This is BirdLife Europe reactive statement to today’s European Parliament vote on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), which will dictate how public money is spent on the EU fisheries sector till 2020.
Brussels 23/10/2013 – Today the European Parliament (EP) gave a massive boost to the future of Europe’s fisheries by voting against public funding being used to build new fishing vessels.
“We commend Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for standing up for the future of our seas” says Ariel Brunner, Head of EU Policy at BirdLife Europe. “If we start spending taxpayers’ money on managing fisheries better, rather than on further encouraging an enlarged industrial fishing fleet, we can give a future to fish, fishermen, seabirds and the rest of our marine ecosystem”.
Attempts by MEP Alain Cadec and the EP’s fisheries committee to reintroduce subsidies for building new fishing boats have been defeated. The Parliament has ruled out so called “fleet renewal”, a code word for subsidising the building of new industrial trawlers. It has voted for Member States to increase spending on data collection and better controls of the fishing fleet. It also requires the recipients of subsidies to comply with EU law.
The one shadow in this overwhelmingly positive vote is the introduction of subsidies for engine replacement, albeit limited to small boats. The Parliament has also defeated an attempt to redefine “small boats” so that industrial trawlers could qualify.
Euan Dunn, RSPB’s Principal Marine Advisor said “If today they had diverted scarce public funds to feed the already bloated EU fishing fleet, they would have taken away all hopes for restoring the fortunes of our fish stocks, the wider marine environment and the viability of fishing communities.”
There is broad agreement that the EU has been subsidising a build-up of excessive fishing capacity, estimated by the Commission for some fisheries to be two to three times above the level compatible with sustainable fishing. Scientists advise that 88% of fish stocks in the Mediterranean and 39% of those in the North-east Atlantic are overfished.
Euan Dunn added: “The situation in the North Sea and Atlantic is improving but this is not the time to take the brakes off trying to claw back the balance between fleet capacity and fish stocks”.
Now that the European Parliament has had its say, negotiations to finalise the new EMFF start between the Parliament, Council and Commission. They will strive for a quick agreement to put the policy in place by spring 2014.
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BirdLife Europe is a Partnership of nature conservation organisations in 49 countries, including all EU Member States, and a leader in bird conservation. Through its unique local to global approach BirdLife Europe delivers high impact and long term conservation for the benefit of nature and people.
Contacts:
Euan Dunn, Marine Advisor, RSPB (BirdLife in the UK)
Phone: + 44 (0)1774 233728
email: euan.dunn@rspb.org.uk
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