|
EUROPEAN UNION
12th December, 2002
EU Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler threatens in an open letter to EU fishermen that if a decision is not reached on the reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), then he will not be able to allocate any resources to fleet subsidies next year. In the letter, Fischler attempts again to lecture fishermen in the need to protect fish from overfishing and to downsize EU fishing fleets. Fischler also promises aid to Spanish fishermen who have to stop fishing due to the Prestige oil spill off Galicia.
"The fact of the matter is that if the Council does not come to a decision on the reforms this December, then I cannot allocate any more resources to fleet subsidies from 1 January 2003 onwards. This is the legal consequence of the Fisheries Ministers' decision of December 2001," Fischler writes. He feels that it is in the interests of all to reach a sensible compromise.
"This calls for flexibility on all sides. The Commission is prepared to be flexible. But I refuse to support a compromise if it is a mere sham that only brings cosmetic changes and does not go to the root of the problems in fisheries policy. For that would not help either you, the fishermen, or the fish," the Fisheries Commissioner continued.
Fischler feels that inadequate management of fish stocks, lack of policing, failure to involve the industry and a misguided aid policy have meant that overfishing has in recent years gradually undermined the livelihood of the fishing industry.
"Too many boats are fishing more and more intensively for too few fish. This is not only posing a threat to fish stocks but is making fishing unprofitable for many of you. Each year a further 8,000 jobs are being lost; a fact passed over in silence. An increasing number of species, particularly cod, are threatened with extinction."
EU Fisheries Ministers will be meeting in Brussels in a few days' time. Fischler repeats the need to be far-sighted and responsible in reforming the common fisheries policy in such a way as to break out of the downward spiral in the fishing industry.
"It would be very unfair to put all the blame on you, the fishermen, for the problems that have been building up in recent years. We have all made mistakes; the politicians in Brussels, in the national capitals and in the regions as well as those actually catching the fish," the Fisheries Commissioner pointed out.
Fischler sympathises with the Spanish fishermen and shellfish farmers hit by the oil spill disaster off the Galician coast.
"Through no fault of their own they face this horrendous oil slick threatening their livelihood. The EU will not leave them in the lurch. Fishermen who have to stop fishing on account of this environmental disaster can count on EU aid to tide them over while they have to stay in port. We shall do our utmost to make all possible assistance available, to do so as soon as possible and with the maximum degree of flexibility," Fischler promised.
By Odin Hjellestad
FIS Europe
|
