91999E0745

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0745/99

by Anita Pollack (PSE) to the Commission

(29 March 1999)

Subject: Fisheries and sustainability

Does the Commission ensure that PESCA funding is used to support nature conservation objectives? If not, why not?

Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission

(23 April 1999)

Funding from the PESCA operational programme is not provided directly for nature conservation schemes, as that is not its goal, but a number of PESCA measures have positive repercussions on the conservation of natural resources.

These include the protection of overexploited species and marine ecosystems through support for schemes to channel fishing effort towards new species and new fishing zones and for pilot projects for monitoring the impact of fishing effort and the mapping of the sea bed, alongside support for improvements in and facilities for extensive fishfarming and for environmentally-friendly fishfarming methods (new waste recycling processes and extensive sea bed mussel farming)and training for fishermen in sustainable fisheries management.

PESCA represents therefore an important source of funding for innovative projects which seek to combine the goal of an economically viable sector with the safeguarding of fish stocks and marine ecosystems and to test new strategies for the sustainable management of sea fisheries and fishfarming.