EU backs huge fine hike to combat overfishing - USATODAY.com
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BRUSSELS, Belgium  The European Union's executive body asked member nations on Friday to approve dramatically tougher enforcement of fishing rules to stop years of illegal catches that have devastated species such as cod and tuna.
EU officials would receive new powers to pursue fishermen in their home countries for offenses such as fishing in protected spawning areas or out of season for threatened species. Inefficient and costly checks at sea would be replaced by reinforced investigations at port.
The proposal by the European Commission would see fines rise to as much as 300,000 euros ($380,000) for serious breaches of fishing rules -- 100 times greater than current fines in some cases. Repeat offenders could lose their permits.
In recent decades, key stocks of some popular fish have diminished so far that scientists and environmentalists have called for the complete closure of huge areas of the Atlantic to let stocks recover.
EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said low fines and weak enforcement by some member states "makes a mockery" of the 27-nation bloc's current tough catch quotas.
"It is time for governments to get around to actually applying the laws they signed up to. The track record of most European countries on enforcing the laws on the ground is abysmal," said Aaron McLoughlin of the WWF environmental group.
Member states have imposed their own sanctions, which has led to a wide range of penalties. Environmental organization Oceana said that under the current system Spain imposes fines of 3,000 euros ($3,800) for bottom trawling in protected zones that destroy fragile seabed habitats. After a lengthy court case, Italy this year doubled the fines on using illegal drift nets to 6,000 euros ($7,600).
But under the new system, fines would be uniform across the EU.
"Control and enforcement should be the cornerstone of the (EU's) fisheries policy. Instead it is our Achilles' heel," said Borg.
Earlier this week, the EU commission proposed deep cuts in 2009 catches for almost 30 species and a ban on fishing for several others. EU fisheries ministers will decide on those in December. Many fishermen complain bitterly about fishing quotas, which have forced some trawlers to remain in dock.