Spain Says Its Fishing Offences Are Declining ff

The General Secretariat of Maritime Fisheries from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) has clarified that offences against the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) mentioned in a report released by the European Commission (EC) referred to data gathered in 2003, and that the number of serious violations committed by the Spanish fleet has significantly declined in 2004.

In the Third Annual Chart of Indicators on the Compliance with the Common Fisheries Policy earlier this month, Spain and Ireland are mentioned as leading in amount of violations of fishing quotas set for 2004. The EC indicated at that time that Europe’s fish stocks will remain under serious threat of extinction unless EU member states step up their efforts to police the fisheries sector.

While total overfishing levels dropped slightly in 2004 to 1.8 per cent, in some countries – led by Ireland and Spain – quotas were exceeded by as much as 68 per cent.

However, in terms of serious offences to the CFP, the Spanish Government clarified that this information refers to 2003 data, and matches the information forwarded European Union (EU) authorities.

Thus, the MAPA said that whereas in 2003, 3,158 serious offences to the CFP were reported, a year later the final number had dropped to 2,396 offences.

Moreover, the number of unlicensed fishing offences went down from 677 in 2003 to 462 in 2004, and unauthorized fishing violations dropped from 674 to 475.

Spanish authorities have also pointed out that, although Spain has reported a declined number of serious offences to the CFP in 2004, the combined EU number of infractions has increased from 9,502 in 2003 to 9,660 a year later.

The EU Commissioner of Fisheries, Joe Borg, has warned that non compliance with fisheries rules poses a threaten on fishers’ interests, “as it leads to overfishing, fisheries stock depletion, declined catches and lower revenues.”