Joe Borg announces drastic EU fishing measures

What can be described as the first real test for Maltese EU Commissioner Joe Borg in his new fisheries and maritime affairs portfolio came yesterday when he presented controversial fish quotas proposals for 2005.

Addressing a news conference in Brussels, Dr Borg unveiled another major round of fishing cuts, including the closure of dangerously-depleted cod grounds in the North Sea, in the Irish Sea and off the west of Scotland.

Reductions of up to 60 per cent in herring catches, 34 per cent for cod and 27 per cent for mackerel were also included in the latest belt-tightening measures.

Dr Borg said the Commission's aim was to balance the urgent need for reinforced conservation measures with the equally important need to keep the industry in business.

The EU is warning the industry it must endure more short-term pain for long-term gain after years of over-fishing.

He said that although much has already been achieved, some tough measures are still required to rebuild endangered fish stocks. He added: "to achieve that while delivering more stability in fishing, we need long-term recovery plans and better compliance on the one hand and greater involvement of stakeholders on the other".

The stakeholders, fishermen themselves, were consulted in the run-up to this year's proposals. The proposals will now be the subject of intense haggling among EU fisheries ministers at talks in Brussels just before Christmas.

The most controversial proposals include the establishment of closed areas to cod fishermen in the North Sea, the Irish Sea, in the eastern channel and the west of Scotland.

Dr Borg defended the severity of today's measures, saying: "The objective is to rebuild severely depleted stocks and protect those in sound biological state while maintaining, as far as possible, the economic activities of the fleets concerned".

An Irish journalist asked Dr Borg sarcastically whether he wanted to be remembered as the commissioner who eliminated cod fishing!

The Scottish Fishermen's Federation said the proposals would have a "devastating" impact on fishing communities and claimed the measures would kill off the national fishing fleet.

Scotland's Fisheries Minister Ross Finnie reiterated the Scottish executive's opposition to closing areas to fishing activity. He said: "The executive is committed to developing sustainable and healthy fisheries to secure a healthy future for our industry and for fishing communities. However, proposals on closed areas have already been overtaken by the Commission's own technical advisers and fly in the face of representations by the newly-formed North Sea Regional Advisory Council."