Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-16-Speech-4-085"
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"en.20030116.4.4-085"2
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"Mr President, I thank the Commissioner and congratulate Mrs Miguélez Ramos on her first-class report. Mrs Miguélez Ramos is, as you know, the senior vice-chairman of the Committee on Fisheries and is one of the most dedicated and hard-working members of that committee. Indeed I think it can be said that all the Spanish members of the fisheries committee are dedicated and hardworking; this is perhaps not surprising because the fishing industry is of such key importance to Spain, and the subject of this report is of such importance to the Spanish fleet in particular that this report was very appropriately awarded to Mrs Miguélez Ramos.
I think it is worth noting that the Spanish fleet has a historic tradition of distant water fishing. For over a thousand years Spanish fishermen have been fishing off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus was alleged to have discovered America, and it is this distant water fleet that we now regard as an important contribution to the overall fisheries strategy within the Community.
In our debate this morning many speakers noted how important the aquaculture industry has become in meeting consumer demand for fish products against a background of collapsing fish stocks within our own EU waters. The involvement of European fishermen in international fisheries is of equal importance. The Community is only around 60% self–sufficient in fish and yet there is a rising demand for fish products in the wake of BSE and foot–and–mouth disease, and a gradual shift in consumer preference away from red meat. If we are to satisfy this consumer demand and endeavour to maintain as many jobs as possible in the fisheries sector, then the role of the international fisheries is of paramount importance. Mrs Miguélez Ramos has adequately demonstrated in her report, and said again in her introductory remarks, that for every euro we invest as a Community in this fishery we get 3 euros back in business terms.
So it is not only a good way of maintaining jobs in the sector, it is a good, profitable business for the Community economy. I also think it is worth saying here that agreements with countries outside the EU (third–country agreements) have attracted a bad press in the past and in some cases that bad press may have been merited. However, it is for this very reason that Mrs Miguélez Ramos calls in her report for better inspection, better monitoring and better policing of the international fisheries, and in particular for increased action against illegal fishing. If we are to ensure that such agreements are properly policed and that a substantial proportion of the finances are directed towards conservation and development, we will be in a better position to respond to our critics' legitimate concerns.
I commend this report to the House."@en1
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