Italy, France and Spain carry out the most infringements of fishing legislation

Oceana points out that there are over 10,000
infringements of the Common Fisheries Policy every year, proving that countries are not committed to eradicating the problem. Meanwhile, a new control regime is under
negotiation.

According to a report compiled by the
European Commission, unauthorised catches, falsification of documents, incorrect processing and non-compliance with minimum sizes appear at the top of the list year after
year.

Oceana, the international marine conservation
organisation, has analysed the European Commission’s annual report concerning non-compliance of member states with the Common Fisheries Policy. In the last report, which analyses
infringements committed in 2006, the European Commission concludes by stressing that Member States are not complying with their obligations under the Common Fisheries
Policy.

According to Ricardo Aguilar, director of projects for
Oceana Europe:  “It is disappointing to see how these infringements tend to concentrate on fish populations subject to recovery plans or supposedly protected by a Member
State. In other words, those fish stocks in the worst state are affected by the most serious infringements.”

Italy, France, Spain and Portugal account for over 80%
of the infringements and also commit more serious offences (8,641) in relation to the size of their fleets (43,863). Furthermore, some countries surprisingly declare zero infringements,
such as Malta and Estonia. Non-compliance is becoming so common that the Commission has warned that the fishing industry itself may be treating certain economic sanctions as merely
another ordinary operating cost, hence stripping current legislation of its power.

A new Control Regulation is the subject of debate in
the EU over the coming months. The Regulation proposal presented last November, includes interesting advances such as the improvement of electronic reporting systems, improved catch
traceability and increased capacity for control assigned to the Commission. Due to the current state of European stocks, however, Member States must recognise the need to pursue
offenders, a need they do not seem to recognise today.

Reports concerning continued irregularities and the
permissiveness of the countries concerned are piling up and nothing is apparently being done. The Community Fisheries Control Agency states, for example, that despite all the meetings
held between the Commission and the implicated countries, the majority of the countries involved in the bluefin tuna fishery in 2008 did not place importance on complying with the
established regulations[1]. As such, 40% of the inspections carried out on tug boats involved
in the bluefin tuna fisheries yielded irregularities. The situation was no better than in 2007 and, after closing the fishery early, irregularities were still being committed. Oceana
observed these irregularities at close quarters during its Mediterranean campaign on board the research vessel Marviva Med.

“To watch the EU institutions pointing out
the countries with low levels of compliance and running after them to remind them to respect current legislation is a spectacle that should embarrass European
Governments,” states Xavier Pastor, executive director of Oceana Europe.
“Let’s hope the new Control Regulation includes effective measures that will give the Commission power to force the countries to comply with current regulations. If not,
any policy will be useless.”