EU fisheries rules redraw gives states more power

Published on Monday 20 April 2009 22:08

PLANS to redraw European fisheries rules radically to give more control to national governments will be unveiled tomorrow.

A draft copy of a consultation paper on the future of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), seen by The Scotsman, recommends wide-ranging changes to the way the CFP operates.

It suggests devolving more power to national governments and taking away the over- arching diktat from the European Commission on quotas and catches. It also suggests moving away from quotas on individual species of fish, such as cod and haddock, and focusing on the eco-systems they inhabit.

The idea behind this change would be to conserve areas, rather than putting quotas on single species, with the aim of reducing the problem of discards.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the green paper, Louize Hill, marine policy officer at WWF Scotland, said there had to be a change in the size of the European fishing fleets.

"The number of fishing boats must be aligned with the number of fish in EU waters," Ms Hill said.