Fisheries Group
North Sea Commission
Fisheries Group Meeting 3rd and 4th April 2003 in Esbjerg, Denmark
Present:
Harry
Jensen (Chairman), Ringkjøbing Amt
Ann Bell (coordinator), Aberdeenshire Council
Frits van Zwijnndregt, Provincie Noord-Holland
Eirin Roaldsen, Møre og Romsdal Fylkeskommune
Ingveig Wahl, Sogn og Fjordane Fylkeskommune
Dafydd Morris, Highland
Council
Sven Bråten, Nordjyllands Amt
Jørgen Jørgensen, Viborg Amt
Karen Greve Somerset,
North Sea Commission Secretariat
Mads Nedergaard, Ringkjøbing Amt
Karsten Bækgaard, Ringkjøbing
Amt
Apologies:
Åke
Linden
Minutes
from the meeting 4th April 2003
1.
Minutes of Previous meeting
Ann
Bell handed out minutes from the previous meeting. These minutes will be
handed electronically to the secretariat.
There
were no comments to the minutes.
A CD
on the presentation of the Highland fishing industry (item 3 on the last
meetings agenda) will be sent out by Ann Bell
2.
Tjärnö Conference – “Who Owns the Sea” Resolution – The importance
of Inshore Fisheries Management.
The
conference in Tjärnö in Sweden in January was discussed. All agreed that
the administration of inshore fisheries is an interesting issue and there is
a need of increased regional and local management of the inshore fisheries.
The
resolution from the conference was handed out.
An
aim for the NSC fisheries group is to have local advisory groups of the
inshore fisheries as a part of the EU fisheries policy. It is important to
achieve links to local authorities.
The
NSC Fisheries Group approved that the resolution from the Tjärnö
Conference is presented for the NSC General Assembly in June and presented
at the CPMR General Assembly.
3.
NSC Fisheries Partnership + NSC/ICES Study Group – meetings.
Ann
Bell presented the outcome of the meeting in the NSC Partnership in
Newcastle. ICES participated in a working group at the meeting. It was the
first time that members from ICES participated in the Partnership.
The
Partnership discussed how information from the fishermen could be a part of
the assessment of the stock. The fishermen as well as the scientist have to
be better to give and present reliable information to each other.
There
has been contact to the Baltic Sea where a similar Partnership in
considered.
The
next meeting in the Partnership will be in Hamburg in the end of June.
4.
Fisheries Management – EU System / Norwegian System
Ingveig
Wahl asked about status and the implementation of the new EU fisheries
policy.
Ann
Bell explained that the Green Paper was approved in December 2002 but there
are still some activities in the action plan that have not been implemented
yet.
Information
on the common fisheries policy can be found on the web page: http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/policy_en.htm
In
Norway, SAVOS has (Union of regional council (fylkeskommuner) in South
Norway) made a resolution on the cod fishery. The question raised, is how
this resolution should be taken into account in relation to the NSC and the
Partnership.
The
common fishery policy – boxes, size of fishing net – and the necessity
to see the whole North Sea as one ecosystem was discussed.
5.
Regional Advisory Councils – Report of the 1st meeting NSCFP RAC Working
Group.
Ann
Bell gave a presentation of the Regional Advisory Council (RAC) 1st meeting.
The RAC and the purpose of RAC are described in a paper that Ann Bell will
send after the meeting.
The
RAC core group members could be fishermen, NGO’s, economist, on-shore
processing sector and regional authorities from the 9 countries. There will
also be observers from a broad spectrum. In addition to the core group
different working groups will be established. The detailed organisation of
the work groups can be seen in the papers.
There
is a possibility that the RAC can be financed by the Interreg programme for
a 2 year period.
The
RAC will be discussed at a meeting in Brussels in May and also at the next
Partnership meeting in June in Hamburg.
6.
CPMR Fisheries Group update.
Ann
Bell gave a presentation of the work of the CPMR Fisheries Group and the
outcome of the last meeting at the 11th and 12th of March. Minutes from this
meeting will be handed out to all members of the NSC Group.
The
issues discussed at the CPMR meeting was:
- Partnership
- Women
in the fishery sector
- Predators
- Off-shore
fishery
which
also are relevant issues for the NSC fisheries group.
Fishery
in other commissions:
- Atlantic
Arc (impact of the Prestige pollution)
- Baltic
Sea (seals, cod, advisory councils)
- Mediterranean
were
discussed.
Responsible
fishery – training programmes – and certificate for responsible fishery
used for marketing are important issues for the CPMR and the NSC Fisheries
group to discuss.
In
April the CPMR Fisheries Group will discuss the socio-economic situation and
hopefully introduce some ideas to the Common Fishery Policy (CFP).
7.
Project presentation – Adding Value to Seafood.
Karsten
Bækgaard mentioned a project taking place in Ringkjøbing County at Herning
Business and Technical School, where some students are looking at the
possibility to produce ready
cooked and convenience food in the local area instead of exporting non
processed fresh fish to other areas/countries. The project is expected to
finish in June this year.
If
the final report comes up with relevant ideas a short summary in English
will be considered.
8.
North Atlantic Responsible Fisheries Conference.
Ann
Bell informed the delegates about this conference that will take place in
Nova Scotia in Canada on the 11th June. Ann Bell promised to send out a
short summary about the conference.
9.
NSC Update.
Karen
Greve Somerset gave a NSC update.
The
next General Assembly will be in Cuxhaven in Germany in June. The study tour
for the fishing group will be at the harbour and as a part of the tour a
workshop is planned. Further information can be found in the programme for
the General Assembly.
The
Interreg IIIB programme had 19 applications for the last round 1st March.
The steering committee will have their next meeting 12th and 13th May where
the applications will be considered. 37% of the Interreg fund was allocated
in the 2 first rounds of application. The next deadline for applications
will be September 2003.
NSC
has applied to be an observer of OSPAR.
Nord
Trøndelag and Tromsø have applied for membership of NSC and the Faroe
Island has shown interest. Harry Jensen and Ann Bell are expected to have
meetings on the Faroe Island in the end of April (is confirmed afterwards).
The
General Assembly was discussed and how the work of the fishing group has to
be presented. Ideas and in-put
can be sent to Ann Bell and Karsten Bækgaard, who will discuss the
presentation with Harry Jensen. It is important to involve the political
issues and problems in the presentation in order to make issues dealt with
by the NSC fisheries group more relevant for regional politicians.
10.
Future Work – 2003 Plan.
The
group agreed that
- Off-shore
windmills
- Pollution
are
main issues for the continued work of the group.
Pointing
out important as well as vulnerable areas in relation to fishery can be a
new and interesting way of looking at the fishing sector. If it will be
possible to have the fishermen to point out such areas, then this will be
useful knowledge for planning. This can also be a tool for local management.
Jørgen
Jørgensen and Mads Nedergaard will prepare a draft of how to point out such
areas.
Frits
van Zwijnndregt mentioned how they in Holland have been working with
changing the fishermen’s attitude to for instance quality with the purpose
of developing the fishing sector. Frits van Zwijnndregt will give a
presentation of this project at another meeting.
11.
Date and venue of next meeting.
Eirin
Roaldsen invited the group to Møre og Romsdal Fylkeskommune. The meeting
will probably take place in Molde or Ålesund.
The
issues for the meeting will be:
- Coastal
planning in Norway
- Interaction
between fishery and aquaculture
- Sea
ranging
- Coastal
planning
- Mapping
of the inshore sea areas – important areas for fishery (Jørgen and
Mads)
- Ecosystem
models for marine mammals (Ann sends out a memo)
- A
new predator conference?
A
study tour probably focusing on aqua culture was proposed.
The
date for the meeting will be 23rd and 24th October.
12.
Predators – Final report – future developments.
The
report produced following the Predators Conference, which was organised by
Ringkjøbing County in the autumn 2001, was tabled. Harry Jensen expressed
his satisfaction with the fact that the issue of predation has now become a
legal issue to discuss and that there is more and more focus on it. At its
next meeting, the Fisheries Group will discuss the possibility of organising
a follow-up predator conference.
13.
Changing Role of Women in the Fishing/Rural Communities.
Ann
Bell informed the delegates about a conference in September in Scotland on
Women in the fishing industry and the socio-economic importance now and in
the future. Ann Bell will send out a draft programme for the conference.
14.
Discussion.
Frits
van Zwijnndregt invited the group for the fist meeting in 2004 to Holland
– probably in Harlem.
Jørgen
Jørgensen showed a picture of the pollution in the North Sea at the Danish
coast. Some of the pollution on the west coast of Denmark can be caused by
pollution from the rivers in Central Europe.
OSPAR
have made a report on this issue and a review of data each country is able
to register. Information on OSPAR can be found at www.ospar.org
There
is also an Interreg project dealing with this issue.
The
pollution of the North Sea can also be an issue for the next common meeting
between the environment group and the fisheries group.
E-mail
address:
Harry
Jensen (Chairman), Ringkjøbing Amt:
arhj@ringamt.dk
Ann
Bell (coordinator), Aberdeenshire Council
ann.bell@aberdeenshirte.gov.uk
Frits
van Zwijnndregt, Provincie Noord-Holland
zwijndregtf@noord-holland.nl
Eirin
Roaldsen, Møre og Romsdal Fylkeskommune
eirin.beate.roaldsen@mr-fylke.org
Ingveig Wahl, Sogn og Fjordane Fylkeskommune
ingveig.holand.wahl@sf-f.kommune.no
Dafydd
Morris, Highland Council
dafydd.morris@highland.gov.uk
Sven Bråten, Nordjyllands Amt
sbr@nja.dk
Jørgen Jørgensen, Viborg Amt
mtjjn@vibamt.dk
Karen Grece Somerset, NSC Secretariat
nsc@northsea.org
Mads Nedergaard, Ringkjøbing Amt
tmmn@ringamt.dk
Karsten Bækgaard, Ringkjøbing Amt
faokb@ringamt.dk
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