Nov 20 - ESG Welcomes Fishing Regulations But Has Concerns Over Enforcement
The ESG says it welcomes the recent publication of the Fishing Regulations. As an environmental organisation it says it values our living environment and therefore will support any measures seeking to protect and preserve biodiversity and the health of our natural heritage.
However, the ESG says there are issues of concern raised by this first phase of the regulations.
The big question for the ESG, however, is on the enforcement of the new controls being announced. The group says it knows from its experience in other issues, e.g. littering, which in theory should be much easier to control, enforcement “has not been at all effective to date.” How much more difficult will it be, says the ESG, to control fishing, a 24 hour practice, which is often clandestine, and in remote areas?
The ESG says that if, as has been announced, the Department of Environment is going to “lead on enforcement”, (while not able to make arrests themselves), this will require a dedicated team, also on a 24hr basis, to cover monitoring and enforcement duties. It therefore critical, argues the group, for the success of any fishing regulation that its enforcement “is applied robustly.”
The ESG hopes that, in applying enforcement measures, fishing enthusiasts are also encouraged to take greater care of their equipment and tackle, as shore based sites are, at times, left in filthy conditions – albeit by a minority.
Another point brought into focus during the Viewpoint programme on this subject last week, says the ESG, was continued permission under the new regulations for the “600-hook, long line fishing practice” which is carried out in Gibraltar. The ESG says that, in the interests of wildlife conservation and preservation of our fishing stocks - and, in the spirit of the fishing regulations aims to ensure sustainable fishing practices, “it would seem sensible to stop this indiscriminate practice.”
The ESG says it recognises the difficulties faced by local enforcement entities to stop harmful Spanish fishing practices at sea. Given the Bay is one large ecosystem it is hoped, says the group, that cross border regulations can be the “next target to move this issue from being a political one to an environmental one and ensure that our rich marine life can be jointly preserved for future generations.”
