Commissioner says sea-based regional committees would solve one-size-fits-all policy gripes

The European Commissioner for fisheries Maria Damanaki has defended the role of the EU in enforcing rules cutting down on Bluefin tuna catch quotas, laid down in a recovery plan by the International Commission for the Conservatio of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).

Damanaki told MPs at the foreign and European affairs committee of the House that the EU had to take a leading role within regional management organisations, to create a level-playing field with our Mediterranean neighbours.

"It is absolutely paramount that the ICCAT Recovery plan for bluefin tuna is successful and the stock rebuilds.  I count on your support to the EU's position there: we must enforce all ICCAT and EU rules with a very firm hand."

ICCAT is the international body that sets rules on the quotas for tuna and swordfish fishing.

"I realise that we are in Bluefin tuna season and that all farming activities, from transfer to the farms to harvesting and trade, present enormous control challenges and use up resources - especially for a small country like Malta. But control is vital to keep our fishing within sustainable levels. And I want to thank the Maltese government for their recent efforts in cooperation with the Commission."

Damanaki responded to concerns of Europe's one-size-fits-all policies negatively affecting small, artisanal fishermen in Maltese waters, that the only solution was to create a regionalisation system that can offer different solutions to different problems faced by different member states.

Answering a question by Labour MP Leo Brincat, Damanaki admitted that the current fisheries policy was a one-size-fits-all policy because it was a very centralised and detailed policy.

"It is so detailed and centralised that I myself have to decide what mesh sizes the Maltese, or Scots fishermen can use... and we have to change this, through regionalisation, because it must be compatible with the European treaty which gives the EU exclusive competence on fisheries."

Damanaki said that by grouping member states into sea-based regional bodies, all member states bordering particular waters can agree to solutions to a problem affecting them specifically.

"In that way the Commission would be bound to go along with the member states' decision, and this is the only way to solve the problem."

But Damanaki also complained she had found little enthusiasm from the European Parliament to cede its powers to the Commission on the new reformed fisheries policy, which she said had been watered down considerably by MEPs.

The Fisheries Council on Thursday endorsed a maximum sustainable yield for up to 2020 and a discard ban, as well as €6.5 billion in industry aid.