A European Commission (EC) proposal for a new set of rules to revise the Union Fisheries Control System will be at the expense of the sector, claims Europêche.
The organisation said it agrees on the need to modernise and simplify the control and enforcement measures adopted back in 2009 as well as to ensure full compliance with the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), but the EC “pursues these objectives at the expense of the sector which will have to face extraordinary bureaucratic and economic burdens.”
Speaking of the mandatory use of CCTV cameras onboard to control the landing obligation that will affect certain fleet segments, Javier Garat, president of Europêche, declared that “the introduction of new CCTV technology should be done either on a voluntary basis and linked to an incentive, or being introduced temporarily by the competent authority in a mandatory manner for those vessels that have developed a high profile of non-compliance.”
Privacy at risk
He added: “There should be genuinely good and compelling reasons for the major coverage of vessels with CCTV sought by the EC, since work performance, business confidentiality and privacy rights may be jeopardised.”
In its new proposal, the EC also introduces the new obligation for vessels below 12m to install tracking systems as well as electronically reporting catches.
To control fishing capacity, the EC introduces the requirement for certain vessels with active fishing gear to be equipped with a device that monitors and records engine power. However, Europêche stated that Gross Tonnage (GT) and engine power (KW) measurements are not the right parameters for expressing and measuring fishing pressure for all fishing fleets.
It stressed that defining and limiting fishing capacity only by these two variables often blocks investments in improving the safety and working conditions on board.
