Fierce battle looms over fishing cuts

Date: 05/09/1996

By Michael Mann

IRELAND is gearing up for a frenetic six weeks in its efforts to forge controversial deals which would result in major changes to the EU's fishing fleet.

Officials from the 15 member states will meet next Thursday (12 September) to try to move closer to an accord on sweeping reductions in the Union fleet's capacity ahead of next month's meeting of fisheries ministers.

The Irish presidency remains determined to gain agreement on overall targets to bring fishing effort more closely into line with available fish stocks when ministers meet on 14 October.

But member states and fishermen's representatives are highly sceptical about whether this is feasible, given the depth of cuts envisaged by the Commission.

“Discussions so far have concentrated on general principles. Things are very broad and technical,” commented an official.

European fishermen's unions see things in even starker terms, calling on the Commission to give much greater thought to how the reductions are calculated.

“You have to take account of the age and efficiency of the vessels, otherwise there is a danger of ending up with a smaller fleet which is much more efficient at killing fish,” said Barry Deas of England's National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO).

Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino caused a furore back in May by calling for cuts of up to 40&percent; in fishing capacity under the next “Multi-Annual Guidance Programme”.

No one is underestimating the difficulty of getting an accord. Even if rapid agreement is possible on the broad framework for reductions in the EU's fleet, the really difficult work will begin when each member state has to negotiate with the Commission on what percentage of the cuts it will have to stomach itself.

But although each country will eventually be more concerned about defending its own corner, initial skirmishes have revealed general agreement that the proposed cuts go much too far.

A group of countries led by the UK is also calling for limi-tations on fishing effort to be made a mandatory part of the regime, rather than merely a complement to scrapping schemes.

The debate has been given added spice by London's threats to hold the issue to ransom in its battle over so-called 'quota hoppers' - overseas fishermen operating under the UK flag and fishing for British quota.

Its demands have not so far had a major impact on the negotiations, but regular contacts are continuing in parallel to the debate on UK calls for a special protocol to be added to the treaty during the Intergovernmental Conference.

Irish Fisheries Minister Seán Barrett is paying particular attention to whether the Commission's proposals are based on sound scientific data and ensuring that account is taken of the socio-economic effects of any cutbacks.

Some countries are concerned that the planned cuts in zones where a number of species are hunted are based on the most threatened species, thus preventing fishermen from pursuing other stocks which are in little or no danger.

Meanwhile, Dublin and the Commission are making a considerable effort to clear up remaining doubts over plans to introduce sweeping changes to EU fishing vessel equipment.

Commission officials have rejected fierce criticism of their proposals to standardise technical measures, claiming that their ideas are scientifically justifiable.

“The existing measures are a patchwork, and we realised there was a need to look at the question with a fresh eye,” said one, claiming that Commission plans would reduce the wasteful practice of discarding fish caught out of quota.

While the Commission and Ireland are still hoping for an agreement during the autumn, fishing unions throughout the EU are calling for more time to be taken over “the most profound changes in the technical conservation regime in 15 years”.