{"id":12779,"date":"2019-01-18T07:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T06:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flyfishing-blog.com\/flyfishing-blog.com\/?p=12779"},"modified":"2019-01-16T16:40:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T15:40:58","slug":"recreational-fisheries-discriminated-against-by-the-european-parliament-in-the-western-mediterranean-management-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyfishing-blog.com\/flyfishing-blog.com\/2019\/01\/18\/recreational-fisheries-discriminated-against-by-the-european-parliament-in-the-western-mediterranean-management-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Recreational fisheries discriminated against by the European Parliament in the Western Mediterranean management plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the 10th of January 2019, the European Parliament\u2019s Committee on Fisheries voted on MEP Clara Aguilera Garcia\u2019s report on the Commission\u2019s proposal for a multi-annual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea. The EAA and the EFTTA are very disappointed with many of the adopted amendments to the Commission\u2019s proposed text, in particular those discriminating against recreational fishing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fish stocks in the Mediterranean Sea are in dire straits. The Commission informs that 93% of the assessed fish stocks are overexploited and several of them could collapse (1). The adopted amendments water down the Commission\u2019s proposal. If these amendments are adopted by the Council and the Commission it will be impossible to fix overexploitation by 2020, and many stocks will be exposed to total collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some\nof the adopted amendments are very hostile towards the recreational\nfisheries sector like Amendment 8 (2): \u201cAs recreational\nfisheries can have a significant impact on fish resources, the\nmultiannual plan should provide a framework to ensure that they are\nconducted in a manner compatible with the objectives of that plan.\nMember States should collect catch data of recreational fisheries.\nWhere such fisheries have a significant impact on those resources,\nthe plan should provide for the possibility to decide on specific\nmanagement measures <\/em>which do not harm the professional\nfisheries sector<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto the EAA and the EFTTA, the underlined words are not necessary and\nmakes little sense from a legal point of view. The wording alludes to\na situation where commercial fisheries is \u2018the owner of the fish\nstocks\u2019 and recreational fisheries \u2018a residue activity\u2019, which\neffectively always are deemed to suffer disproportionally from\noverfishing. This is not acceptable. The recreational fisheries\nsector should not be punished disproportionally, or at all, for\noverfishing caused by the commercial fisheries sector, which is the\nmain responsible for the current overexploitation of the\nMediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recreational\nfisheries is a high-value low impact activity, which delivers\nsubstantial economic benefits and jobs to the Mediterranean coastal\ncommunities. A study conducted by the Spanish Ministry for\nFisheries and Agriculture (MAPA) already in 2003 (3) states that\n\u201cThe expense generated by recreational fishing in the Spanish\nMediterranean, significantly exceeds the value added generated by\nprofessional fishing. Sport fishing represents between 550 and 650\nmillion \u20ac per year compared to 380 million \u20ac representing\nprofessional fishing<\/em>.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\nstudy2<\/sup> from 2017, ordered by the European Parliament\n(4), concludes that: “Total economic impact of marine\nrecreational fishing amounts to 10.5 billion euro, supporting almost\n100,000 jobs<\/em>.” This huge economic impact and many jobs are\nput in peril by the adopted amendments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nEAA and the EFTTA now call on the Commission and the Council to not\naccept these amendments adopted by the Parliament\u2019s Fisheries\nCommittee. We also take this opportunity to encourage the Council,\nthe Commission as well as the Parliament to prepare for inclusion of\nrecreational fisheries in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) on an\nequal footing with the other sectors, commercial fisheries and\naquaculture, to avoid such kind of discrimination in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/jrc\/en\/news\/saving-our-heritage-worrying-state-mediterranean-fish-stocks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.\nReport <\/a>as\namended by the Fisheries Committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.\nwww.mapa.gob.es\/es\/pesca\/temas\/pesca-deportiva-recreo\/Estudio_tcm30-77484.pdf<\/a>\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.\n\u201cResearch\nfor PECH Committee – Marine recreational and semi-subsistence fishing\n– its value and its impact on fish stocks<\/a>\u201d\n(2017), Kieran Hyder et al. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further\nreferences:<\/strong>
\n\u25cf\nThe Commission\u2019s legislative proposal, COM(2018)\n115 of 8 March 2018<\/a> 
\n\u25cf Press\nrelease<\/a> by\nthe Committee on Fisheries, 10 January 2019 
\n\u25cf Procedure\nfile<\/a> \u201cMulti-annual\nplan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western\nMediterranean Sea\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Website:\nwww.eftta.com<\/a>. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the 10th of January 2019, the European Parliament\u2019s Committee on Fisheries voted on MEP Clara Aguilera Garcia\u2019s report on the Commission\u2019s proposal for a multi-annual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea. The EAA and the EFTTA are very disappointed with many of the adopted amendments to the Commission\u2019s proposed text, in particular those discriminating against recreational fishing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[644,1255,1655,926],"class_list":["post-12779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-eftta","tag-fisheries","tag-mediterranean","tag-recreational"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t