EUROPEAN EEL: RECOVERY OF STOCK (13139/05)
Letter from Ben Bradshaw MP, Minister
for Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to the Chairman
I thought it would be helpful to update you
on the progress of the proposal for a Council Regulation establishing
measures for the recovery of the stock of European eel.
As you are aware, it was felt that the proposed
short term measure (a 50% closure of the eel fisheries) would
disproportionately impact on UK eel fisheries. Subsequently, my
officials have been seeking to negotiate a more holistic approach
to the recovery plan which takes into account environmental factors
affecting the decline of the European eel stock as well as fisheries
pressures.
Unfortunately negotiations in Brussels resulted
in an impasse. Due to the complexity of the eel lifecycle and
the differing types and methods of eel exploitation across Europe,
no agreement was reached in the Council Working Group on the current
text. This lack of progress is unfortunate, given the parlous
state of the European eel stock. The Finnish Presidency therefore
referred the issue to the Committee of Permanent Representatives
(Coreper) in November with a view to getting new instructions
on how to take work forward.
Coreper felt that a more flexible instrument
was needed to properly address this problem without placing the
entire burden of reducing eel mortality on the eel fishing sector.
Coreper concluded that talks should continue to seek a flexibly
drafted regulation which would recognise the diversity of situations
facing Member States and thus allow for decentralisation. Member
States should be encouraged to tackle other crucial areas such
as environmental problems and the impact of trade in elvers.
It is clear that to address the problem fully
account has to be taken of environmental constraints on the survival,
growth and subsequent escapement of European eel. Focussing primarily
on fishing effort is bound to be inequitable given the diverse
situations facing Member States, and may be ineffective. Broadening
the scope of the proposed measures to address environmental aspects
is therefore essential to the success of the eventual measures.
Local management plans are of paramount importance,
to ensure that the very diverse conditions found in European waters
can be effectively addressed. We doubt that any short-term measures
directed principally at fishing effort would be equitable due
to the diverse nature and complex lifecycle of the European eel,
and furthermore, they would be highly disruptive, costly to enforce
and likely to have little effect on eel stocks. We have therefore
encouraged relevant UK authorities to take forward work on the
development of management plans on a water catchment basis and
I am pleased to say that this work is already well advanced. These
plans will provide for flexible solutions to address catchment-specific
problems and bring about the attainment of the Commissions 40%
silver eel escapement target across the whole of the UK.
We understand that the German Presidency intends
to give this issue a degree of priority, with a view to seeing
the Regulation adopted by Council before the end of its term of
office in June. In the first instance, however, the Commission
will need to produce a revised proposal, reflecting Coreper's
conclusions. The UK will continue to engage actively and positively
with Member States and the Commission to ensure that effective
action is taken across Europe to address this very serious problem.
We will be ready to implement catchment-specific management plans
quickly, following agreement on a Community measure in the Council.
I will write again once the new proposal is
brought forward.
11 January 2007
Letter from Ben Bradshaw MP to the Chairman
As you are aware, this dossier reached an impasse
due to the divergence of views expressed during working group
meetings last year. Subsequently, Coreper gave instruction on
the way forward and the regulation has been discussed and negotiated
in a new, more intensive period of working groups in February
and March of this year. The German Presidency have now put this
Regulation on the agenda of the April Council with a view to adopting
it on April 16.
The UK has been pushing for measures to protect
and enhance eels stocks for many years. It is important to recall
that as long ago as 2001, the International Council for the Exploration
of the Sea (ICES) Working Group on Eels (WGEEL) concluded that
the European eel stock remains outside safe biological limits
and current fisheries are not sustainable and recommended that
a recovery plan for the European eel stock is compiled and implemented
as a matter of urgency. The UK has long acknowledged the poor
state of the stock and has supported the need for a Community-wide
rebuilding plan. We have consistently expressed our disappointment
over the delay in implementing measures, noting that it was 2004
that the Council requested the Commission to come forward with
a proposal for short-term measures to improve the conservation
of the eel resource.
As drafted, the proposed measures will have
some impact on the UK eel sector, particularly the glass eel industry,
where the requirement to use a proportion of the glass eels for
restocking, rather than export to Asia, is likely to change the
dynamics of the industry, effecting profits, leading to a contraction
of the industry.
Nevertheless, we are broadly content with the
Regulation and we feel that it will go some way towards creating
an environment in which the eel stock could recover from its parlous
state. There is still some disagreement over the drafting of the
regulation (eel fisheries are unique and differ for each Member
States), however, the Presidency and Commission are pushing hard
for political agreement in April and it is likely a compromise
will be reached during Council discussions.
The German Presidency has now been pushing for
this item to be concluded and there is little chance that they
would be prepared to delay a vote on this item. Furthermore, it
would be difficult for the UK to seek such a delay when we have
been such strong advocates of urgent measures to be introduced.
We continue to believe that it is important to take immediate
action if eel stocks are to recover and the sector become sustainable.
In the circumstance, we did not consider it
appropriate to seek to delay this item at Council and, subject
to the final version meeting our requirements, intend to vote
for the proposal on 16 April.
I very much regret that the proposals are likely
to be adopted without prior scrutiny clearance. I am well aware
that Parliamentary scrutiny is an essential part of our legislative
process, and that overriding this process is a serious matter,
and I do not do it lightly.
12 April 2007
Letter from Ben Bradshaw MP to the Chairman
Further to my letter of 12 April on the above-mentioned
proposal, I am writing to update you on developments following
the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 16 April. As anticipated,
the Presidency pushed to reach political agreement on this proposal
at Council however, due to intransigence by those Member States,
led by France and Spain, who wish there to be no provisions for
restocking, a compromise could not be reached so it was not therefore
put to the vote. The proposal will now return to Working Group
and it is unlikely that it will return to Council until June 2007.
While I very much regret that no agreement could
be reached at Council, I am nonetheless pleased that consideration
of the dossier by your Committee can now be completed and that
the remaining obstacles to agreement in Council can be overcome
in time for this proposal to be adopted in June.
20 April 2007
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