EU on track to net conservation deal

By David Cronin

Date: 15/09/05

EU governments are on course to agree measures for fish conservation in the Mediterranean next week - three years after an action plan on protecting depleted stocks was drawn up.

Under a package being finalised by the UK presidency of the EU, the measures would be less stringent than those outlined in the 2002 plan and in a legislative proposal put forward by the European Commission a year later.

Diplomats say that there is a strong likelihood that the UK's recommendations will win acceptance from those member states most involved in fishing in the Mediterranean: Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta. But, some of the precise details on issues such as the type of fishing gear that should be permitted could be subject to further negotiation before the meeting of EU marine ministers on Tuesday (20 September).

In 2003, Franz Fischler, the then European commissioner for agriculture and fisheries, argued that the causes of overexploitation in the Mediterranean needed to be tackled. While there had been a surge in fishing in the region, the decline in stocks meant that catches had been shrinking. In the straits of Sicily and the Adriatic, Fischler warned, catches of some species were 60% lower than two decades previously.

One of the main aims of the Fischler plan was to allow stocks to replenish by ensuring that immature fish escaped the nets.

Yet, whereas he sought a minimum permissible size of 20cm for hake landed by vessels, the eventual agreement is expected to be closer to 15cm.

Fischler also urged that the mesh size in towed nets should be increased from 40mm to 60mm over a six-year period. But, this has met with stiff resistance from EU states with fleets operating in the Mediterranean. They favour either maintaining current rules on mesh sizes or introducing new levels over a longer time-frame.

In addition, Fischler had recommended that hydraulic or suction dredges - which harvest shellfish buried in the seabed - should not be used within 1.5 nautical miles of the shore. But it is likely that this technique could now be authorised at a distance from the shore of just 0.3 nautical miles.

Charlotte Mogensen from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said that she had hoped that the agreement would lead to a more "precautionary approach" to fishing in the Mediterranean, but that indications that it would be weaker than the 2002 action plan are a "bad sign".

A spokeswoman for Spain's representation to the EU said Madrid could approve most of the UK's suggestions. "Spain wants to see an agreement that guarantees the sustainability of the Mediterranean but also takes into account the interests of fishermen and the sector," she added.

Guy Vernaeve from Europêche, an umbrella group of national fishermen's associations, said there was a need for a new accord as existing rules applying to the Mediterranean dated back to 1994 and required updating. He argued that an agreement should be based on "solid scientific data", which, he claimed, was lacking in the Commission's plan.

• A ban on anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay is to be extended after scientific advisers to the Commission noted that stocks of juvenile anchovies have been lower there in the past year compared to previous years. A three-month ban will expire on 2 October, but the Commission announced this week it was taking steps to prolong it until 31 December.

The EU executive also proposed that restrictions on access of vessels to the waters surrounding the Shetland Islands should remain in place for another three years. Only 128 vessels longer than 28 metres are allowed into the so-called Shetland Box, which was established in 1983.

Article reports that EU governments were set to agree measures for fish conservation in the Mediterranean at the meeting of EU Marine Ministers on 20 September 2005, three years after an action plan on protecting depleted stocks had been drawn up.