Environmentalists blast new fishing rules

  • 2005-01-12
  • By Jan Jun, RFE/RL PRAGUE
Environmentalists were up in arms following a European Union ruling in December that rejected a proposed ban on commercial deep-sea fishing in the North Sea. Fishermen, however, welcomed the ruling, stating that it would help them after years of economic difficulties.

British fishing representatives were pleased, saying they have suffered enough in recent years. Doug Beveridge, assistant chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organizations, said, "Part of the restrictions that have been imposed over the last two or three years has been a significant reduction in the number of vessels. There has been an increase in mesh size, and there has been a days-at-sea regime. They all point to a 60 percent reduction in mortality in cod, but the commission wanted to press ahead with further ill-considered and ill-founded restrictions."

The European Commission had originally sought deep restrictions in North Sea fishing, including a 60 percent cut in herring, 34 percent for cod and 27 percent for mackerel, as well as a complete ban on fishing in some areas.

But Beveridge claimed this was not necessary. He said fishermen alone have adopted measures that have increased cod stocks over the last two years.

Marine experts disagree. Tom Eddy, secretary to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, said, "I think that's wishful thinking. We've heard something about stocks recovering by 20 percent. But as they are only 10 percent of what they should be, that really means that's 12 percent of the natural level. That's tiny, and it doesn't actually help the fishing industry to be struggling with fish stocks down."

Eddy said banning fishing to allow a return of stocks is the "best way forward" in many areas including Norway, Britain, Ireland, France and Spain. He said such a step would also be in the long-term interests of fishermen.

Others noted that the creation of fisheries in various parts of the world has brought about positive results. Henrik Sparholt, a fisheries scientist at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea in Copenhagen, said, "The closed areas are actually quite effective management measures. We have some closed areas in the North Sea for juvenile herring, for Norway pout, and industrial fisheries for plaice and for mackerel outside the North Sea. They have implemented closed areas now for cod in the Baltic I have seen today. So it's a powerful tool."

Sparholt called the fishing industry's approach "short-sighted and even suicidal." He said it could lead to a total depletion of many popular fish stocks.

"They're really not following the advice we have given of no fishing on that stock in 2005, the critical stocks - cod in the North Sea," he said. "It's so low now that it's not known whether it's able to reproduce itself in sufficient amount. So there is high risk of a kind of economic stock collapse."