from EFFTA
EFTTA and the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) are extremely happy with the positive outcome of the plenary voting on MEP Dr. Heinz Kindermann’s report “on the adoption of a European Cormorant Management Plan to minimise the increasing impact of cormorants on fish stocks, fishing and aquaculture.”
As many as 558 MEPs voted in favour of the report and its resolutions.
This exceptionally strong backing from the European Parliament puts heavy pressure on the European Commission and the Council of Ministers to put forward the request for a pan-European management plan and all the basic elements needed for the smooth and effective implementation of such a plan.
These elements include more and better data, improved co-ordination between Member States, greater involvement of stakeholders and clarification of some of the legal terms and the terminology in use.
With cormorants causing widespread devastation to fish stocks – and thereby affecting the quality of recreational angling available to anglers in Europe – The ‘Kindermann Report’ has been supported at every stage by EFTTA.
EFTTA Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Claude Bel, said: “After the Committee on Fisheries gave such an overwhelming vote in favour of the Kindermann Report, we are delighted that the European Parliament understood just how important it is to have a workable management plan for these birds.”
Jan Kappel added: “A tremendous amount of work was put into the report which was accepted by the Committee on Fisheries, by all parties.
We have had to present a very reasoned argument against some strong opposition from the bird lobby – particularly when they have used emotive headlines from European angling magazines as an argument against a European Cormorant Action Plan.
“But we remained confident that there was overwhelming evidence that something needed to be done to find a solution that helped to conserve fish stocks whilst at the same time providing the appropriate levels of protection for cormorants -and we were right as the outcome shows.”
