Fisheries ministers at odds over cod catch cuts

Fisheries ministers disagreed today on compromise proposals that seek to save cod from near extinction in EU waters without driving thousands of fishermen into bankruptcy.

“Conservation of fish stocks is the lynchpin” of the compromise plan, said Danish Fisheries Minister Mariann Fisher Boel, who chaired talks in Brussels that expected to run all week.

”We need to strike a balance between fishing effort and the number of fish in the sea.”

After an initial study of the proposals, Spain and Portugal already raised objections, calling them insufficient to meet the concerns of their sizeable fishing industries, officials said.

Cod stocks in key EU waters are under 20% of potential levels and experts warn continued depletion would mean stocks of Europe’s favourite fishing staple may never recover. While cod is the worst affected, other dinnertime favourites such as hake and haddock are also at risk.

Cod and other whitefish have been European staples for centuries. They have defined regions from as far afield as the Basque country in Spain to northern Scotland. Salted cod is an essential part of Portuguese cuisine and deep fried cod is the mainstay of British fish’n chips.

Fisher Boel and EU Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler are trying to persuade ministers from Britain, France, Spain and other Atlantic nations to accept deep cuts in quotas and the size of the EU’s 100,000 boat fishing fleet.

“We don’t want to use taxpayers’ money to increase an unprofitable fleet,” Fischler said. “We cannot go on as we have.”

If the ministers fail to agree, Fischler said the EU’s head office would impose its own measures in the new year, including cuts in subsidies to help fishing boats stay afloat.

Talk of the disappearance of cod from grounds that have been fished for centuries has given the meeting extra urgency.

“Overfishing has in recent years gradually undermined the livelihood of the fishing industry. Too many boats are fishing more and more intensely for too few fish,” Fischler wrote in an open letter to fishermen last week.

Fischler has, however, stepping back from imposing a moratorium on cod fishing in the North Sea and waters off Britain, Ireland and Denmark. Yet there is little doubt that cuts will be drastic, even after years of gradually increasing restrictions. Fischler has proposed cuts of up to 80% as a middle ground, but found few friends on either side of the debate.

“That is going too far,” said British Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley.

Environmentalists, on the other hand, want to EU to stick to scientific advice and impose a total ban.

“No doubt fisheries ministers ... will lower the cut in catches even further,” said Tony Long, director of the World Wildlife Fund’s European office. “It makes you wonder why the EU even asks for scientific advice.”

The WWF built a six-meter lighthouse in front of the EU headquarters where the ministers are meeting, making megaphone calls of “stop overfishing or fishing will be over.”

The EU still has some 220,000 fishermen – and as many employed in related sectors such as freezing and packaging – but about 80,000 have been forced out of work over the past decade.