At today''s Fisheries Council in Luxembourg, Irish Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, John Browne, voted against a plan for bluefin tuna management that ignores illegal fishing by several countries in the Mediterranean.
A statement says that while Minister Browne strongly supported the need for a recovery plan for bluefin tuna, he deemed the plan unacceptable because it did not require the payback of illegally caught tuna. He argued that the plan is unacceptable to Ireland from both a conservation perspective and because it applies different rules to that implemented by the EU Commission in respect of undeclared landings of mackerel into Scotland by Irish and UK vessels.
Speaking today, Minister Browne said "The principle of payback should apply equally to all. I want to see rules agreed and implemented within the EU so that all can have confidence in equality of treatment. This matter is of direct relevance to Ireland in view of the payback terms on mackerel applied to Ireland and the UK which was subject to a Commission Regulation earlier this year."
In response to the Minister's strong position, the Council and Commission committed to the application of the normal principle of payback across all fisheries for the future. The Council also discussed for the first time a Commission policy paper aimed at reducing and progressively eliminating the discarding of unwanted fish at sea.
