Post by SHARK on Apr 21, 2009 20:55:42 GMT 1
SNP President welcomes illegal fishing move.
NEW proposals to tackle illegal fishing have been welcomed by SNP MEP Ian Hudghton who voted in favour of the measures in the European Parliament.
The SNP President said that the scheme could have benefits for Scotland's fishing fleet if implemented properly, but he warned that such EU plans shouldn't be allowed to distract attention from the problems of the Common Fisheries Policy.
The European Commission is proposing a raft a measures to tackle what they call illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing or IUU. One of the measures would see the creation of register of ships involved in illegal fishing and a scheme to prevent the sale of illegally caught fish. The proposals could also be extended to ban imports from countries who fail to comply with the EU system.
Speaking in the European Parliament Mr Hudghton said:
"It is in the interests of all fishing nations and fishing communities to eliminate illegal fisheries. After all, it is the fishing communities themselves who will benefit from the successful conservation of the resource. International cooperation is essential in successfully eliminating illegal fishing by the pirates and organised criminals worldwide who operate in the field.
"We have made progress in Scotland too in recent years on improving controls. We have the registration of buyers and sellers and we have designated ports of landing. Good enforcement is, of course, important, but equally important is a sensible management regime which provides incentives to conserve by guaranteeing that Scotland’s fishermen, for example, are guaranteed to benefit in the long term from the conservation measures that they have to apply from time to time. The CFP has simply not provided that kind of guarantee.
"Within the common fisheries policy too much attention has been paid to the recent report of the Court of Auditors on control and enforcement. That report was based on data supposedly gathered from the six most important fishing Member States. However, that data that the Member States listed included the UK (England and Wales). Scotland has some 70% of the UK’s fisheries and was not included in that data. I would just like to make the point that there are distinct and separate quota and management and enforcement organisations within Scotland.
"I was glad to hear the Commissioner say recently that he favours root‑and‑branch reform of the CFP. I agree. I say: let us return day‑to‑day management and control of the resource to the fishing nations themselves, who have fishing entitlements in logical fishing areas such as the North Sea, and let us abandon the unworkable notion that we can have equal access to waters and resources."
The main provisions of this scheme would be:
• the creation of a list of vessels (both EU-flagged and non-EU) that are involved in IUU fishing;
• a scheme of port state control that would prohibit access by third country IUU vessels;
• a ban on the importation of IUU fish, by requiring certification by the flag state that the fish is legal;
• the development of a Community Alert System when there is a suspicion that IUU fish has been detected;
• prohibition of importing fish from countries that have been identified as not cooperating with the EU scheme;
• provisions detailing what actions are to be taken in each of the above situations.
NEW proposals to tackle illegal fishing have been welcomed by SNP MEP Ian Hudghton who voted in favour of the measures in the European Parliament.
The SNP President said that the scheme could have benefits for Scotland's fishing fleet if implemented properly, but he warned that such EU plans shouldn't be allowed to distract attention from the problems of the Common Fisheries Policy.
The European Commission is proposing a raft a measures to tackle what they call illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing or IUU. One of the measures would see the creation of register of ships involved in illegal fishing and a scheme to prevent the sale of illegally caught fish. The proposals could also be extended to ban imports from countries who fail to comply with the EU system.
Speaking in the European Parliament Mr Hudghton said:
"It is in the interests of all fishing nations and fishing communities to eliminate illegal fisheries. After all, it is the fishing communities themselves who will benefit from the successful conservation of the resource. International cooperation is essential in successfully eliminating illegal fishing by the pirates and organised criminals worldwide who operate in the field.
"We have made progress in Scotland too in recent years on improving controls. We have the registration of buyers and sellers and we have designated ports of landing. Good enforcement is, of course, important, but equally important is a sensible management regime which provides incentives to conserve by guaranteeing that Scotland’s fishermen, for example, are guaranteed to benefit in the long term from the conservation measures that they have to apply from time to time. The CFP has simply not provided that kind of guarantee.
"Within the common fisheries policy too much attention has been paid to the recent report of the Court of Auditors on control and enforcement. That report was based on data supposedly gathered from the six most important fishing Member States. However, that data that the Member States listed included the UK (England and Wales). Scotland has some 70% of the UK’s fisheries and was not included in that data. I would just like to make the point that there are distinct and separate quota and management and enforcement organisations within Scotland.
"I was glad to hear the Commissioner say recently that he favours root‑and‑branch reform of the CFP. I agree. I say: let us return day‑to‑day management and control of the resource to the fishing nations themselves, who have fishing entitlements in logical fishing areas such as the North Sea, and let us abandon the unworkable notion that we can have equal access to waters and resources."
The main provisions of this scheme would be:
• the creation of a list of vessels (both EU-flagged and non-EU) that are involved in IUU fishing;
• a scheme of port state control that would prohibit access by third country IUU vessels;
• a ban on the importation of IUU fish, by requiring certification by the flag state that the fish is legal;
• the development of a Community Alert System when there is a suspicion that IUU fish has been detected;
• prohibition of importing fish from countries that have been identified as not cooperating with the EU scheme;
• provisions detailing what actions are to be taken in each of the above situations.