Conservation of the living resources in the North-East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 25 and 28 April 1978 (2nd and 8th Sittings) (see Doc. 4147, report of the Committee on Agriculture). Text adopted by the Assembly on 28 April 1978 (8th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Recalling the colloquy on the conservation of the living resources in the North-East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, held in Malta from 26 to 28 October 1977, and having taken note of the subsequent report by its Committee on Agriculture (
Doc. 4147) ;
2. Having regard to the deliberations of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea ;
3. Having regard to the International Conference on Tanker Safety and Pollution Prevention, held by the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (IMCO) in February 1978, by which measures were agreed with a view to improving pollution prevention standards ;
4. Considering that potentially conflicting uses of the sea involve grave risks for the living resources and have to be taken into account when examining the problems of fisheries ;
5. Bearing in mind the economic and social aspects of the fisheries situation today ;
6. Considering that grand totals often mask trends in yields of individual species, and that it is not possible to draw conclusions on the general state of fish stocks from such figures alone ;
7. Further considering that there are important species of fish which are over-fished, whilst stocks of other species are still in a healthy state
8. Noting that the extension of national jurisdiction over marine resources has influenced the total catches of most countries ;
9. Observing that the interaction between different species requires an "ecosystem approach" to fisheries management, and that there is a need for increased investment in biological research ;
10. Considering that, although fish as human food and source of good quality protein is an important feature, traditional food habits make it difficult to introduce unconventional and underutilised species ;
11. Alarmed by the inconsidered way in which the marine environment has until recently been used for dumping waste material ;
12. Concerned by the effects which river and estuary pollution have on inshore fishing ;
13. Referring to the insufficient data available in the field of aquaculture in Europe, and to the need for an international exchange of information and for good and relevant statistics,
14. Recalls that it is an urgent task, in particular for the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, to agree on control measures for the monitoring of land-based and maritime traffic pollution ;
15. Stresses the need for internationally agreed scientific advice on the state of stocks, in particular those shared between zones, and underlines that coastal states have now acquired not only rights but also large responsibilities ;
16. Resolves that the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly should continue to provide a forum for the discussion of problems of fisheries and the marine environment ;
17. Instructs its Committee on Agriculture to report in due course on the following aspects linked to the conservation of fishery resources : aquaculture in Europe, the pollution of rivers and estuaries and its effects on inshore fishing, the economic and social repercussions of changes in the situation of fisheries ;
18. Asks all the member states of the Council of Europe :
a to enforce strictly the regulations for the reduction of by-catches, in order to reduce all unnecessary waste of young fish which would eventually be suitable for human consumption ;
b to increase research to achieve a better and more widespread use of fish protein than at present, and to take appropriate measures to reduce losses during production of marketable fish ;
c to intensify research into the major communicable fish diseases and efforts to prevent their spread ;
d to set up, through the activities of existing organisations, surveys, monitoring exercises and basic research on what is brought into the sea, and the fate and dispersal of such substances as may cause pollution as well as their effects on single organisms and on their ecosystems ;
e to define the capacity of the seas for receiving various groups of pollutants, and to set up legal machinery at national and international level to co-ordinate surveillance ;
f to preserve under the new legal circumstances the so far effective monitoring system in existence for the North-East Atlantic
g to take into account the profound economic and social consequences of changes in fisheries policies ;
h to strengthen and to build on the existing organisations, in such a way as to embrace research, statistics, management, enforcement, control of pollution and the settlement of disputes ;
i to co-operate as closely as possible with all the non-member states concerned by the problems involved in fishery research and management.
