Hope That EU Fisheries Shake-Up Might Strengthen Tuna RFMO’sff

The fishing industry has lost out in a Brussels policy battle which now seems certain to favor interests of the EU’s 500m citizens and the marine environment over the interests of fishermen.

The former directorate-general for fisheries and maritime affairs has been quietly re-named DG Mare as a result of a decision by all 27 member states.

* Commission sources say that the change has come about because Commissioners were embarrassed by DG Fish's management of the Common Fisheries Policy - which often doles out fish quotas in defiance of scientific advice.

They were also concerned by DG Fish’s defense of the interests of the fishing industry over those of the interests of other EU citizens, for example divers, anglers and the renewable energy industry.

Three new directorates will be set up within the organization, splitting up the management of the Common Fisheries Policy into three regions, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the North Sea and Baltic Seas.

DG Fish’s existing directorates for external policy and legal affairs will remain unchanged.

The reorganization is expected to allow greater focus on the Mediterranean, where fishing for the bluefin tuna remains out of control, and on control of illegal fishing by EU vessels in international waters.

José Manuel Barroso, the Commission president, said: “The new set-up in DG Mare highlights the Commission's determination to conduct an integrated and tailor-made maritime policy.”

A senior Commission official said: “This will get fisheries out of its ghetto and make it more sensitive to sustainable development and ecosystem management.”

Under the changes, it is intended that fishermen would have to be consulted more on the sitting of wind farms in the North Sea, but environmental groups would have to be consulted more on where a new network of marine reserves would go.

The official added: “Fishermen tend to live in their own separate world, they feel victimized and neglected, this should be a change for them too.”

Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said the changes were “part of a push towards more ‘joined up’ thinking on EU maritime policy, but what we have to be careful about is to ensure that fishing doesn’t sink under the weight of other wider maritime and environmental considerations.”

A Greenpeace spokesman said: “Hopefully this isn’t just about new letterheads and door-signs, but points to a fundamental shift in the Commission’s priorities. For too long the Commission has given in to short-sighted fishing interests, which is why Europe’s fish stocks and seas are in such a disastrous state.”

Source: Writtten by Charles Clover, Environment Editor