Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-19-Speech-5-068"
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"en.20000519.4.5-068"2
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"Mr President, we are now discussing the fifth amendment in two years to the regulation on technical measures for the conservation of juveniles of marine organisms. This is a report of a technical nature which is of no interest whatsoever to the majority of MEPs. However, perhaps their attitude would change a little if we were to explain exactly what it is about and how a report of this type can impact on the lives of the peoples of Europe.
For this reason, Commissioner, I shall refer specifically to the carpetshell, which is mentioned in paragraph 4. I shall refer to carpetshells as I am delighted that the Commission has reduced the minimum size for selling carpetshells from 40 to 38 millimetres. Ladies and gentleman, this is a matter of 2 millimetres of carpetshell. These millimetres are important because when the landing size was increased to the current 40 millimetres, this caused serious problems for women who harvest shellfish in my region, Galicia, as it did for the whole marketing sector and for consumers themselves.
In Galicia, shellfish gathering on foot – and this is how carpetshells are collected – is only done by women. It would take a long and complicated explanation to say why. The fact is that men gather shellfish at sea and using technology, albeit basic, and women gather shellfish on foot using a hoe. Approximately 10 000 women in Galicia extract carpetshells, as shellfish are not fished but rather extracted. These women work in a self-sacrificing way, working long days digging up hectares and hectares of beach in very difficult conditions for very low incomes. These women then see their income dwindle away as more than half their annual income is consumed by social security contributions.
Evidence seems to contradict any research the Commission used to increase the minimum landing size of these molluscs as, from 30-32 millimetres upwards, the carpetshell is mature and can reproduce. Environmental conditions in densely populated areas where the carpetshell breeds and reproduces, such as in the estuaries of Galicia, do not allow them to reach the 40 millimetres required by the regulation which we are going to change today. The truth is that 80% of naturally produced carpetshells fall short of the current size requirement. If shellfish gatherers were to wait for carpetshells to reach this size, mortality would be considerable and such loss would be due to environmental conditions and not to the women’s actions. In places where molluscs are most abundant – and I am thinking of the Ferrol and Arosa estuaries – the size of carpetshells does not exceed 36 or 38 millimetres. Carpetshells measuring 40 millimetres are neither produced, sold nor consumed, simply because there are none.
If we wish to avoid encouraging non-compliance, one of the tasks of this or any other Parliament is to ensure that the rules reflect real conditions. In the case of harvesting shellfish on foot, such non-compliance leads to illegal fishing and to a black market subject to no health checks.
This House must realise that, by drawing up these technical measures, we are trying to protect juveniles, by allowing them to reach a certain size and breeding age, whilst at the same time trying to reduce unnecessary yields. But for a regulation to fulfil its purpose, it must be adapted to real conditions. As a result, not only will we benefit hard-working Galician shellfish gatherers but we will also benefit consumers as they will have access to a product that has passed all health checks. We will also encourage traders who will cease to feel persecuted by legislation that, if it were fully complied with, would lead to a shortage on the markets.
For this reason, the Group of the Party of European Socialists – which I represent – supports the proposed amendment to this regulation, in the same way as it supports the amendment from the Committee on Fisheries on the size of deepwater rose shrimp. The only thing we hope, Commissioner, is that we do not have to review the regulation again within a year, because this would mean that both we and the European Commission had once again made a mistake in our calculations. But, if need be, we will be here to amend it once again."@en1
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