Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-388"
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"en.20050222.21.2-388"2
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".
Mr President, scientists publish figures on a regular basis showing that the world's fish stocks are at risk and that currently popular fish stocks may face extinction unless drastic action is taken to allow stocks to recover. In the context of declining fish stocks, the problem of by-catch is all the more regrettable. According to the most recent figures from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 7.3 million tonnes of non-target marine species are discarded globally each year as a result of unselective fishing practices. This figure is truly shocking, and is not far below the EU 15's entire landed fish production in 2002-2003.
Discarding fish has various consequences: biological consequences because the majority are dead or moribund; and economic consequences because small fish produce less profit if sold, and no profit at all if they are discarded and therefore never grow because they are dead. In stock assessment and fisheries management, where discards are an unknown quantity, fishing mortality rates are also unknown quantities.
In 2003 the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report, drafted by Nils Busk, on the Commission action plan to reduce fish discards. The report made many useful suggestions to improve on the Commission's strategy for dealing with the problem of discards. These included calling for adequate data collection to obtain a better, more precise picture of the extent of the problem; finding ways of rewarding those fleets employing more selective fishing gear, resulting in lower discards; and monitoring research findings on alternative fishing gear with a view to improving technical measures such as net mesh sizes and windows. It also asked the Commission to examine how regional advisory councils might be involved.
I welcome the initiatives taken by the Commission on technical measures in recent years. Over the past 10 years the EU budget has contributed EUR 8 million annually to over 400 research projects aimed at increasing gear selectivity, reducing discards or quantifying the impact of fishing on the environment. It is vital that the focus now shifts to by-catch reduction measures.
I believe the Commission recognises that by-catch is a global problem. The next meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization's committee on fisheries in March 2005 offers a valuable opportunity to propose an FAO international plan of action. I welcome the Commissioner's desire to work on this issue and take a lead. Commissioner, I urge you to not allow the opportunity to slip away, because the next meeting is not until 2007."@en1
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