deputising for the rapporteur. – I am privileged to present this report on behalf of my colleague from the Fisheries Committee, Michael Holmes. Members may be aware that Mr Holmes recently underwent major surgery and I am sure that the House will join me in wishing him a speedy recovery. Firstly, I congratulate Mr Holmes on his excellent work in compiling this report. We are dealing with this issue against a background of collapsing fish stocks throughout the European Union. Indeed, at the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, the issue of over-fishing in international waters was recognised by countries around the world. They committed themselves to limiting fishing to sustainable levels and to taking steps to restore fish stocks by 2015, a position fully supported by Commissioner Fischler. Indeed, he expressed the view that the EU should achieve these targets long before that date and he pledged decisive action against illegal and unregulated fisheries practices. That is why I find it bizarre and even astonishing that the Commission agreed to a Council compromise last June which effectively paves the way for a total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas to be applied to deepwater stocks. Although this was judged by Mr Arias Cañete, the Spanish President-in-Office of the Council at that time, to be one of the highlights of the Spanish Presidency, it requires closer examination. The science in relation to deep-sea stocks is not yet fully developed. However, we know that these fish live at great depths – over 1 200 metres – and we know that they are slow-maturing, not reaching breeding age until they are at least 25 years old. We also know that they have a very low reproductive capacity, and that there are around 87 different species of fish swimming together at these great depths, of which only around eight are edible or marketable. As a result, we know that fishermen in these waters regularly dump around 90% of all the fish they catch, dead, back into the sea. Out of every 100 tonnes of fish caught, 90 tonnes are being thrown back dead into the water. Applying TACs and quotas to these deepwater stocks for the first time, as Mr Holmes points out forcefully in his report, will invite disaster. TACs and quotas are the root cause of the two million tonnes of good, fresh fish which are currently dumped dead into the sea every year in the EU. TACs and quotas only control what is landed, they do not control what is caught. If this House votes tomorrow for the application of TACs and quotas to these deepwater stocks, then I can predict with some confidence that this valuable fishery will be destroyed perhaps within as little as five years. As the Holmes report points out, the only way to regulate this fishery in a sustainable way is by effort limitation, by limiting the number of days during which a vessel may put to sea. If a fishing boat is not at sea, then it is not fishing and if it is not fishing, then the fish are not being caught. This is the only logical and realistic approach to achieving a sustainable deepwater fishery. That is why this is also the approach favoured by the scientists and by the fishing communities on whose future the survival of these stocks depends. Furthermore, it is essential that we apply strict controls to the type of gear being used in these deepwater fisheries. Gill nets are strung out at huge depths on the sea bed, sometimes stretching for up to 100 kilometres, and are then left anchored for days at a time while the parent fishing vessel returns to port. They can cause massive damage to these highly vulnerable species. Sometimes, these nets can also break loose and continue ghost-fishing for decades. These nets should be banned. Similarly, rock hoppers which bounce across obstacles on the seabed to avoid nets becoming snagged can cause enormous damage to delicate corals and sea mounts which are an essential part of the marine ecosystem. We cannot allow such unsustainable practices to continue unchecked. Needless to say, these ideas are not favoured by those Member States whose attitude to fishing is based on a short-term, dash-for-profit philosophy. They have no concern for the marine environment, for sustainability, nor for the massive socio-economic impact which will result if we allow these fisheries to collapse. I therefore urge this House to accept the amended proposals recommended by Mr Holmes in his report and I commend the report to the House.

Political group: PPE-DE