Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the most sought-after species of fish in the world are those which are referred to as “highly migratory”, including the commercially important species of tunas and billfishes (swordfish, marlin, sailfish). Large quantities of these species are caught: in 1997, 3.5 million tonnes of highly migratory species were taken in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans combined. The European Union was a very active participant in these fisheries throughout the oceans of the world. Vessels flying the flags of different Member States accounted for over 400 000 tonnes in 1997, second only to Japan. Several regional fisheries organisations have been established to regulate fisheries for these species: the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), covering the eastern tropical Pacific, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). The EU belongs to both the ICCAT and the IOTC and has applied for membership of the IATTC. These international organisations adopt recommendations regarding, among other things, technical measures on minimum size and weight, time and/or area closures, restrictions on certain gear types or fishing practices and limits to the capacity of some fleets. At present, these measures are scattered throughout a number of regulations. The sensible aim of the Commission’s proposal is to draw together, in one regulation, all the technical measures relating to highly migratory species. Some of them have been in effect for many years while others were only adopted by the regional organisations at the most recent meetings held just last autumn, and we have taken these into account in our report. The simplest and most objective way to evaluate the efficacy of the technical measures is to look at the status of the stocks which they are meant to conserve. Many, if not most, of the important tuna and billfish stocks in the Atlantic are in bad shape. According to the 2000 Report of the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS) of ICCAT, the spawning stock biomass of bigeye tuna has suffered rapid declines over the past five years and the current levels of fishing cannot be sustained – further declines are anticipated. Of the major stocks, only skipjack is not thought to be over-exploited. In summary, management of the tuna and billfish stocks in the Atlantic has been more notable for its failures than its successes and, as the most important fishing power in the region, the European Union must accept its share of the responsibility. Each of the three ocean areas are experiencing similar problems, which is not surprising considering the high mobility of not only the tuna and billfish but also the fleets which exploit them. The problem of excessive fishing effort has been noted, and catches of small fish must be monitored in particular. As regards excessive effort: some form of vessel register is being created in each area as an initial step to limiting capacity. These are new initiatives, so it is too soon to evaluate their effectiveness, and they will undoubtedly not be enough to have an impact on the extensive overfishing of stocks such as bluefin. As regards catches of small fish, the ever more popular practice of setting purse seines on FADs, rather than free-swimming schools of tuna, has led to high exploitation of juvenile tuna. The simple expedient of imposing a minimum landing size has been demonstrated in ICCAT to be totally ineffective. Limited closed areas and seasons may offer some protection but they have proved difficult to implement. The IATTC plan for compulsory retention on board may be more useful but that solution is not presently viable in other areas as it is only in the Eastern Pacific that all large seiners have observers. Finally, unless a way is found to eliminate fishing by vessels flying flags of convenience (FOC), all the other efforts proposed will come to nothing. In conclusion, I would draw your attention to two other comments which should be made. Firstly, the special attention which should be paid in order to also reduce by-catch, other than that involving juvenile fish, which is often the result of longlining and purse seining. ICCAT is taking action on this, and other organisations should also be addressing this problem. The final problem is that of authorising certain countries, which do not currently have quotas, to fish in their exclusive economic zone, their EEZ. They, quite naturally, wish to be allowed to fish the stocks within their waters, but in that case it would be logical for the European Union to reduce its share of the catch, which it has so far refused to do. The EU must be more flexible on this question.

Political group: Verts-ALE