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Brussels (AFP) April 21, 2011 The European Commission wants to replenish EU fish stocks within four years by introducing national quota trading in moves already upsetting key fishing states in France and Spain. According to a draft bill obtained by AFP, European Union fishing commissioner Maria Damanaki's overarching aim is to have stocks delivering a "maximum sustainable yield" by "no later than 2015." To do this, she wants markets essentially to achieve what politicians cannot -- which is to hack back the size of Europe's fishing fleet, already decimated in many coastal areas by reforms allowing big Spanish or French boats to roam well beyond their traditional waters. The mechanism will be the introduction of a "mandatory system of transferable fishing shares," which means quotas that will be traded on national market registers. "Transferable fishing shares constitute a major driver for fleet capacity adjustment," the document states in a euphemism for more painful downsizing for trawlermen. The smallest boats under 12 metres (yards) will be exempt, the plans underline. But Brussels also wants to end the practice of throwing fish that "should not be caught in the first place" back into the sea, also bringing in an "obligation to land all catches of specified stocks," ie to count them towards their catch quotas whether or not they find hungry markets. Diplomatic sources say the likes of France and Spain feel the moves go too far.
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Japan bans catching konago fish off FukushimaTokyo (AFP) April 20, 2011 Japan on Wednesday formally banned the shipment and consumption of a small fish caught off its Fukushima prefecture where a crippled nuclear power plant has leaked radioactive water into the sea. The ban applied to a small fish known as konago, or sand lance, the health ministry said. Fishing fleets in the area had already refrained from catching the species since elevated radiation levels w ... read more |
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