05 Dec
2006 - Brussels, Belgium – The European Commission
proposal for fishing opportunities in 2007 suggests
quotas that are too high and, perhaps worse, it
reintroduces electric fishing, a method denounced
by WWF and banned by the EU ten years ago for
its destructive impact on marine life.
The proposal would allow Dutch
vessels to reintroduce electric fishing on the
presumption that it will increase selectivity
in catches, especially for plaice and sole fisheries.
WWF believes that using electric
shocks to fish would be a risky precedent for
Europe, not to mention the destruction the practice
could cause to the marine environment, especially
in the North Sea, where the Dutch fleet is particularly
active.
According to a report by the
International Council for the Exploration of the
Sea (ICES), research in the freshwater environment
has demonstrated that electric fishing can damage
fish and lead to mortality from stress, haemorrhaging,
respiratory failure and spinal damage.
"Scientific advisory bodies
to the Commission have warned against the unknown
ecological consequences of electric fishing,"
said Carol Phua, Fisheries Policy Officer at WWF's
European Policy Office.
"It is not by chance that
this practice was prohibited in 1998. Once again,
the EU is stepping backwards instead of pushing
for progress.”
In addition to electric fishing, the EC proposal
suggests that only a 25 per cent reduction for
cod quotas, while scientists have been advising
a zero-catch policy for the last five years. The
situation is particularly alarming for cod in
the North Atlantic. Not only are quotas set too
high, but 40 per cent of the cod catches are unaccounted
for.
WWF is calling on European fisheries
ministers to redress the situation by adopting
sustainable quotas according to scientific advice
and refusing the reintroduction of destructive
fishing practices, such as electric fishing in
the North Sea.
“Making continued adjustments
to cod quotas alone will frankly not help cod
populations recover or enable fishermen to make
long term plans," said Dr Tom Pickerell,
WWF-UK's Fisheries Policy Officer.
"Implementing observer
programmes, using selective fishing gear, allocating
bycatch quotas and following scientific advice
would be progressive steps towards sustainable
fisheries," he added. "These solutions
are all within our grasp and yet are being largely
ignored.”
A final decision on the
proposals will be made by EU ministers at a council
meeting from 19–21 December in Brussels, Belgium.
