Reading West MP, Martin Salter and Labour Parliamentary Spokesman for Angling has today secured written confirmation from the Government that this week’s EU Fisheries Council meeting has seen the end of the threat to make recreational sea anglers catches count against the EU quota for the UK. In a letter to Mr Salter Fisheries Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies who negotiated the climb down in Luxembourg wrote:
“There is absolutely no requirement for recreational catches to count against quota, even if management measures are agreed by the Council.”
The Minister, in response to some of the inaccurate and misleading accounts that have been circulated regarding the arrangements that EU countries must make to monitor recovery stocks confirmed to Mr Salter that it is the Government’s intention to introduce a limited and proportionate sampling regime on a purely voluntary basis. His letter stated:
“Member States must monitor recreational catches of recovery stocks (cod, sole, plaice, hake) on the basis of a sampling plan (paragraph 3). We have not yet decided how we will do this and will be consulting stakeholders about this shortly. But it does not mean every angler will have to complete a form every time they catch a cod. We will seek to adopt a sampling plan that is targeted, risk-based and as unobtrusive as possible, consistent with our obligation to collect information on recreational activity.”
Mr Salter said:
“I have been somewhat surprised and disappointed by some of the nonsense that has been circulating following this weeks Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg. We now have it in black and white that recreational sea anglers’ sea catches will not count against quota so it’s job done and well done Huw. Even our Conservative opponents have put out a press release hailing this development as a ‘success’, therefore I’m at a loss to know why attempts are being made to claim the opposite and to suggest that the quota will still apply to anglers. With regards to the monitoring of recovery stocks I would have thought that anyone who values conservation would not want to see the sea angling sector excluded from voluntary arrangements to check on how these species are doing.”
The Letter Was As Follows:
From Huw Irranca-Davies MP
Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment
Dear Martin,
CONTROL REGULATION
ARTICLE 47: RECREATIONAL FISHING
In view of the various and sometimes inaccurate reports that have begun to circulate, I thought it might be useful if I wrote to you explaining further what the decision reached on Tuesday on the Control Regulation will in practice mean for British anglers.
The agreed text of Article 47 is attached to this letter. Its provisions can be summarised as follows:
- All sales of recreational catches are prohibited (paragraph 2). This is already the case in the UK.
- Member States must monitor recreational catches of recovery stocks (cod, sole, plaice, hake) on the basis of a sampling plan (paragraph 3). We have not yet decided how we will do this and will be consulting stakeholders about this shortly. But it does not mean every angler will have to complete a form every time they catch a cod. We will seek to adopt a sampling plan that is targeted, risk-based and as unobtrusive as possible, consistent with our obligation to collect information on recreational activity.
- Data derived from our sampling plan will be submitted to the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) for evaluation to see if recreational activity is having a significant impact (paragraph 4). If the STECF advises that it is, the Council may decide on further management measures, such as licensing and requirement to complete logbooks etc in order to reduce the impact. The fact that the Council must agree to these measures, and not the Commission as previously drafted, will help to ensure that any such measures are only adopted when they are absolutely necessary.
- Detailed rules on the application of this Article will have to be agreed in Brussels before the Article is implemented (paragraph 6). We will be seeking to ensure that those rules are proportionate and do not interfere unnecessarily with anglers’ enjoyment of their hobby. They are likely to take some months to negotiate so there will be no immediate change on 1 January 2010.
- There is absolutely no requirement for recreational catches to count against quota, even if management measures are agreed by the Council.
- Anglers operating catch and release will not be affected by these provisions. We will be measuring the amount of fish that are being landed.
I hope you find this further information helpful.
Huw Irranca-Davies
Annex
Article 47
1. Member States shall ensure that recreational fisheries on their territory, and in Community waters are conducted in a manner compatible with the objectives and rules of the Common Fisheries Policy.
2. The marketing of catches from recreational fisheries shall be prohibited.
3. Without prejudice to Council Regulation (EC) No 199/2008 of 25 February 2008 establishing a Community framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and support for scientific advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy, Member States shall monitor, on the basis of a sampling plan, the catches of stocks subject to recovery plans by recreational fisheries practised from vessels flying their flag and from third country vessels, in waters subject to their sovereignty or jurisdiction. Fishing from shore shall not be included.
4. The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) shall evaluate the biological impact of recreational fisheries as referred to in paragraph 3. Where a recreational fishery is found to have a significant impact, the Council may decide in accordance with the procedure referred to in article 37 of the EC Treaty, to submit recreational fisheries as referred to in paragraph 3 to specific management measures such as fishing authorisations and catching declarations.
5. Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 111.
