WRITTEN QUESTION E-3359/03 by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission. Bycatch associated with shrimp fisheries.
Date: 2003-11-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU initiative, FAO, action programme, by-catch, common fisheries policy, crustacean, environmental impact, environmental monitoring, exploitation of the seas

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/59

Lindman case (C-42/02), where it has clarified the need for a Member State to demonstrate the
appropriateness and proportionality of such restrictive measures.

(2004/C 84 E/0066)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3359/03

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(14 November 2003)

Subject: Bycatch associated with shrimp fisheries

Following extensive research, the Environmental Justice Foundation has concluded that the high levels of
bycatch associated with shrimp fisheries are causing ecological degradation on a global scale. According to
the FAO, shrimp fisheries alone are responsible for one third of the world’s discarded catch, despite
producing less than 2 % of seafood. Although shrimp fisheries are particularly non-selective, the issue of
bycatch is not limited to these fisheries. Millions of tonnes of bycatch are caught by a variety of fishing
methods every year, with trawlers, gillnets and longlines being responsible for a leading share.
these fisheries will unquestionably lead to a decline in marine biodiversity and
Left unmanaged,
productivity, along with increased unemployment and poverty in coastal areas.
In 1994, the United
Nations General Assembly stated that ‘the issue of bycatch and discards in fishing operations warrants
serious attention by the international community,’ yet insufficient action has been taken to resolve this
over-exploitation. In order to address the issue of bycatch on a global level, EJF recommends the adoption
of an ‘International Plan of Action on Bycatch Reduction’ under the auspices of the UN Food and
Agriculture Organisation. EJF would like the EU to take the lead in calling for this IPOA at the next viable
opportunity. Given that the EU has recently reformed the CFP to prioritise conservation and sustainable
exploitation of fisheries resources, such a proposal would be in line with current European concerns.
An IPOA would not only assist the EU in addressing its own bycatch levels (including those associated
with long-distance fleets), but would also push forward international policy in terms of reducing wastage
from fisheries.

1. What EU initiatives currently address bycatch reduction (rather than solely reduction in discards) in
European waters, and bycatch reduction in long-distance fleets in third-country waters?

2.

How does the EU monitor bycatch levels and the impacts of bycatch on marine ecosystems?

Is the EU prepared to take a lead in calling for a UN FAO ‘International Plan of Action on Bycatch

3.
Reduction’?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(6 January 2004)

The Commission is aware of the serious problem caused by high levels of by-catch in certain fisheries and
the associated decline in marine biodiversity and productivity. The Commission shares the Honourable
Member’s concern and agrees on the urgent need to address the problem at a global level.

As pointed out by the Honourable Member, the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) gives priority to
conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources. Chapter II of Council Regulation (EC)
No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of
fisheries
resources under the Common Fisheries Policy (1) in the reformed CFP envisages ‘specific measures to reduce
the impact of fishing activities on marine ecosystems and non-target species’, as well as ‘establishing
incentives, including those of an economic nature, to promote more selective or low impact fishing’.

C 84 E/60

Official Journal of the European Union

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3.4.2004

The common fisheries policy includes a number of initiatives designed to reduce by-catches by its own
fishing fleet.

These include:

(cid:1) the Action Plan on discards (2). This Action Plan deals with the problem of discarding of fish by the
Community’s fishing fleets in all its areas of operation. Its purpose is to provide a general overview of
the magnitude of discarding, to indicate the biological and economic consequences of discarding as
well as the possibilities for reducing quantities discarded by reducing fishing effort and developing
more selective fishing gears;

(cid:1) the promotion of selective fishing techniques, through financial incentives for the use of selective
fishing gear offered by Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December 1999 laying down the
detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector (3)
and the funding of studies on by-catch and possible mitigation measures.

As an example of the latter, a specific three-year research project, starting in 2003, is being finalised under
the sixth Framework Programme to develop low-impact, species-selective fishing gears, and to formulate
alternative fishing tactics in order to reduce impact on non-target species. The potential Community
contribution is between EUR 3 and EUR 4 million.

the introduction of fishing effort control measures in order to reduce by-catches of severely depleted

1.
fish stocks in mixed fisheries (such as, for instance, cod in the North Sea and West of Scotland).

In connection with long distance fleets in third-country waters, in some cases the Fisheries Agreements
contain measures to reduce discards, for example the setting of by-catch quotas.

As far as monitoring is concerned, in the Data Collection Regulation (4) there is an obligation to
2.
monitor discards for specific stocks; other stocks of secondary importance are to be covered by pilot
surveys. There are also monitoring obligations for the bycatch of some protected species in the Habitats
Directive (5).

As for the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) suggestion to call for a United Nations’ Food and
3.
Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
‘International Plan of Action on Bycatch Reduction’, the Commission
thinks it is a very valuable idea and is ready to support it. However, given the large workload associated
with the preparation of the Commission’s own Action Plan on Discards referred to in point 1, on which a
number of specific initiatives will be taken next year, the Commission is not in a position to allocate
resources to take the lead in preparing other initiatives at the international level.

(1) OJ L 358, 31.12.2002.
(2) COM(2002) 656 final.
(3) OJ L 337, 30.12.1999.
(4) Council Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000 of 29 June 2000 establishing a Community framework for the collection

and management of the data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy, OJ L 176, 15.7.2000.

(5) Commission Regulation (EEC) No 43/92 of 9 January 1992 establishing a deadline for the presentation by the

Member States of regionalization plans, OJ L 5, 10.1.1992.

(2004/C 84 E/0067)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3387/03

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Increases in the cost of motor insurance (cid:1) data sources

(17 November 2003)

With reference to my written question to the Commission (E-1522/03 (1)) tabled on 23 April 2003, and to
the answer by Commissioner Bolkestein received on 15 July 2003, I would like to reassert the reliability of
the data I provided on the increases in the cost of motor insurance cover in Italy.