WRITTEN QUESTION E-0454/01 by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Angling in the European Union.
Date: 2001-02-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: economic analysis, recreational fishing, social analysis, socioeconomic conditions, sports body

18.9.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 261 E/121

These measures, which are compulsory for Community fishing companies, have been drawn up by the
Council for the Conservation of Antarctic Mar(cid:237)ne Living Resources (CCAMLR), which deals with Antarctic
waters, and of which the Community is a contracting party.

In addition, the Commission and Member States have been involved in the preparation of the international
plan of action for reducing incidental catch of seabirds in longline fisheries. This international plan was
adopted at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in 1999. This
year during the COFI (26 February 2001-2 March 2001) the first step of the national plans of action will
be presented. The Community, based on the information sent by Member States, is proposing to start the
plan by carrying out an assessment and by collecting data in order to evaluate the extent and nature of the
incidental catch of seabirds in longline fisheries where it occurs.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 66/98 of 18 December 1997 laying down certain conservation and control measures
applicable to fishing activities in the Antarc repealing Regulation (EC) No 2113/96 (OJ L 6, 10.1.1998) and Council
Regulation (EC) No 2479/98 of 12 November 1998 amending Regulation No 66/98 laying down certain
conservation and control measures applicable to activities in the Antarctic (OJ L 309, 19.11.1998).

(2001/C 261 E/129)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0454/01

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 February 2001)

Subject: Angling in the European Union

Given that the European Anglers(cid:146) Alliance (EEA) is a pan-European organisation with a membership of
6 million anglers across 20 European countries and that the socio-economic value of angling is significant
in many rural communities throughout the EU, could the Commission outline why efforts by the EEA to
carry out a study of the (cid:145)socio-economic benefits of recreational angling in the European Union(cid:146) were not
deemed to be of sufficient interest by DG Fisheries?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(23 March 2001)

The Commission is fully aware that sport fishing concerns a large number of people and that it has a
major impact on the socio-economic situation of certain coastal areas within the Community.
It is
precisely because of the importance of the contribution of this activity to the development of certain
local economies that it decided to associate the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) more closely with the
work of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, when it discusses subjects of interest to its
members. By so doing, the Commission enables the EAA to set out the concerns of sport fishermen and
defend their legitimate interests at an appropriate level.

The Commission is not, however, able at present to agree to the request it received to finance the study
proposed by the EAA on the socio-economic benefits of angling. This is because the contribution sought
substantially exceeds the finance available to the Directorate-General for Fisheries for such socio-economic
analyses and because the Commission can make contracts only as a result of a call for tenders.