These concern recreational anglers on board vessels in the open sea who take fish, which are under multi-annual plans, because they are threatened by extinction. To give you some examples only: these are cod, hake and bluefin tuna in various parts of the EU seas.
Anglers who catch fish like for instance sea bass, whiting, salmon, mackerel, sea trout, pike, perch, pike-perch… are not concerned by these proposals. Neither is the angler who fishes from the pier or the beach or on a lake.
What people do not know is that in some cases recreational fishing actually takes a lot of fish out of the sea. We have examples from the cod fishery in the Baltic Sea where recreational fishermen take the equivalent of 50% of Germany's national cod quota.
In Italy, catches equivalent to over 20% of Italy's bluefin tuna quota are taken by recreational fishermen.
And as these catches are not registered anywhere they are not accounted for. Scientists and managers need to have the full picture when assessing how much fish there is in the sea so that the right decisions are taken on how to set catch limits etc. For the threatened fish stocks it is of course even more important.
Just imagine what would happen to these fish stocks if we don't count these catches against the national quota. It simply means that more fish will be taken from the sea than the biologists advise us is safe and in a few years the fish will disappear from our seas to the detriment of anglers and of professional fishermen.
I also believe that we cannot impose ever more restrictions on professional fishermen, while the recreational fishing industry in some cases catches important quantities of fish threatened by collapse. It is only right that the recreational fishing industry contribute to the efforts undertaken by professional fishermen to bring these fish back to healthy levels.
Some Member States have already put national rules in place for anglers which even go beyond what we are proposing. To give you an example in Northern France an angler can only catch 10 kg of cod during each fishing trip; if he catches more he is fined under national law. In Belgium an angler is limited to 15 kg of cod per fishing trip. These are rules that both France and Belgium have put in place nationally.
It is not the intention of the Commission that an angler who goes out in his rowing boat on a Saturday and brings back two cod will be heavily controlled.
Anybody who claims this is simply not telling the truth. Only those recreational fisheries that have a big impact on the fish under a multi annual plan should be covered by the rules.
Therefore we will examine this on a case by case basis and we will make easy to implement and realistic proposals. My services are already working together with the angler associations and the Member States to find proportionate and realistic rules that work for everyone's benefit."
