As a response to the EU ban on cod trawling in the Eastern Baltic Sea, Polish fishermen staged a determined protest on Monday, 17 September.
Polish fishermen ready to start fishing for cod
According to the Polish daily news paper Dziennik, and AFP, about 400 fishermen gathered at key ports of Swinoujscie, Kolobrzeg, Darlowo, Ustka and Gdynia to defend their fishing rights.
Polish minister of Maritime Economy, Marek Gróbarczyk is supportive of lifting the ban, and attempted to convince the European Fisheries Commissioner, Joe Borg, in Brussels yesterday, that Poland has not exhausted it’s cod catch quotas for the year, and that catch data submitted to the European Commission has not been manipulated. Minister Gróbarczyk delivered supporting documentation for Commissioner Borg to review, and a teleconference date has been set between the two for Monday, 24 September.
The Commission forwarded the cod ban on 9 July after conducting random inspections and receiving supporting documentation of massive over-fishing in Poland. According to Greenpeace Poland, the Deputy Minister of Polish Maritime Economy, Grzegorz Halubek, was quoted in a Polish daily paper admitting that all Polish fishermen fish three times their quota to stay alive. He also claims that ICES researchers fake data concerning fish quantities in order to destroy the Polish fishing industry. The European Union implemented the ban as of 15 September when the summer closure ended, and expires at the end of the year.
It’s highly doubtful that the European Union will lift the ban early, as the eastern cod stocks are on the verge of collapse if exposed to the current level of intensive, often illegal, trawling in combination with the degenerating state of the Baltic Sea itself. In addition, on 3 September, the Commission proposed to cut the quotas for the eastern Baltic by 23% for 2008.
Last week, a group of Polish environmental NGOs forwarded a joint position letter “Let’s give the Baltic Cod Population Time to Regenerate”, urging Polish fishermen, who are not the sole users of the Baltic, to start complying with the European Union regulations. The letter is aimed at the Polish Fisheries officials and fishermen themselves. To this date, no official response has been received.
Severe EU sanctions
Polish fishermen could face strict EU sanctions if they decide to ignore the cod ban and not comply with the EU regulations. In 2005, France’s repeated failure to remedy the lack of enforcement of Community law on the protection of undersized fish, especially hake, earned them a penalty of €57 million.
Polish fishermen will stay in port until at least Wednesday due to a large storm affecting the Baltic. According to Greenpeace spokesperson, Katarzyna Guzek, owners of large trawling vessels are affected less by this conflict as they have alternative equipment for fishing sprat and herring.
The problem lies with the owners of the small fishing vessels and vessels which are outfitted only for fishing cod. They are the ones threatening breaking the ban if a viable economic solution is not reached between EU and the Polish government.
The Polish government is committed to EU rules and regulations, and will not encourage fishermen to fish during the ban, said Katarzyna Guzek of Greenpeace Poland. Moreover, some Polish fish processing industries announced that they will not be buying eastern cod until a solution is reached.