EP recommends keeping present regulations on shark fins, speaks out for a three-year TAC plan for plaice and sole, and seeks to improve situation in sector

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The European Parliament voted three reports on fisheries issues on the 28 September. The first one asks the Commission to maintain the present ratio of shark fins to bodies on board vessels, the second argues for a 3-year TAC system for plaice and sole, and the third suggests ways to improve the precarious situation of the fishing industry.

The own-initiative report by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PES, ES) had originally called for raising the fin-to-live weight ratio allowed for shark catches on board vessels to 6.5%. But an amendment (passed by 360-182-17) instead asked to freeze the current 5% ratio until a comprehensive review of scientific studies of shark fin to carcass ratios could be concluded by the Commission. The report was adopted with 483 votes in favour 58 against and 21 abstentions.

Albert Jan Maat's (EPP-ED, NL) consultation report on a management plan for plaice and sole in the North Sea calls for the definition of "the Total Allowable Catches (TAC) for a period of three years" instead of an annual limit. It also seeks to alter the basis for changes to the TAC. The EP wants a clearly defined precautionary level (230 000 tons for plaice, 35 000 tons for sole) to be established, and the TAC to be set such that after the three-year period, the stocks return to this level. The report makes mention of the negative impact of beam trawl fishing on plaice and sole stocks in the North Sea, and asks the Commission to draft an action plan for researching ways to minimize their discards.

Finally, the House adopted an own-initiative report by Pedro Guerreiro (EUL/NGL, PT) on improving the economic situation in the fishing industry. The report "deplores a policy which [...] seeks to promote the scrapping of vessels and the permanent cessation of activities." It "stresses the need to adopt immediate concrete measures to reduce the high instability of fuel prices for the industry." In the longer term, it advocates tax credits, aid for fleet renewal and modernisation, and a programme for supporting small-scale inshore and artisanal fishing.