Flexible system offers new hope for fish disputes

Date: 19/10/1995

By Michael Mann

MEMBER states are “just about at one” over new control measures for fishermen operating in western waters from the start of next year, according to member state officials.

The Spanish presidency has drawn up a compromise which adds considerable flexibility to proposals put forward by the European Commission in June.

Despite opposition from the Commission to the new proposals, there is now every chance that ministers will agree on the plans at their meeting in Luxembourg on 26 October.

The system is designed to control fishing in waters off the west coast of the UK, following the political deal struck shortly before Christmas last year to allow a limited number of Spanish vessels into the so-called 'Irish Box' when it runs out at the end of this year.

Concerned that its initial proposal has been simplified and watered down too much, the Commission is yet to be convinced about the practicality of the revised scheme. The irony of the proposed changes will not be lost on DGXIV, the Directorate-General for fisheries.

During last December's dispute, Ireland and the UK - among others - were highly critical of rumoured illegal fishing by Spaniards. Tough control measures were intended to ensure that it was not possible to break the rules.

As of next January, some 40 Spanish vessels will have access to the former Irish Box. But one member state diplomat described the latest proposals as a “three-pronged approach to control, which will be much less bureaucratic than the proposals put forward by the Commission”.

Fisheries ministers agreed on the first part of the control measures at their last meeting in June. This awarded each member state a certain number of “kilo-watt fishing days” for each fishing area, based on the power of vessels and the number operating in each area.

The Commission then suggested a so-called “hail system”, which would have required fishermen to inform the authorities every time they entered or left a fishing zone, and communicate the length of their fishing activity and how much fish they had on board.

Almost universally rejected as over-bureaucratic, these ideas have been worked on to the extent that “the text now being put forward is acceptable to most”, according to an official.

Rather than a single control system, ministers look likely to agree on a separate, less complex system for vessels fishing in the waters of their own member state and another distinct regime for those on short fishing trips. Member states would enjoy an enhanced role in managing the measures.

With the new regime due to come into force so soon, agreement is crucial in October if the system is to be up and running in time. This will be made a lot easier because, under pressure from the UK, the establishment of computerised reporting systems will be left out of the package at this stage.

Improved data collection methods are only due to enter into service at the start of 1998 and ministers are expected to return to this part of the package in 1997.