Yesterday The European Commission announced that fishermen should face higher fines for infringements of fisheries rules under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). At present the violators are being punished to lightly in most EU member states, the Commission said.
According to a report presented by the EU executive on Wednesday, infringements such as illegal fishing, over-fishing and poor quality controls have risen from 9660 in 2004 to 10443 in 2005. The report also shows that the average levels of fines within the EU has more than halved from 4664 Euros in 2004 to 1548 Euros in 2005.
In 2005 the EU fishing industry paid a total amount of 10.8 million Euros in fines, which is equivalent to 0.17 percent of the total landing value for 2005. Spain, Portugal and Italy were responsible for 74 percent of the violations reported in 2005, with 23 percent of the reported cases relating to unauthorised fishing.
The European Commission intends to augment its pressure on member states by naming and shaming them into action. According to fisheries commissioner Joe Borg, the Commission will seek overhaul of EU and national fishing regulations in a bid to fight IUU, which has become a growing problem across the EU.