European Parliament Backs Attwooll Fisheries Report

11.50.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 10th Apr 2008

The European Parliament today gave its overwhelming backing to a Report by Elspeth Attwooll MEP looking at the use of rights-based management tools in fisheries.

538 MEPs voted for the Report, 42 against with 44 abstentions.

Commenting after the vote, the Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland said:

"I am delighted that the Parliament has given its backing. It's really important that we understand the various fisheries management systems in operation and the particular effects that they have.

The present discussion centres on whether there is any one system of management that best fulfils the objectives of the CFP. But I am very cautious about the idea of moving to a single system given the complexity of all the issues and the many different types of fishery involved.

The Report strongly recommends that the Commission conduct a comprehensive study into the merits of rights-based management approaches and, in turn, allow for a longer period of debate".

In the course of her speech to Parliament last night, the MEP also warned against placing too great a reliance on the potential of increased economic efficiency alone to achieve the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy.

Note:

Rights-based management is concerned with setting the conditions under which fish may be harvested and determining by whom the harvesting may be done. There are various different ways of doing this. For example, restrictions may be placed on the area to be fished, the amount of fish that can be caught or the amount of effort that may be used to make the catch. In some situations the right to harvest may be passed from one person or group to another and this may be for economic value.

The Report identifies the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy as: improving the livelihood of those engaged in fisheries; having a sustainable marine ecology in which fish stocks are conserved; and maintaining the viability of fisheries dependent communities.