Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-06-17-Speech-4-025"
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"en.20100617.4.4-025"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, Members of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, on 4 May we in committee unanimously voted in favour of the report on European aquaculture, which is essentially aimed at promoting the sustainable development of the sector.
A full vote by Parliament will certainly be the best incentive for the Commission, after its communication and our reasoned opinion, to go beyond the stage of recommendation to the Member States and actually propose the measures needed in order to develop a European policy and to stop Europe being the producer of 1.2 million tonnes of fish and the consumer of over 5.5 million tonnes. Thank you, and excuse me for running over.
I would like to begin by thanking everyone who worked on this report over the last few months, providing me with valuable support. This text was, in fact, drafted over many long months of work, consultation and concerted action, and I hope it will provide the foundation on which to promote a suitable aquaculture policy in a serious, practical and effective manner. I also think that, in the light of its technological potential and innovative aspects, the healthy and sustainable development of aquaculture represents an extremely important resource for the European economy.
In adopting the report, the MEPs have first of all demonstrated great awareness, highlighting that they have fully understood the urgent need for legislative clarity in this area. In other words, they have proved that they are indeed aware of the negative consequences caused by the lack of a single regulation on aquaculture, the confusion among operators in the sector, the complex and excessively bureaucratic procedures, the highly discriminatory situations, the market distortions and the low level of competitiveness of European production.
The report maintains that there is a need to provide greater impetus to the sector by establishing a specific aquaculture fund that is either independent or part of the European Fisheries Fund, to be used to support research and innovation, to further the virtuous coexistence of sustainability and competitiveness, and to focus serious attention on employment issues.
Admittedly, many measures are needed in the short term in order to deal with and resolve all of the problems that currently plague this sector, and they are not easy to implement. I am talking about an integrated maritime development plan, which is essential for making aquaculture facilities in freshwater, sub-coastal and offshore areas compatible with areas for tourism and other activities of financial importance, all within the framework of the regulations on environmental protection. I am talking about the drafting of a regulation that will consider the specific aspects of each type of aquaculture farming, to be introduced above all with the intention of lowering production costs and of guaranteeing environmental protection.
From this perspective I believe that the contribution made by both technological innovation and scientific research is crucial. The task will be to actually establish facilities to reduce the dispersion of feed into the water. To this end it will be necessary to increase the utilisation of plant instead of animal proteins without altering the nutritional value of the catch. With regard, more specifically, to scientific research on feed, we will also have to focus on waste and processing scraps to prevent likely imbalances in the maritime system caused by dangerous overfishing for fish feed.
The use of the European quality label helps us to compete with products imported from third countries and to meet consumers’ needs and health requirements. Indeed, I believe that it is now crucial that we introduce product certification and supervision of the sector to enable these products to be identified, and adapt the labelling systems accordingly.
Last but not least, we need to design facilities that take greater account of the wellbeing of fish, farm density and slaughtering methods. Moreover, these are all measures that should be applied to organic products, too, which are in fact the result of production that is on a smaller scale and less damaging to the environment.
The employment aspect must not be underestimated, since the aquaculture sector may also be the best place for fishermen who have lost their jobs."@en1
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