Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-18-Speech-3-288"
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"en.20080618.24.3-288"2
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"Mr President, the common fisheries policy has failed miserably and has contributed to the sharp decline in Europe’s fish stocks. It is not fit for purpose.
The recent rise in marine fuel prices – an increase of over 240% on 2004 levels, according to the Commission, over 30% in recent months – has only exacerbated the already well-documented devastation of our fisheries and fishing industry in Europe.
While we all agree that certain urgent short-term measures need to be taken at EU and Member State level to alleviate the plight of fishermen, skippers and their crews – such as appropriate levels of state aid, perhaps reduction in tax on fuel over a certain price, financial support for tying-up and greater control of imports garnered from illegal fishing, to name but a few options – we as policymakers must also look to the future. It is time for us to consider new options in any medium- to long-term restructuring plan, as well as the necessary decommissioning grants to match fleet capacity to available resources.
What about a market-based approach with a tradable quota system, rather than continuing the practice of overbearing regulation, which has simultaneously decimated the fishing industry and precipitated the serious decline in fish stocks? The present CFP perversely incentivises the immoral and unsustainable practice of discarding accidental by-catch and juveniles, as it is illegal to land them. We discussed this recently in the Schlyter report. This problem is compounded by illegal imports, unreported and unregulated fishing, as discussed at the last part-session.
According to some experts, such as Thorvaldur Gylfason, Professor of Economics at the University of Iceland, a fee-based trading policy, determined by an independent authority, could make every kilo of sustainable fish valuable so that there would be no inducement to discard fish or land it illegally. Would the Commission and the Council not agree that a tradable quota system, informed by economic and environmental rationale with an ecosystem-based management, could, on the one hand, preserve valuable marine resources for present and future generations while, on the other hand, offering some solace to the productive and efficient fishermen who are crying out for reform?
Yes, we need short-term emergency measures for the present marine fuel crisis, together with medium- and long-term restructuring, informed by environmental and economic rationale, instead of making criminals of our most productive and efficient fishermen who lie awake wondering, as one Irish fishermen’s spokesman said: ‘Will it be the boat or the house that will go first?’"@en1
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