Threat to salmon fishing in Europe
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- See Doc. 5422, report of the Committee on Agriculture. Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 4 July 1985.
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Aware of the considerable investments made in hatching and raising salmon along European rivers and coastlines ;
2. Concerned, however, by the fact that a large and growing part of these investments are lost as the salmon, which temporarily migrate to the open sea, are caught on a massive scale in so-called “interception fishing” by other nations—either at sea or along the coast within the 12-mile limit ;
3. Noting that this practice has led to an overall reduction of salmon stocks and, consequently, of catches in recent years, to the detriment of all those concerned ;
4. Observing that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea awards to states in whose rivers anadromous stocks such as salmon originate the primary responsibility for such stocks, while respecting as far as possible the interests of other nations concerned ;
5. Welcoming the creation of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO), and supporting the ban on salmon fishing in the North Atlantic beyond 12 miles from the coast except in two specified areas,
6. Calls on member states of the Council of Europe engaging in salmon fishing in the North Atlantic :
a to joint or participate closely in the work of NASCO, and to provide it with the necessary funds to carry out its function of protecting salmon stocks, including research ;
b to work, within NASCO, in favour of a ban on the continuing and highly damaging “interception fishing” between 12 and 200 miles from the coast, especially along migratory routes in the waters off West Greenland and north of the Faroe Islands ;
c to search for ways to compensate fishermen who may suffer economically from the above restriction ;
d to take the necessary steps to reduce the pollution of rivers and coastal waters, in conformity with the Assembly's
Recommendation 1003 (1985), on marine pollution and fisheries, since this also has a negative effect on salmon stocks ;
e to work in favour of more accurate reports on landings of salmon, to help production planning as well as conservation.
