Conservation of fishery resources: cod and hake, stock recovery

The European Parliament adopted a resolution largely based on the report by Catherine STIHLER (PES, UK). (Please refer to the document dated 22/05/02.) Parliament did not, however, accept the exclusion of hake from the proposal. The amendments include a recital stating that certain scientific reports of international prestige indicate that overfishing is not the sole factor influencing the state of stocks, since the latter are also influenced by aspects linked to natural fluctuations in the marine environment, climate change, the northward drift of the biomass and pollution. Full data is not available on all zones in 2002 and no economic analyses have been made of the economic aspects of multispecies fishing, nor of the correlation between the fishing effort and fishing mortality rate. The current system of Total Allowable Catches does not resolve the problem of discards nor the impact on stocks of some multi-species fleets, which in turn affect the fishing fleet. Turning to temporary cessation of activity, Parliament provided that economic compensation will be laid down according to the following criteria: - aid will be fully paid by the EU. - holidays and rest periods will be regarded as being independent of periods of compulsory tying-up.�