Appendix D
OPENING ADDRESSESAddress by
The Honourable Elliott Morley
Parliamentary Under Secretary
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Chairman, delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be here today to open the Twenty-second Session of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission.
First, let me introduce myself. I am Elliott Morley, Parliamentary Under Secretary in a relatively new department called the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. As some of you may know my current responsibilities are quite wide covering animal health and animal welfare, whaling, forestry, flood defence and, of course, fisheries. However, I have been Fisheries Minister for some time and I am well aware of the many diverse issues affecting both marine and freshwater fisheries and their management.
During this time I am pleased to have had the opportunity to meet some of you personally, but I am well aware that with 33 countries actively participating in EIFAC activities, there are many others here today whom I have not met but who are, nonetheless instrumental in the management of freshwater fisheries in their respective countries.
The purpose of this Twenty-second Session is to review the recent achievements of EIFAC and to recommend best practice for inland fisheries management. I am sure that debate over the next few days will be lively, informative and productive. I also hope this meeting will provide an invaluable opportunity to explore common challenges and issues of concern, to share experiences and knowledge not least what work and research is being undertaken throughout Europe.
In this context I should highlight the fact that we have recently completed our own independent review of salmon and freshwater fisheries policies and legislation in England and Wales. This was a thorough and comprehensive review which aimed to resolve some of the problems we currently face and also to enable us to meet future opportunities and challenges. I hope that some of you are aware of this report and, the formal Government response published in February 2001 – I would certainly encourage you to read it.
While the Review report is specific to England and Wales, it does recommend many actions that are relevant and applicable elsewhere. For example, amongst many other issues, the Review report highlighted the need for continued and improved communication and collaboration in fisheries management. Conferences like this one help to address that need and I am sure that participants will build on the networks and contacts they form here over the succeeding weeks and months.
Another key component of the Review Group report was the issue of sustainability. The Government of the United Kingdom is fully committed to ensuring that fisheries policies contribute towards sustainable management, while providing social and economic benefit to all users. Achievement of sustainable development is a process which must inform decision making at every level: local, regional, national and global. It is not something that any government can, or should be expected to do alone. This is clear from the ongoing discussions at WSSD which have highlighted the need to work together to achieve common aims and goals.
Funding is always an important issue. I think I can safely say that no government has infinite resources and with so many competing demands hard decisions are often needed. It is imperative, therefore, that available funds are spent wisely and effectively and on those issues that matter most. Obviously, priorities will differ from country to country but there is a common thread, i.e. if fisheries projects are to be successful, managers must have a good understanding of the issues concerned and an agreed approach on how best to deal with them. I would suggest that EIFAC, as a European-wide body, is uniquely placed to contribute towards ensuring cooperation and dissemination of advice and best practice. That is why it is important that EIFAC should continue to play an active role in this area. However, this also places a degree of responsibility upon EIFAC to fulfil this remit.
I know that Richard Cowan, Head of the Fisheries Division within DEFRA, responsible for Aquaculture, Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries, has already given you an outline of his area of work and our plans for the future. I would like to inform you of how we are trying to improve integration and coordination within and across the new Department as this may aid discussion on other issues here this week. The creation of DEFRA brought within the ambit of one Government Department responsibility for policy formulation on most, if not all, of the key issues affecting freshwater fisheries. These include water quality and quantity, agriculture, land drainage and diffuse and point source pollution. Thus consideration of fisheries issues can now more effectively inform and contribute to the development of policy, not only on agriculture, but also on water resource management. The principal goal of the new Department will be to integrate policy formation across the whole range of issues which it now covers. In this context it would be remiss of me not to take this opportunity to highlight the vital role played by the Environment Agency in the management of freshwater fisheries in England and Wales.
For many of those working in DEFRA and the sectors of the economy for which it is responsible, the dominant event of last year was the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in England and Wales. This has had far-reaching effects, both direct and indirect, and shows just how interdependent the various sectors of the rural economy now are. We should not forget, however, that the effects of this serious outbreak have also been felt by those in urban areas as many of the fisheries and associated businesses affected are urban based, as are many anglers.
I cite these examples only to demonstrate that few issues can be dealt with in isolation and to highlight the need for better communication and cooperation. It is clear that many of the more complex problems faced by inland fisheries today cannot be resolved locally or even nationally, but demand a collective awareness and agreement at a wider international level. It is also important that we recognize that inland fisheries is an important sector of the world’s fishing industry; and one which needs careful management if it is to be ecologically sustainable but, at the same time, ensuring that economic and social benefits are maximized. We should not underestimate this challenge.
As I stated earlier, I believe that EIFAC has a unique opportunity to lead on a wide range of inland fisheries management issues. I note that the Symposium last week focused on a number of these including the management of eels, introductions and stockings, fish diseases and habitat improvements. I suggest that the Twenty-second Session should carefully consider EIFAC’s future role, its focus and what it aims to achieve. In my view, it can and, dare I suggest, should be a dynamic body that seeks to influence all aspects of inland fisheries management. I would leave you with the thought that the Twenty-second Session ought to aim to provide a European-wide reference point for fisheries management in the new millennium.
Finally, today provides me with an ideal opportunity to reaffirm the support of the Government of the United Kingdom for freshwater fisheries management and conservation. I also wish to restate our commitment to help establish a joined-up strategy to promote and enhance the conservation of stocks of freshwater fish and to maximize the social and economic benefits derived from freshwater fisheries, not just for the short term but for the benefit of future generations.
I wish you all a very successful Twenty-second Session.
Address by
Sir John Harman
Chairman, Environment Agency
Good morning and welcome to the Lake District.
The Environment Agency (England and Wales) was formed in 1996 and is Europe’s biggest environmental regulator. We are charged with protecting and enhancing air, land and water. The Agency’s work is wide ranging, covering the regulation of major industrial processes, discharges to air, land and water, waste regulation, flood defence, conservation, recreation, navigation, water resources and, of course, fisheries. We also hold information on the environment of the United Kingdom and have a duty to report and make this information accessible to the public – which we do via e.g. our State of the Environment Report, public registers and our Web site which you can consult at www.environment-agency.gov.uk.
With regard to fisheries management, we have a statutory duty to "maintain, improve and develop" fisheries using our regulatory powers. And this duty sits within our responsibility to manage the whole of the water environment on a catchment basis; and to contribute to sustainable development – this having to take into account the social and economic aspects of fisheries along with the environmental.
The Environment Agency’s Vision
Taking our lead from the Government’s strategy for sustainable development – in January last year, the Environment Agency produced this document "An Environmental Vision – the Environment Agency’s contribution to sustainable development". It describes our long-term aspirations for the environment.
In it you will see our fundamental goals; a better quality of life for all and an enhanced environment for wildlife.
It then describes the environmental outcomes for which we are striving:
The changes we will seek:
The Vision also outlines the risks we will help manage:
The two fundamental themes "quality of life" and "enhancing wildlife" recognizes both people and fisheries – and thus the need to address overall fishery performance, i.e. the total package of fish stocks, fish habitat, fish catches and the anglers’ and the wider public’s environment.
Let me give you a few examples of what this means in practice.
A Better Quality of Life for All
In order to achieve this aim – the Environment Agency plans to:
An Enhanced Environment for Wildlife
The lead for this theme is provided by our Conservation and Fisheries functions and the intention is to:
Some examples of specific targets we have set ourselves are – to reduce unreported and illegal salmon catches (with 13 additional rivers meeting salmon conservation limits) and to reduce illegal fish movements and the risk of alien species introductions and spread of fish disease.
As Elliot Morley has just said, the Government recently published an independent review of salmon and freshwater fisheries policies and legislation in England and Wales. The Environment Agency welcomed both the main thrust of the independent report and the Government’s response to it – notably the clarification of the aims and objectives of fishery management.
The aims and objectives set out in the report, and the Government’s response to it, link closely to the themes and principles of our Vision. They emphasize the importance of protecting biodiversity and regulating fishing and activities such as land use, to ensure sustainable stocks. The biodiversity angle is important because of the close links between fisheries and conservation benefits arising from shared objectives and on-the-ground habitat improvement. But they also emphasize the importance of managing fisheries for recreation; to improve the quality of life for many people and increase the substantial economic and social benefits that fisheries and their management already bring.
For example, in England and Wales:
The Environment Agency is keen to see these statistics improve. (And indeed the Government has demonstrated their support for the importance of freshwater fishing by awarding the Environment Agency an extra £1m in its GiA allocation for managing recreational fisheries this year.)
The Relevance of EIFAC
The Environment Agency’s association with EIFAC is therefore important to us in the strategic management of fisheries. In particular, with regard to:
which, as I have said, are all part of our approach.
Our staff have to be up-to-date with current thinking and information, and EIFAC gives us an awareness of the European perspective. Firstly, in terms of management of stocks – that being our basic resource. Secondly, in terms of user groups – the anglers, fisheries owners and fisheries organizations. And finally, in terms of the exchange of expert information.
Inland fisheries are an important sector of the fishing industry. The outputs from the various EIFAC Working Parties provide support and information on key issues of importance to the Environment Agency. Some current examples are:
Welcome to EIFAC
The Environment Agency looks forward to using the outputs from the Twenty-second Session to inform our management of inland fisheries. The Environment Agency was pleased to organize the Session on behalf of the host Government and we wish it every success. We welcome its Officers, National Correspondents, delegates and guests to the beautiful English Lake District.
Address by
Mr Heiner Naeve
Secretary of EIFAC
Honourable Parliamentary Under Secretary, Mr Chairman of the Environment Agency, Mr Chairman of EIFAC, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour for me to welcome you on behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Mr Jacques Diouf, and Mr Ichiro Nomura, Assistant Director-General of the Fisheries Department.
First of all I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Government of the United Kingdom for hosting this Session and for providing such excellent meeting facilities and hospitality.
I am glad that so many delegates have been able to come here and I would like to thank you all in advance for the valuable contributions you will no doubt make to this Session.
I would also like to refer to the very successful Symposium on Inland Fisheries Management and the Aquatic Environment that preceded this Session, attracting far more than 100 scientists from 27 countries. This clearly shows the increasing interest in the scientific work of EIFAC. In this connection I would like to acknowledge the support pledged by the European Commission making it possible for a number of colleagues from eastern European countries to attend the Symposium.
Since its foundation in 1957, EIFAC has grown from 16 members to 33, and I am glad to welcome for the first time the Russian Federation participating in an observer capacity.
In all these years the Commission has performed an important task in drawing the attention of its Members to the importance of the sector of inland fisheries and aquaculture in the socio-economic contexts of the countries.
EIFAC continued to serve as a forum for exchange of information and for ensuring a common approach to inland fisheries throughout Europe. Indeed, for many years of its existence, there has been no other body charged with the international aspects of inland fisheries. This has changed during the last ten years, and with the imminent accession of a number of Eastern European countries to the European Community also the role of EIFAC is changing.
The achievements of the Commission are the achievements of its Members and the voluntary contributions of scientists from every country have contributed to its work. The Commission’s achievements have been significant, as reflected by the numerous high-quality publications. This remains an example for other Commissions to aspire to.
In the last few sessions, Members of the Commission have been asked to give an opinion as to the usefulness of the Commission. The answer has always been unequivocal: that EIFAC should continue its work as an intergovernmental body dealing with inland fisheries and aquaculture in Europe. However, to remain effective and to attract the interest of all its Members, EIFAC will have to concentrate on a realistic work programme, focusing on issues of high importance for inland fisheries management and the development of sustainable aquaculture. I am confident this Session will be able to do that.
We from the Secretariat are convinced that EIFAC will continue to play an important role and we will do whatever is possible to facilitate EIFAC’s work.
May I add my personal good wishes for the future of EIFAC, as this is the last Session I will be serving as Secretary.
Address by
Mr Rudolf Müller, Switzerland
Chairperson of EIFAC
Mr Morley, Minister of Fisheries, Mr Cowan, Head of Fisheries at DEFRA, Sir John Harman, Chairman of the Environment Agency, Distinguished delegates, dear colleagues and friends.
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Twenty-second Session of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission of FAO and to the associated Symposium entitled "Inland Fisheries Management and the Aquatic Environment: the effects of fisheries management on freshwater ecosystems", here in the beautiful Lake District of Windermere.
On behalf of all participants and delegates, I would like to ask you, Mr Morley, to convey to your government our gratitude for your kind invitation to hold the Twenty-second Session here in the United Kingdom. I congratulate the organizers from the Environment Agency for choosing such a charming venue here at the Low Wood Hotel. I also thank the Chairman of the Environment Agency, Sir John Harman, for making his staff available to provide us with all these excellent arrangements that make our stay at Windermere both successful and pleasant. And finally, I would like to thank DEFRA, represented here by Mr Cowan, for supporting this Symposium so generously.
This is the second time that EIFAC has held its session in the United Kingdom; the first one having been the Eighth Session at Aviemore, Scotland, in 1974. The symposium held on that occasion was devoted to the methodology for the survey, monitoring and appraisal of fishery resources in lakes and large rivers. As we will see later on, this subject has again received great interest in the last two years.
With great regret I have to inform you of the death of four colleagues who participated in the work of EIFAC.
Maria Bninska from the Inland Fisheries Institute at Olsztyn, Poland was first Chairperson of Sub-Commission I, then Second Vice-Chairperson and finally First Vice-Chairperson of EIFAC, an office which she held until her death.
William "Bill" A. Dill was one of the founders of EIFAC. While working at FAO, he organized the first international Inland Fisheries Meeting in Helsinki in 1956 which led to the establishment of EIFAC in 1957. His work on "Freshwater Fisheries of Europe", published by FAO, is very well known.
Dick E. van Drimmelen, the former director of the OVB in the Netherlands, had been involved with EIFAC right from the start, first as co-founder and national delegate, then as Chairman of Sub-Commission II and finally as Chairman of EIFAC from 1976 to 1978.
Antonin "Tony" Lelek had worked several years for FAO before becoming head of the ichthyology section at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Germany. He was the convener of the Working Party on Mapping of Fish Distribution and Aquatic Habitat Quality, established in 1998.
It is custom that at this point of the agenda, a review of the work accomplished by EIFAC during the intersession be given. I will refrain from doing so. Instead, I want to highlight just a few items that I feel are particularly relevant to EIFAC, and I refer you to the session documents for a more detailed account.
Firstly, I am happy to say that the papers from the Symposium on Fisheries and Society, held at the Twenty-first Session of EIFAC in 2000, have been published as a special volume of Fisheries Management and Ecology.
A major issue in European inland fisheries is the fate and future of the European eel. The eel stock in Europe is at an all-time low and outside safe biological limits. The Joint EIFAC/ICES Working Group on Eels met last year in Copenhagen for the following task:
The Working Group recommended, among others:
The problem of bird predation, particularly by cormorants, has a long history with EIFAC. In the past biennium, a symposium on fish-bird interactions at the University of Hull (United Kingdom), and several meetings of the EU-funded project REDCAFE have taken place, both in collaboration with EIFAC. The situation of the cormorant and its impact on fisheries in Europe varies from country to country. It has become clear that there is no single solution to all instances from where problems are signalled. It has also become evident that an open dialogue between ornithologists and fisheries managers is imperative to problem solving. Measures to reduce the conflict between birds and fish seem to work best on a local scale.
In December 2000 the European Commission published the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The Directive requires that the ecological status of the water bodies be assessed using biological quality criteria. Among such biological criteria, the status of the fish fauna will have to be assessed according to specific criteria. The issue of sampling fish with standardized methods is a topic that a working party of EIFAC has been looking into for several years already. An EIFAC liaison group was established to facilitate information exchange about the standardization of monitoring programmes between the several partners involved, particularly with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). This field of interest will most likely become one of the major fields of activity of EIFAC.
Another point of common interest between EIFAC and the European Community is the future potential of freshwater aquaculture in Europe. An ad hoc Working Party met at the premises of the EC in Brussels in May 2001 to assess market perspectives of this sector. It was found that aquaculture products in Europe are of high demand, but their marketing will require special efforts. An international conference on Aquaculture Economics and Marketing, to be held in September-October 2002 at Szarvas, Hungary, will identify further options and actions.
Among the many new items coming up, I would like to mention first the problem of animal welfare in fisheries and aquaculture. A proposal has been made to the Session to establish a new Working Party on Handling of Fishes in Fisheries and Aquaculture whose main task will be to develop a code of practice on proper handling of fishes. I believe that this is a very timely task.
Another new item will be sturgeon management. Sturgeon are classified as endangered and are therefore protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Thus, legally exporting sturgeon products, particularly caviar, from, e.g., the Danube, the Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Adriatic Sea regions requires that good management practice of the species be demonstrated. Following a request by Romania, a joint EIFAC/GFCM Working Group will be established to address this problem and to explore ways how the remaining resources, especially in the Danube region, can be exploited in a sustainable way.
Let us now have a look at the role and future work of EIFAC. Our modern time is characterized by a frenzy – or is it some kind of a virus? – to change anything and in particular well established organizations and successful work programmes, for the mere desire to do things differently, not because things aren't working well. While I do not advocate adhering to traditional structures and procedures forever, I plead for case-specific and reasonable changes, in order to properly cope with emerging needs and issues. EIFAC, thanks to its system of topical sub-commissions and working parties, and through reviewing their activities every two years, has demonstrated a remarkable degree of adaptability throughout the more than 40 years of its existence. Furthermore, the role and activities of EIFAC were thoroughly analysed at the Eighteenth Session in Rome in 1994. Thus, for EIFAC, reviewing and adjusting the work profile is not a matter of modern fashion, but an inherent virtue of the Commission. Clearly, there is always room for improvement. This is why we will discuss during this Session how the work EIFAC has been carrying out can best be appraised, and how performance can be assessed and even enhanced. This action follows a proposal by the Twenty-second Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries, held in Rome in March 1997.
A special point of concern for me is the fact that many fishery workers and fish ecologists in Europe, especially at universities and non-governmental institutes, are not familiar with the work of EIFAC, not to say that they are even unaware of the existence of EIFAC. The establishment of a home page on the Internet may have helped, but we have to increase efforts to make our mission and our work programme better known. We need to recruit new people who are willing to work with us and who have the possibility to participate in meetings of working parties. To achieve this, I rely on the National Correspondents who have the noble task not only to secure the flow of information towards the fishery workers even in the most remote corner of their country, but they also have to solicit responses from their colleagues, and to act as a contact point for people who seek information or the possibility to join one of our working groups. "Networking" is the name of the game.
Let me close with a more personal remark. As you all know, the United Nations organization is the mother organization of FAO and EIFAC. What you may not be aware of is the fact that my home country, Switzerland, although a member of FAO, is not a member of the United Nations – not yet! I am very happy to inform you that on 3 March 2002, Switzerland decided in an extremely tight but positive vote to finally join the United Nations organization, as the second-last state on this planet.
I thank you for your attention.
