Tuesday, 28th June 2011
Scots MEP to propose 10 point plan for CFP reform
Struan Stevenson, Scottish Conservative MEP and Senior Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament Fisheries Committee, is to set out his 10 point vision for comprehensive reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) at a European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group debate tomorrow [Wednesday 29 June] in Windsor.
Mr Stevenson will put the plan to fellow group members and UK Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon MP during the ECR’s annual policy conference. If the plan is ratified it will form the basis of the ECR Group’s position on CFP negotiations later this year.
Ahead of the meeting, Mr Stevenson commented:
“The 10 point plan that I will be proposing this Wednesday is intended to provide capacity to devolve responsibility down to the stakeholders and to end the top-down micro-management from Brussels that has beset the sector for decades.
“It is essential that the reformed CFP should provide a sustainable future for fish stocks and for fishermen and their communities. I hope that the plan will be endorsed by my colleagues in the ECR Group and taken forward to deliver the reform that is so clearly needed.”
The main points of the plan which will be debate on Wednesday are copied below.
MEDIA OPPORTUNITY – Mr Stevenson will be available for interview this week, in advance of, and following, Wednesday’s debate.
For press enquiries, please contact Peter Smyth: peter@indigopr.com, 0131 554 1146 or 07766 166 637.
Notes to editors:
A 10 point plan for reform of the Common Fisheries Policy
1. There must be a clear commitment to devolve day-to-day fisheries management to the Member States. Conservatives have argued for this for many years. As guardians of the Treaty, the Commission will continue to set the framework for the CFP and provide a basket of management options from which Member States can draw the fisheries management systems most appropriate to their fisheries basin.
2. The main thrust of the reform should be centred round an ecosystem approach and Maximum Sustainable Yields, combined with a rights-based management system. In order to protect and enshrine the principle of relative stability, rights should be centred on sea basins and not transferable across Member States. Given that around 10% of global landings are now certified or under assessment as sustainable fisheries by the Marine Stewardship Council, Member States should aspire to achieve MSC certification for all EU commercial fisheries.
3. There must be a clear strategy for ending discards. In the UK, this could involve a variety of options, including in a mixed fishery some form of 'Catch Quotas' or Fisheries Credit System, with fishermen incentivised, combined with the fitting of CCTV. There must also be a clear policy to protect and maintain the inshore fisheries sector involving smaller vessels and to recognise the importance of recreational angling. For smaller boats a 'days at sea' mechanism may be simpler to operate and monitor.
4. There must be an improvement to the timing and quality of fisheries science and better co-ordination of activities between fishermen and scientists.
5. There must be a 'bottom-up' approach to the designation of MPAs and to the designation of other areas of estuaries or sea for the construction of energy-related projects, with full implementation of the EU's IMP spatial-planning strategy and consultation and involvement of key stakeholders.
6. Technical measures should be decided upon at Member State level within a general framework set by the Commission.
7. There should be general guidance on appropriate penalties for breaches of fisheries regulations and criminal activity associated with fishing circulated to Member States by the Commission, to ensure a level playing field in the way courts deal with such offences.
8. IUU fishing must be designated as a criminal activity by all Member States and treated as such by the forces of law & order and the courts.
9. There should be renewed and revitalised support for the EU's aquaculture sector with harmonised and simplified regulatory controls that enable the sector to compete with producers from outside the EU on an equal basis.
10. International partnership agreements with third countries must combine catch opportunities for EU vessels together with fisheries conservation, jobs for indigenous fishermen, local landings to protect processing jobs and local markets and above all, proper auditing and surveillance.
ENDS
