Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-03-13-Speech-4-027-000"
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"en.20140313.7.4-027-000"2
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"Madam President, Iceland and the Faroe Islands have been fishing mackerel indiscriminately for a number of years. Iceland has unilaterally increased its share of the mackerel catches from 1[nbsp ]% in 2006 to 23[nbsp ]% in 2013 in waters where there are straddling stocks. Meanwhile, the Faroe Islands have increased their share of mackerel from 4.6[nbsp ]% in 2009 to 23.9[nbsp ]% in 2013 – again in the same area where we have straddling stocks.
Yesterday evening in London, after many meetings, an agreement was finally signed between the European Union, Norway and the Faroe Islands concerning the sharing of mackerel in the Northeast Atlantic. This arrangement will be in place for some five years. Iceland is not a party to this agreement, having withdrawn from the talks and having established its own unilateral quota for 2014. The total allowable catch, as a result of yesterday’s meeting, is 1.2 million tonnes for this coming year. This reflects a recommendation by ICES to increase the overall TAC. From an Irish perspective, of course, I am very pleased, and the agreement is good news for my country and for my constituency. Ireland’s mackerel quota will increase from 57[nbsp ]000 tonnes to 105[nbsp ]000 tonnes. This is an industry that is worth EUR[nbsp ]125 million, and that will obviously increase substantially this year.
This represents a 60[nbsp ]% increase in the provisional quota issued at the start of the year. In the long term, it is worrying that the Faroe Islands have received a share of 12.6[nbsp ]% as a result of yesterday’s agreement. This is totally unjustified and must not result in long-term losses for the European sector, and indeed for the sector in my own country. While I welcome the Commissioner, I must say that Commissioner Damanaki must take full responsibility for this. Her handling of the entire situation – and I will be very reasonable – has been, at the very least, disappointing. Her failure to be present here today speaks volumes for the regard that the Commissioner has for this Parliament and, in particular, for the Committee on Fisheries. The Commissioner was prepared to do a deal at any price and has shown her hand publicly all the time to give 11.9[nbsp ]% and over 12[nbsp ]%. It is not good enough. It is not good enough that the Commissioner had the set of tools required to introduce sanctions against these countries when the majority – 98[nbsp ]% of this House – voted in favour of those sanctions. But we must be very grateful to Norway. Norway stood firm and resisted her efforts to sell out the European fishing industry.
A long-term solution is desirable for the sustainability of the mackerel stocks, for the socio-economic interests of the fishing and the processing sectors. Regrettably, it appears that this task will now fall to the new Commission, and hopefully the new Commissioner will look after the interests of the European sector. By way of an example, both Iceland and the Faroe Islands were previously responsible for the overfishing of blue whiting over a number of years and, of course, that resulted in the collapse of the stock. I hope the same does not happen to the mackerel stock. The case of blue whiting shows what can happen if no action is taken. It is disappointing that Iceland has once again refused to cooperate with the other coastal states. As such, I firmly believe that real sanctions must now come back on to the table.
My report was adopted by this House – as I said – by an overwhelming majority. Before the summer recess, the Commissioner sat at our committee, eyeballed us and told us that she would immediately set in train the necessary measures to introduce sanctions. What did she do? Absolutely nothing. But it was no surprise to me that she reneged on her word and went on to pursue a strategy behind the back of Norway, against the best interests of the European industry.
She has responsibility for Europe. I have no doubt that, if she had imposed those sanctions against Iceland last year, we would not be in the position that we are in today, whereby Iceland once again refuses to cooperate with other coastal states. In May[nbsp ]2013, the Commission used this instrument against the Faroe Islands, due to their over-fishing of Anglo-Scandia herring, also in the North Atlantic. In conclusion, it is imperative that the Commission put in place sanction measures against Iceland with immediate effect."@en1
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