EU TO MONITOR AMATEUR FISHERMEN

A deal struck in Luxembourg means closer monitoring of licensed fishing boats, stiff penalties on the industry and national authorities for breaching strict annual catch quotas, and the first-ever inclusion of casual fishermen in the Common Fisheries Policy net.

After howls of anguish from MEPs earlier this year, the new deal clarifies that those catching a bit of supper off the end of the local jetty with a rod and line will not be included.

And even anglers putting to sea will not have to report every landed tiddler to the authorities - unless the fish on the line is subject to an EU stock recovery programme, such as cod in the North Sea.

Sweden's agriculture minister, Eskil Erlandsson, chairing the talks, confirmed at a press conference that recreational fishing was being brought into the system:

"Recreational fishermen are not being excluded" he said. "There is provision for dealing with them, but we have, as a result of these negotiations, limited the impact of the requirement to report fishing activity to recovery stocks.

"This in effect applies to cod in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and Blue Fin Tuna in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, and any stock subject to recovery plans in future would be affected as well."

But he insisted: "If, as a result of an assessment, the impact of recreational fishing on the stock is small and insignificant, the obligation to report catches will not apply."

Earlier plans included counting anglers' catches against national fishing catch quotas for the industry, and Mr Erlandsson left the prospect open for the future, saying: "For the time being at least, we will not be counting the catches of recreational fishing against quotas, but there will be increased monitoring of the recreational fishery and it may well be that member states would introduce measures to curtail or control recreational fishing activities if they have a significant impact on recovery stocks".