Today, the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee voted for the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.
Common Sense
At 3 pm the votes were finally called (for the 2nd time) and the results were::
13 for – 10 against – 2 abstentions.
This is remarkable for a committee that usually votes 15:10 against any progressive measures.
Change We Can
The Fishing Committee backed calls to end discards, returning fish stocks to healthy levels by 2020, and introducing more regional decision making.
Vote Against TFCs
They unfortunately voted against any form of ITQs. This is ironic. To date, other than world wars, this is the only measure that has led to fish stock recovery.
I found the reasons against ITQs interesting. The main reason was that fish are a national asset and this should be held by the government. It matters not that most governments in europe have proved incapable or incompetent at managing their fish stocks. The irony is even worse. Most governments have no or very little idea about who is using the fishing quotas they hand out for free or little cost to fishermen.
Two countries seem to know who does fish and use quotas. But, Denmark and Norway have ITQs and they stick everything on the web.