WRITTEN QUESTION E-0326/00

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(11 February 2000)

Subject: Swordfish catch quotas

At the 16th plenary meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), at which catch quotas were set for tunidae, the EU delegation's attitude towards defending swordfish quotas (which are of major importance to the survival of part of the Spanish fishing fleet) was blatantly discriminatory and inhibitory when France and Italy were protecting their interests in respect of bluefin tuna, whilst Spain lost over 5 % of its North Atlantic swordfish quota.

This quota reduction will affect Galicia's fishing fleet, which continues to lose over 1 000 tonnes per year. In view of this extremely serious matter, what will the Commission's attitude be at the meeting of the ICCAT Working Party on quota assignment criteria, which is to be held in Madrid on 6, 7 and 8 April? Will the Commission continue to lack a political strategy to protect the interests of the Galician fleet?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(20 March 2000)

The Community quota for swordfish adopted by the International commission for the conservation of Atlantic tuna (ICCAT) at the last annual meeting of this organisation, held in November 1999, must be considered in the general context of the discussions concerning the management of swordfish in this organisation.

All ICCAT scientists agreed that Atlantic swordfish is at present clearly overexploited, and all parties in ICCAT agreed to the principle that it was necessary to adopt a rebuilding programme that would allow the recovery of the stock to a level allowing maximum sustainable yield. The measure finally adopted by ICCAT is a management plan to rebuild the stock in a period of 10 years. It combines a clear objective of reaching maximum sustainable yield while providing a reasonable period to achieve that objective, thus avoiding drastic short-term measures.

Once the total allowable catch (TAC) was decided, the Community quota was calculated on the basis of the existing percentage share of this resource assigned to Spain and Portugal in 1997, plus a part corresponding to the catches of other Member States of the Community taken under the others quota, according to the same ICCAT recommendation of 1997.

It must be borne in mind that previous catch limitations in ICCAT (prior to the Community's accession) assigned specific quotas only to Spain and Portugal, and considered catches by other countries (including other Community Member States) under a general provision recommending to keep their catches at existing levels. On this basis, the quota of Member States other than Spain and Portugal, to be added to the latter when calculating the total Community quota in ICCAT, corresponds to their catches in 1995 and 1996, as specified by the 1997 ICCAT recommendation.

The measures adopted were agreed by Member States at co-ordination meetings on the spot. Further, the Community position with regard to swordfish was agreed independently from its position on bluefin tuna. There was no linkage of any kind between the two questions.

In conclusion, the quotas adopted respond to the need for this essential resource to recover for the benefit of all concerned, including the Community. Any reduction of catches to that effect will be borne by all ICCAT parties having a quota, and not only by the Community. Furthermore, the internal allocation of the Community quota among Member States results from the translation of previous ICCAT measures in terms of catch limitations, and therefore does not represent a breach of the status quo.