EU Penalizes Breach Of Fishing Quota’s & Lack Enforcement ff
29 July 2004
European Union
Undeclared landings, misreporting and under-reporting of catches from Europe’s fishing fleets are going undetected, warns a new Brussels report.
A Brussels ‘2004 Fisheries Compliance Scoreboard’ reveals that substantial improvements are required to conserve European fish stocks.
The second annual report highlights that three quarters of pending infringement procedures against member states relate to cases of over fishing.
And since last year’s scoreboard was published, the European Commission has initiated new infringement procedures against France, Spain and the UK.
The scoreboard, based on information supplied by national governments was introduced in 2003 in an attempt to highlight and strengthen compliance of EU common fisheries rules.
“Despite some progress, much remains to be done. Member states committed themselves to ensuring more equitable, effective and uniform enforcement. They must now deliver," said EU fisheries chief Franz Fischler.
This year’s league table shows that many countries are failing to provide Brussels with sufficient information. Specifically Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands were reprimanded for having breached quotas in 2003, while the EU executive said it had also launched infringement procedures against Britain and France. Three-quarters of pending disciplinary action relates to over-fishing, with breaches of quotas running up to 76 percent. "The Member States most concerned are Belgium, Spain and, for the third year, the Netherlands," said Brussels.
Since last year's ranking, Brussels has launched four new infringement actions: against Spain and the Britain for failing to enforce rules, and against France and Spain for failing to control the use of certain fishing gear.
“Given the continued gaps observed in member states’ enforcement activities, the data sent to the commission may not accurately reflect reality,†concludes the report.
The number of overshot quotas decreased to two per cent last year, and the extent of over fishing varies considerably across the member states with Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands giving Brussels the most headaches.
The scoreboard provides information in five areas: catches, fleet, funding, market traceability and national an EU monitoring activities.
