THE Brussels Commission announced a clampdown on rogue trawlers yesterday in a bid to curb over-fishing in European Union waters.
A package of measures aims to close existing loopholes which vessels exploit to catch more than their allowed quota of fish and will ensure that the surveillance and control measures are applied equally strictly by every EU fishing nation.
The Government has taken the lead in pressing for tighter controls. The Prime Minister insisted at last year's Amsterdam summit that the existing arrangements had to be improved if Britain was to swallow the bitter ''quota hopping'' pill. This allows Spanish boats, for instance, registered in the UK to share in catches originally allocated to the British fishing fleet.
Many fishermen accuse the Spanish boats of ignoring the ceilings placed on catches to protect stocks and of not being penalised when they land their fish back in Spain.
''The British Government felt that other member states were not being as rigorous as it was in checking the amount of fish caught and landed. What we are saying now is that there should be an equal commitment to effective inspection from all 15 member states and that should include investment in training, manpower and resources,'' said one EU official.
Under the proposals, which are likely to come into force early next year, satellite surveillance of the 2700 European fishing boats will be extended to the 500 non-EU vessels which operate in Union waters.
There will be more cross checks on the declarations of fish landed, the transfer of fish between boats at sea will be more closely controlled and EU inspectors will monitor the performance of their national counterparts.
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