By Gemma Lougheed - 30th August 2005
Fines for breaches of EU fishing rules and quotas vary from €375 in Belgium to a whopping €19,255 in the UK, MEPs were told on Tuesday.
A European Commission report has identified more uniform and effective enforcement of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy as a priority.
EU officials suggest that administrative sanctions, such as the suspension of licences, which “could be quickly applied” may be a more effective to encourage fishing industry compliance with resented Brussels rules.
The commission report found that 88 per cent of recorded infringements, such as obstructing fishing inspectors or falsifying log books, occurred in Spain, Portugal, Greece and France.
“Better compliance with the rules is at the heart of sustainable fisheries,” said European Commissioner for Fisheries Joe Borg.
“Far from being a harmless practice, infringing the rules has a biological, economic and social cost.”
“This is why all those truly committed to sustainable fisheries have to do their best to apply the CFP rules and to have them applied by others.”
Italy, Portugal and Greece, which have the biggest number of fishing vessels, reported the most cases.
Unauthorised fishing represents 22 per cent of cases while fishing without a licence amounts to 17 per cent: a penalty was applied in 84 per cent of cases.
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