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| EUbusiness - Portugal says EU fishing quota proposals go too far |
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Fisherman and fish photo11/12/2004
Portugal's Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Carlos Costa Neves, on Saturday said the proposals for 2005 fishing quotas unveiled by the European Union earlier this week went too far.
"The starting point of the European Commission is a bit fundamentalist, as always is the case at the start of any negotiation," he told the national news agency Lusa.
The minister said the bloc needed to find a balance between defending limited fishing stocks and maintaining a traditional economic activity when it meets to discuss the proposal later this month.
EU fisheries commissioner Joe Borg on Wednesday unveiled proposed new cuts in the amounts that European fishermen can catch of vulnerable species such as cod, and outright bans in areas of some waters.
He has submitted the proposal to EU agriculture ministers who are to discuss the issue at a two-day meeting opening on December 21 in Brussels.
Portugal is particularly concerned at a European Commission proposal to reduce the number of days which Portuguese fisherman will be allowed to catch crayfish, an activity which involves some 3,000 boats in the country.
Authorities are also concerned over a recommendation that the use of fishing with nets that drag along the bottom of the ocean be banned off the southern coast of the Algarve, the nation's southernmost province, as well as off the coast of the central port town of Sines.
The European Commission aims to protect crayfish in these two areas with this measure.
Spain and France, which also have large fishing fleets, have also reacted negatively to the fishing quotas proposed by Brussels.
Fishing quotas further details and full quota tables
EUguides - EU Fisheries Policy
Text and Picture Copyright ? 2004 AFP. All other copyright ? 2004 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.
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