EU Monitoring of Recreational Fisheries (Article 47)

sorry lads for the delay getting back.I was involved in a car accident on the way up to the meeting,and missed it, so will have to resecedule a meeting as soon as i can.

hope all is well doggie3131.
sorry to hear about your accident

thanks john1,only cuts and bruises,so not to bad but the car needs major surgery,but it was the other guys fault so its his insurance getting hit,and hes fine too, so as long as no one was hurt then alls all right.Quite exciting really

glad to here that its only minor injuries
came accross one few month back person killed and two others injured not a nice picture.

im sure your neck is very sore isnt it

Hi doggie3131 i've just sent you PM on this... thanks Conor.

hey john, its me back!!its killing me

just recieved this from Avril Doyle M.E.P vice chair, the committee of fisheries.

Dear Noel,

In relation to your questions, a proposal was made by the Commission on the 14th of November 2007 for the codification of existing EU control and enforcement legislation in Fisheries. The proposal was brought to the November 2008 meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council but arrived too late for consideration under the French Presidency because of their heavy agendas. The discussions regarding the proposal will most likely start around Working Group level in January 2009 under the Czech Presidency with a view to conclude by January 2010.

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is aware of the proposal and is considering its implications as part of formulating their position. With regard to your other questions, I must stress that the document is yet to be discussed. I have contacted the Commission Fisheries department to get clarification on some of the questions you have asked.

Kind regards,


Anna

Anna Bates

Parliamentary Assistant to Avril Doyle MEP

Received following from Avril

Dear John,

With regard to EU Monitoring of Recreational Fisheries (Article 47) of COM (2008) 721 final published in November of 2008, it reached the Agriculture and Fisheries Council under the French Presidency too late to be included in their already substantial agenda. It has been timetabled for discussion at Working Group level this month under the Czech Presidency with the hope of concluding discussions by January 2010.

The Irish position with regard to this is still under consideration. The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries are aware of the proposal and the potential impact on leisure fisheries and intend to have meetings with visiting Commission delegations this month to discuss this further. We will be keeping a close watching brief on the issue.

Yours sincerely,

Anna Bates
Parliamentary Assistant to Avril Doyle MEP

just recived this from Jim Higgins

Dear Noel,

Thank you for your email.

We are aware of the proposals and vehemently opposed to the referred article. We have requested a meeting with Commissioner Borg as soon as possible to raise our concerns and we will let you know the outcome of the meeting in du course. MEPs are appalled at any attempt to include recreational fishing in the quota system.

We will be in touch.

Kind regards,

Francis Doherty,

Policy Assistant to Mr Jim Higgins MEP


The European Parliament
ASP8F357, Rue Wiertz,
B-1047, Brussels,
Belgium

Tel: 00 32 22837843
Fax: 00 32 22849843
Mob: 0475227634

that reply from jim higgins office sounds more like it - good work

thanks corbyeire Jim is a fisherman himself,knew he would help!

just recieved this from Avril Doyle,this is a great response from our m.e.p.s.Nice to see our politicians working for us for a change,take a bow people.

Brussels, Thursday 22nd of January 2009

Sea Angling has no part in CFP Compliance says Avril Doyle

Speaking after yesterdays meeting of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee Avril Doyle MEP for Ireland East and Vice Chair of the Committee said that the prospects for the controversial Article 47 (of the draft proposal on the Community Control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy) concerning the inclusion Recreational Fisheries surviving in its current state are slim to none. The level of concern expressed from colleagues as well as constituents not only in Ireland, but in Scotland and the rest of Europe has meant that the Rapporteur, Mr. Romera I Rueda, has agreed to revisit this Article.

"The CFP control and compliance system needs reform, with priority on need for equivalence of controls and the harmonising of sanctions across the EU, as well as on the proportionality of responses to infringements as recommended by the European Court of Auditors. The Commission provided examples of fines for the same infringements in different EU Member States which astoundingly ranged from 100 to 6, 000 Euros. This is completely unacceptable.

I will be proposing an amendment to delete Article 47 from the report to remove recreational sea fisheries from the scope of the controls. There is good support in the Committee for this move. While it currently would cover off shore sea angling and fish stocks under Recovery Plans, (Blue Fin Tuna and Cod Stocks) we need to establish a record of even handed EU wide compliance before extending
the scope of the Common Fisheries Policy to recreational activities. Article 47 is unworkable and scientifically unjustified as in the main, recreational anglers have a record as conservationists by nature and have a record of cooperating fully with the management of any vulnerable stocks. However the Council of Ministers will have the final say."

Avril Doyle

An important point is Avril's last line

However the Council of Ministers will have the final say

In other words it won't be the commissioners or the european parliament who decide this, it will be national politicians.

Avril Doyle was quoted on Corks 96FM News at 1100.

Their report says that the article will not fly.

Hi lads,imo article 47 may not be such a terrible thing if in fact quota is taken from the commercial sector.imagine if the recreational sector(in time)gathered 50 or even 100% quota and in so doing proved its ecenomic worth over the failure that is the commercial sector to the state,well our seas would be bursting with life.it seems very far fetched but just think about it,not impossible.

Hi lads,imo article 47 may not be such a terrible thing if in fact quota is taken from the commercial sector.imagine if the recreational sector(in time)gathered 50 or even 100% quota and in so doing proved its ecenomic worth over the failure that is the commercial sector to the state,well our seas would be bursting with life.it seems very far fetched but just think about it,not impossible.

It sounds good in theory but the down side of that is that the commercials would simply target non quota species and then there would be nothing left

There is nothing at all good about article 47, people rightly say they will not be able to enforce this fully that's true, but it will make criminals out of almost every recreational sea angler. You may never be caught but some will, can you imagine gaining a criminal record after being caught for committing the crime of sea angling!!

Anyone know if bait collecting is included in this? It probably is

this or something very similar is the future.i only hope it happens before stocks are too badly affected.think about it,charter vessels,angling clubs,private individuals could purchase quota from commercial boats thus lessening the slaughter.there would also be no trawl zones to accomodate our now fully recognised sector and all species would have quota and be closely monitored as we more honest fishermen would keep accurate logs.article 47 in some shape or form is coming and twould be in all our best interests to embrace it and use it to our long term benefit.

Ireland's rep on the Council of the European Union, in this case, will probably be Brendan Smith.

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/index.jsp ... /cv_bs.xml

this or something very similar is the future.i only hope it happens before stocks are too badly affected.think about it,charter vessels,angling clubs,private individuals could purchase quota from commercial boats thus lessening the slaughter.there would also be no trawl zones to accomodate our now fully recognised sector and all species would have quota and be closely monitored as we more honest fishermen would keep accurate logs.article 47 in some shape or form is coming and twould be in all our best interests to embrace it and use it to our long term benefit.

So if this comes into force and the big players in the EU get the largest shares of the quota like the commercial fleets and you find yourself unable to obtain any quota, and the Irish share gets smaller and smaller annually will you still say yes this article 47 is a great idea!

The proposed angling quota will be different from the commercial quota so it relates to angling only, and for all our sakes we better hope it would remain that way or you can kiss ever going fishing again good bye because the commercials will be competing against you for the quota in other words the trawlers will be racing rod n line until the quota is exhausted! As I'm blue in the face from saying there is nothing good in this, stop looking for something that is non existent!

what is the alternative to article 47?,to just keep going as we are,going to sea in any old little boat,maybe no c.o.p,vhf,epirb,flares but expecting to be bailed out by the coastguard free of charge if something goes wrong,catch/keep what we like unlogged unregulated.if we expect our government to control and save our seas then we all have to be registered/regulated.quota would be from the one source and recreational licence fee would probably be about 10% that of the commercial sector eg.60euro/kw,200euro/tonne.with commercial fishing no longer viable availability of licence should be no problem.i think article 47 will be very beneficial to our sport especially in the longterm.