THE agreement reached
by EU fisheries ministers earlier this month to end
the discarding of dead fish at sea has been
downplayed by an Irish MEP as “not that good a news
story”, writes Jessie Magee.
Fianna Fáil MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher criticised
what he described as the “flawed approach” adopted
by the ministers and said “spin and publicity will
not solve the problems facing the fisheries sector.”
The measures, which include a phased introduction to
ending the practice of discarding dead fish, have
been hailed by Marine Minister Simon Coveney as “the
most significant breakthrough at an EU Fisheries
Council for more than a decade, which will
fundamentally change how fishermen operate.”
But Mr Gallagher has accused the ministers of
“completely ignoring” the role of the European
Parliament as a co-legislator in fishing matters.
“This does not bode well for the negotiations which
lie ahead on the reform of the Common Fisheries
Policy and will continue for at least one year,” he
said.
“Of course what the ministers said wasn’t a
decision, it was a recommendation, but they have
given the impression that they have the last word
and that’s it a fait accompli. MEPs will have a
major input into this.”
Mr Gallagher said while everyone wants to end
discards, there is still a lot of detail to be
worked out, and that the emphasis should be first
and foremost to “avoid and minimise the catching of
unwanted fish”.
A report agreed this week by the European
Parliament’s Fisheries Committee contains several
key amendments put forward by Mr Gallagher to this
effect.
“Adopting the principle of minimisation and
avoidance, and then the landing of discarded fish,
is both a common sense and sustainable approach to
the problem of discards. This report will act as a
negotiating position for MEPs in the forthcoming
talks with the Council of Ministers and the
Commission,” he added.
Mr Gallagher explained that one of the methods of
minimising discards he favours is assisting
fishermen to change their type of nets, making the
meshes bigger to allow juvenile fish to escape. “If
the young fish are allowed to escape, they will
develop and grow and will be fish for the future,
but if all these are taken ashore, in a number of
years there will be no fish for anybody,” he warned. |
