French fishermen’s body CNPMEM has expressed its disappointment with the outcome of this year’s December Council and the resulting fishing opportunities after two days of long an difficult negotiations in Brussels.
‘The results are disappointing and worrying for future interests of European fishing,’ said CNPMEM President Gérard Romiti.
He commented that the efforts made by the industry in recent years have led to the majority of fisheries reaching the CFP’s goal of MSY by 2020, and said that the CNPMEM regrets that in spite of the industry’s willingness to come up with concrete proposals to protect cod and whiting in the Celtic Sea, the Member States were not able to take this to a conclusion.
‘For me this is a failure of the implementation of regionalisation, which was one of the pillars of reform, and something in which fishermen had a great deal of hope, and perhaps a reflection of France’s isolated position during the negotiations,’ he said.
While there are some positive outcomes while staying faithful to scientific advice, such as northern sea bass, some Eastern Channel stocks and whiting and pollock in the Bay of Biscay, these do not mask the difficulties facing the French fleet’s Celtic Sea fisheries.
He commented that CNPMEM regrets that the industry’s efforts have not been taken into account, and hopes that a meeting with the authorities to examine the reasoning behind these decisions and to quickly find solutions that will enable the affected fishermen to continue to work in a sustainable manner.
