Tense Talks on Fish in Brussels

The European Commission and the 15 Union fisheries ministers are meeting in Brussels for crisis talks on fish stock quotas and subsidies to the fishing industry as from Monday. The talks, which end on December 19 will concentrate on dwindling stocks of cod, whiting and haddock in European waters as well as the contentious issue of subsidies for building and modernizing EU fishing fleets.

Too many boots, not enough fish

“Too many boots are fishing more and more intensively for too few fish,” EU Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler wrote in an open letter to fishermen in the run-up to the meeting.

Fischler's call for an 80 percent cut to current fishing quotas in 2003 follows latest research results which show that fish stocks have been severely depleted in northern European waters due to overfishing in past decades. Cod is in danger of extinction within a year, while whiting and haddock are also severely at risk.

Fishermen out of work

In addition, Fischler has pointed to the effect overfishing has on fishermens’ livelihoods. According to the EU Commissioner, some 8,000 jobs are lost in the EU due to overfishing each year.

At the Fisheries Council meetings this week the EU ministers will be discussing aid programs for fishermen who have lost their jobs. A strong focus will be on EU subsidies to modernize fishing fleets and the build of new boats.

Fischler (photo) has already said that these subsidies should be scrapped in favor of aid to improve safety, working conditions and hygiene on boats, while countries like France and Spain are anxious to receive further aid for their own fleets.

Commissioner Fischler has already stated that he will not allocate subsidies for 2003 if the fisheries ministers do not resolve the issue in December.

Difficult negotiations

The talks, which are only due to last for three days, could be prolonged if the ministers do not settle on compromise in the main issues.

On Wednesday, Dec. 11, Belgian, British, Danish and Dutch fishermen blocked the English Channel to protest against Fischler’s proposal for the reduction in fish quotas. Both France and Spain oppose Fischler’s cuts, fearing job losses, while Fishermen from throughout the EU are worried that job losses will devastate the industry.

Germany’s minister of consumer protection, food and agriculture, Renate Künast, however, announced her support for the cuts, criticizing France and Spain for being “narrow-minded.” The minister said that she will only agree to further subsidies for modernizing fishing fleets -- a main concern for France and Spain -- if the two countries take part in efforts to rebuild fish stocks.

The Canadian example

In an open letter last week Franz Fischler appealed for the support of European fishermen. Referring to the situation in Newfoundland, Canada, he said that drastic measures were necessary to ensure the fishing industry had a future. In Newfoundland a decade ago, cod disappeared from its waters, once home to one of the most abundant stocks of this fish. As a result, the local economy was devastated.

The independent International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has recommended that fishing cod in the North Sea, Skagerrak, Irish Sea and the waters west of Scotland should be banned to avoid cod becoming extinct. The ICES report has also called for banning fishing haddock, whiting, flatfish, shrimp and prawn all together, since cod is often caught when the other stocks are fished.