Controls on fisheries still insufficient

BRUSSELS – Checks on fishermen and their catches remain insufficient, contributing to the depletion of fish stocks in European Union waters, the European Commission said yesterday.

“More effective enforcement will require greater commitment and determination,” EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said. The 27-nation EU has issued a series of regulations to counter the overfishing of mealtime favourites such as cod and sole, but stocks continue to decline, partly because of ineffective controls.Over the 2003-2005 period, the Commission said member states did not put enough people on the jobs, while the controls themselves were found insufficient.As a result, fishermen continued to use banned fishing methods, such as drift nets, and fished in areas called off limits.An EU report acknowledged there was improvement over the largely lawless practices a few decades back when tonnes upon tonnes of fish were landed illegally to fool the tax man and get around limiting quotas on rare species.Even during the three years under review, controls already got tougher.”The report concludes that while significant progress was observed over the period, the control situation remained in general unsatisfactory,” the Commission said in a statement.The Commission complained for example that satellite surveillance of vessels was not cross-checked with what the captain recorded in the log book and that member nations refused to use it to force fishermen to change their ways.There also continued to be big differences between the reported catch and what fishermen actually hauled in.The report is bound to raise tensions with fishermen who have long complained that controls are already too stringent.The Commission called on member states to put more people on its control missions.The EU has stepped up measures to counter the depletion of its waters.Last month, it announced proposals to curtail “discards,” the wasteful practice of throwing good fish overboard because of commercial expediency or legal constraints.And in December EU nations agreed to tough new catch quotas, even though scientists and environmentalists argued they were insufficient to turn the decline around.Nampa-APThe 27-nation EU has issued a series of regulations to counter the overfishing of mealtime favourites such as cod and sole, but stocks continue to decline, partly because of ineffective controls.Over the 2003-2005 period, the Commission said member states did not put enough people on the jobs, while the controls themselves were found insufficient.As a result, fishermen continued to use banned fishing methods, such as drift nets, and fished in areas called off limits.An EU report acknowledged there was improvement over the largely lawless practices a few decades back when tonnes upon tonnes of fish were landed illegally to fool the tax man and get around limiting quotas on rare species.Even during the three years under review, controls already got tougher.”The report concludes that while significant progress was observed over the period, the control situation remained in general unsatisfactory,” the Commission said in a statement.The Commission complained for example that satellite surveillance of vessels was not cross-checked with what the captain recorded in the log book and that member nations refused to use it to force fishermen to change their ways.There also continued to be big differences between the reported catch and what fishermen actually hauled in.The report is bound to raise tensions with fishermen who have long complained that controls are already too stringent.The Commission called on member states to put more people on its control missions.The EU has stepped up measures to counter the depletion of its waters.Last month, it announced proposals to curtail “discards,” the wasteful practice of throwing good fish overboard because of commercial expediency or legal constraints.And in December EU nations agreed to tough new catch quotas, even though scientists and environmentalists argued they were insufficient to turn the decline around.Nampa-AP