he Dutch parliament voted to amend the government’s 2010 budget to make an additional 500,000 euros available for fishery assessment and certification. The decision means that The Netherlands have now allocated a total of €1.5m towards fishery certification. In 2008, the Dutch demersal fleet committed itself to MSC certification as part of a Memorandum of Understanding with WWF, North Sea Foundation and the Fisheries Minister. The additional funding will be made available through the European Fisheries Fund budget.
The budget amendment follows a proposal from a coalition of MPs representing all three of the parties that form the Dutch coalition government: Ad Koppejan MP (Christian Democratic Appeal), Lutz Jacobi MP (Dutch Labour party) and Ernst Cramer MP (Christian Union).