WRITTEN QUESTION E-0866/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(20 March 2003)

Subject: Fishing for transparent goby off the coast of Livorno

Fishing for transparent goby (Aphia minuta, commonly known as rossetto) is the main source of revenue for hundreds of artisanal fishermen in the northern Tyrrhenian, in particular the coastal area of Livorno. The activity has been threatened with a ban for some years now, because it is including among the types of special fishing banned under Regulation 1626/94(1) and allowed temporarily by successive derogations (most recently point 9 of Annex 5 to Regulation 2341/2002(2) further extends the temporary derogation for the year 2003). Official research commissioned by the Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry Policy shows that the fishing for transparent goby carried out by the fishermen of Livorno with traditional fishing gear known as the sciabichello (small trawl-net) has no impact on the environment because this method does not threaten marine fauna, is totally selective, completely sustainable and does not endanger the life of other species.

It would therefore be appropriate to find a definitive solution for this activity to give fishermen a way out of the present precarious and uncertain situation, especially in view of the fact that more than two hundred families in Livorno live largely on the income produced by this activity. According to Article 3 of Regulation 1626/94 the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, may allow the use of small trawl nets in the light of scientific data proving that their use does not have a negative impact on resources. In its recent Communication(3) the Commission laid down guidelines for reducing fishing effort in favour of sustainable activities targeting non-threatened species. Finally, the conclusions of the Naples Conference of 21 and 22 June 2002 accept traditional and typical fishing activities of individual Mediterranean regions as a manageable absolute value.

In view of all this can the Commission say:

1. whether it intends to make any proposals concerning the issue outlined above;

2. if not, what is standing in the way of definitive liberalisation of fishing for Aphia minuta in the Livorno area?

(1) OJ L 171, 6.7.1994, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 356, 31.12.2002, p. 12.

(3) COM(2002) 535.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(22 April 2003)

The issue of transparent goby fisheries will be regulated within the revision of Mediterranean technical measures (Council Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 of 27 June 1994 laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean) that is foreseen in 2003.

The Commission orientation has been widely presented in its Communication laying down a Community Action Plan for the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources in the Mediterranean Sea under the Common Fisheries Policy(1), and will also be discussed together with national Administrations and fishermen organizations representatives within a regional workshop to be convened on 11 April 2003.

The current orientation of the Commission is to allow such fisheries provided that they are undertaken in a selective way and they do not jeopardize one of the principles of the Mediterranean Common Fisheries Policy, that is the interdiction of unselective trawl gears within the very littoral strip. Therefore, transparent goby fishery might be authorised whenever it is carried out by encircling gears or bottom seine. If it is carried out with small mesh size trawl gear then it should be prohibited.

In any case this will be dealt with in the above-mentioned revision of Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 later in 2003.

(1) COM(2002) 535.