has said that he is willing to do that.
First, we need to take action within the EU. It is estimated that fishermen discard up to 2 million tonnes of dead fish into the sea every year within EU waters as a result of high grading or simply because the fish are undersized or out of quota. We have forced fishermen into this destructive and unsustainable behaviour in the name of conservation, so one of the first policies we have to pursue is to insist on all fish being landed. There should be tough penalties for anyone caught discarding fish. This is the policy in Iceland, Norway and the Faroes.
By insisting on everything being landed, the scientists get a much more accurate picture of the size and nature of the catch, enabling more accurate stock recovery measures to be put in place and more rapid action to be taken to close areas where juveniles are being caught. I am well aware that to implement such a dramatic reversal of policy will require sticks and carrots: sticks to hit those who offend and continue to dump dead fish, but carrots by way of financial compensation to the fishermen who land fish they would otherwise have thrown over the side.
The Commission should not panic: it will not have to pay. The fishmeal and fish oil industry are desperate for more raw material. I hope that the unjustified ban on feeding fishmeal to ruminants will soon be lifted, thereby increasing demand. The expanding aquaculture industry is also a major user of fishmeal, so the fishmeal industry will be happy to pay for this material at prices of perhaps up to EUR 70 per tonne. I understand the Commission is keen on this idea and has already identified two trawlers to try out the policy. I applaud Commissioner Borg for this initiative."@en1
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