Europe-wide protests over fishing cuts

Protests were being staged in ports around Europe today over plans for more drastic cuts in fishing next year.

The European Commission has stopped short of recommending a total ban on cod fishing in the North Sea, Irish Sea and off the west coast of Scotland, despite the advice of experts.

But the alternative – another round of deep cuts in permitted catches and more vessel lay-offs – is almost as bad for fishing fleets suffering from years of enforced belt-tightening.

The protests are expected to cause disruption for cross-channel travellers.

A blockade by French fishermen in Calais from 7.30am to 4pm Irish time time is likely to prevent any ferries docking at the French port during that period.

It is also thought the action could also involve the French ports of Boulogne and Dunkirk.

However, neither the London to Paris and Brussels Channel Tunnel Eurostar train services, nor the Channel Tunnel Eurotunnel shuttle services will be hit by the dispute.

The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations is expecting vessels from English and Scottish ports to converge on Antwerp in Belgium today for a day of action. Crews from France, the Netherlands and Denmark are also due to attend.

Meanwhile local and regional demonstrations are expected in ports around the EU to publicise fears that rigid fishing restrictions are not the answer to dwindling fish stocks.

EU fisheries ministers meet next week for crunch talks to settle the level of permitted fishing in European waters in 2004.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) says nothing short of closure of key fishing grounds will do after years of failed conservation schemes which have not led to the promised revival of stocks.

But EU fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler – normally a stickler for the scientific advice – says closure is too tough for fishing communities to stand.

Instead, he says, they must accept a new fisheries recovery plan involving drastic reductions of up to 65% in annual permitted catches for species such as hake and sole, and further limits on the number of days vessels can stay at sea.

The European Fishing Action Group says existing recovery programmes, introduced since 2000, should be given more time to work before another round of devastating catch cutbacks is considered.

“We share the Commission’s objective of managing the fish stocks on a sustainable basis, but absolutely reject both its chosen instruments and its unrealistic time-scale for recovery.

“Rigid restrictions on time at sea are a straitjacket that will force fishing vessels into bankruptcy,” it said a statement.

The Commission has long blamed EU governments for insisting on fish catch quotas as much as a third higher higher than recommended by ICES in the annual fisheries haggling that has characterised the Common Fisheries Policy for many years.

Fishermen, too, have been blamed for exceeding the catch quotas which are agreed, thanks to inadequate policing at sea.

Mr Fischler has ordered brief closures for prime fishing grounds in the past in a bid to let dwindling stocks recover.

But even though he now has all the scientific back-up he needs to propose the “nuclear” option and ban fishing altogether on conservation grounds, his plans are to allow fishing with tougher controls on over-fishing.

A key issue is to enable fishermen to continue fishing plentiful stocks, such as North Sea haddock, while sparing the “by-catch” of cod they accidentally take in their nets.

UK fisheries minister Ben Bradshaw has been taking soundings from communities around the country, warning that the ICES report must be taken seriously if the industry is to remain sustainable and profitable.