Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-391"
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"en.20050222.21.2-391"2
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"Mr President, I, too, was naturally pleased with Commissioner Borg’s positive response to the clear issue that our committee and, in particular, our chair, have brought before this House at a most opportune moment.
I should like to say, however, that, to my mind, so-called by-catch is, more than anything, a problem of civilisation. I find it utterly barbaric that millions of tons of wild animals are fished for no reason whatsoever. This is death for death’s sake, death by bureaucratic rules and by the industrial mindset that finds it cheaper to kill more and use less, on the grounds that nature has no value whatsoever. The crux of the matter is that we must respect nature. Like every other living being, we naturally use nature and what we do is legitimate, but we must respect nature. There can be no sustainable fishing without respect for nature and this is perhaps the greatest demonstration of the negative side of our common fisheries policy. Furthermore, as has been mentioned in this House, all we have to do is to look at our neighbours in Norway and Iceland, where this practice is in fact banned, and I am appalled that we do not follow their lead.
I welcome the fact that the Commission is taking this position in the FAO, but, as has been said here, we must not forget the two million tonnes that are discarded every year. I should like to remind you, Commissioner, of the following: not long ago this House adopted a ban on bottom trawling, which is an extremely unselective method – the Commission itself acknowledges this – it is a highly predatory method and causes the highest by-catch rate. There has been such a ban in the Azores for a very long time, where the practice had never previously existed.
The Commission did not wish to know about this and imposed – or, was in favour of re-imposing – liberalisation of this kind of fishing in the waters off the Azores. This is a practical demonstration of an attitude that flies in the face of what was said earlier, because before we speak at the FAO, I believe it essential that we ensure good practice within the EU."@en1
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