EU Commission to present aid plan for fisheries

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EU Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg and Italian Fisheries Minister Luca Zaia. Photo: EFE

The European Commission is due to present an aid plan to fisheries ministers from the 27 EU nations on Tuesday in Luxembourg, to help fishing fleets hit by rising fuel prices which have sparked protests from fishermen around Europe.

The package proposal agreed on earlier this month came after a demand for such measures from seven southern European nations who met to discuss the crisis in the fishing industry.

The proposed aid focuses on assistance to skippers who stop fishing or modernise their boats with fuel-saving equipment, rather than offering cuts in fuel taxes which angry fishermen have been demanding.

Fishermen have protested in several European nations to demand cuts in taxes to offset rocketing fuel prices. Several hundred fishermen, mostly from France and Italy, attacked EU buildings and battled police in Brussels this month at a demonstration demanding more help.

However, EU officials believe tax cuts will do little to solve underlying problem facing the industry: too many boats chasing too few fish.

EU Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg said last week the aid measures would help tackle the overcapacity and overfishing that are threatening fish stocks and fishermen's livelihoods.

On Monday, Jaime Silva, Portuguese Minister for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries said a quicker restructuring of fishing programmes was necessary to reflect changes in oil prices and fishing capacity.

"The cost of fuel in fisheries is the main factor of production and this is an structural cost and it is a cost which has changed very rapidly. What this means is we were expecting an increase in the fuel price when we negotiated the fisheries funds and the programmes for the different countries, but we could never imagine that the increase could be so rapid," said Silva.

"Now we realise that the current fishing capacity of the EU is excessive given the resources available and that increases in fuel prices will require quicker restructuring when compared to that of the programme of 2013," he added.

Ban on large-scale bluefin tuna

Borg last week also defended his decision to ban large-scale bluefin tuna fishing by six EU countries against government criticism. He said the restrictions are needed to prevent overfishing that is putting the highly prized species at risk.

On the tuna ban, Borg said fishermen from France, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Malta and Spain have exhausted their tuna quotas and that many skippers have flouted rules designed to protect tuna stocks.

France and Italy have demanded the EU suspend the ban, saying they have data that show their fishermen have requested the rules. On that matter, Silva on Monday said unanimity would be required to overturn the EU Commission proposed ban.

"In what concerns the tuna question and the ban proposed by the European Commission; as you know in this area the Commission has a considerable weight; so in order to overturn a decision by the European Commission you require unanimity. Now as you know the countries affected by this measure are France, Italy in particular and also Spain. Somewhat, but Spain is not opposed to the ban as far as I know."

The ban came into force on June 16th for five of the EU countries and will now apply to Spanish boasts. It covers so-called purse seiner boats which account for 70 percent of the EU's bluefin tuna catch, and does not apply to smaller inshore vessels.