EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg has promised “definitive proposals” for next month’s ministerial council, which will address the fuel price squeeze affecting European fleets.
However, Commissioner Borg has secured agreement on tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) catches, which constitute some €1.1 billion worth of annual seafood imports to the EU.
The decision to buy time on the fuel price issue at today's EU fisheries council in Luxembourg has been described as “extremely frustrating” by the Federation of Irish Fishermen, however, which is seeking temporary tie-up aid for vessels hit by the price hike.
Minister of State for Fisheries Tony Killeen said he would continue to press for a “pan-European” approach to the issue, through a “strong package” of EU-funded measures.
Speaking from Luxembourg, Mr Killeen said that he was pleased with the support offered on the issue by a number of other member states, and said he anticipated “further progress” could be made on July 15th.
But Mr Killeen ruled out State support for a temporary tie-up, as a “large scale ” decommissioning programme for the whitefish fleet was under way.
Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Brendan Smith and Mr Killeen are seeking a pan-European response to ease pressure caused by the escalating price of fuel, but it is understood that an emergency aid "package" announced recently by the European Commission is not backed up by any significant funding to date.
However, EU ministers agreed today to tighten inspections on illegal fishing in EU waters, impose stiff fines on lawbreakers and compile blacklists of boats and countries.
EU vessels or any non-EU vessel trying to land a catch at an EU port will, from 2010, be hit with a maximum fine of five times the market value of the catch. For a repeat offence, that fine is set at eight times the value.
The EU has one of the world's largest fishing fleets and is the top market and importer of fisheries products, worth around 14 billion ($21.7 billion) a year. Of that, at least €1.1 billion is believed to come from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), which experts say poses a serious risk to marine biodiversity.
A lot of IUU fishing is done by vessels that use so-called flags of convenience where scrutiny by local authorities can often be minimised, officials say.
To tackle this problem, the EU plans to blacklist countries used as hosts for such flags and any vessels that carry out IUU fishing or are registered under the flag of a country that has been deemed suspect for turning a blind eye to IUU fishing.
The new law also restricts access to EU markets to fisheries products, including processed, that have been certified as legal by the flag state or exporting state concerned.
Additional reporting Reuters
