Cormorants take European Parliament by storm

Tisková zpráva Press Release Communiqué de presse

Prague, 20 February 2009

Cormorants take European Parliament by storm

Cormorant was one of the words occurring most frequently during the public hearing in the EP with representatives of the Baltic Region concerning the field of fisheries.

The hearing also addressed the impact of climate change on the Baltic ecosystem, coastal fishing and fish stocks. The Czech Presidency was represented by First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ivo Hlavác.

Speaking before the Parliament, Deputy Minister Hlavác stressed that the Czech Presidency pays great attention to the development of fisheries in the Baltic as well as other regions. This area is all the more important today since the Presidency is currently looking into several important and largely overarching documents including the Green Paper to reform the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the proposal for a Regulation to overhaul the CFP’s control policy. One of the topics that stirred the most vivid discussion was the issue of cormorants and other predators. According to Hlavác the issue is not restricted to coastal countries. “The value of cormorants as a protected species cannot be doubted. On the other hand, the combination of growing cormorant populations and their constantly strong appetite is the cause of ever-increasing economic damage to fishermen and aquaculture farms”,explained Hlavác adding that “given the cross-border nature of the issue, a coordinated approach would be the adequate response. We want to open up this issue in April at a discussion on aquaculture”.

The very first public hearing in the European Parliament regarding the Baltic Sea took place in attendance of representatives of the countries of the Baltic Region – particularly Denmark, Estonia, Poland and Sweden. The participants in the meeting included MPs, politicians, diplomats and, in particular, scientists, experts, fishermen and subcontractors. The current issues were discussed in three thematic blocks. Among the issues were the following: consequences of climate change for the Baltic Sea ecosystem, amount of fish reserves and selected specific issues pertaining to the fishing sector, such as modernisation of fishing vessels and development of coastal fishing. 
 

Tereza Dvorácková
Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Agriculture