MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON FISHERIES OPENS IN VENICE

VENICE, Nov 25 (Hina) - A ministerial conference on the development of sustainable fisheries in the Mediterranean opened in Venice on Tuesday, bringing together ministers of agriculture and fisheries from Mediterranean countries and representatives of the European Commission. #L# The aim of the conference is to achieve consent on establishing a multilateral system of management of fish resources in the entire Mediterranean Sea, according to a statement by the Italian presidency of the EU as the organiser of the meeting. The establishment of such a system requires the participation of EU governments, the General Commission on Fisheries in the Mediterranean (GFCM) and fishing organisations, said Italy's undersecretary for fisheries, Paolo Scarpa Bonazza. Since Croatian agriculture and forestry minister Bozidar Pankretic was unable to attend for health reasons, the Croatian delegation is being led by his assistant and director of the Forestry Directorate, Ivan Katavic, and deputy foreign minister Ivan Simonovic. "We expect adoption of a political declaration that has been prepared at a series of meetings," Simonovic said ahead of the meeting. Before the conference, Croatia adopted the Statute of the GFCM showing that it supported multilateral cooperation, he said. Croatia will have the opportunity to explain that its proclamation of a protected ecological and fishing zone in the Adriatic would also be beneficial to other countries, Simonovic said. Croatia will propose that after the Venice conference a subregional meeting of Adriatic countries be held to address problems and protect the Adriatic as an area of common interest. Simonovic reiterated Croatia's readiness to discuss the sea border with Slovenia, noting that arbitration was a logical solution. Asked about a possible change in the position of the new Croatian government, Simonovic said it was too early to say and that one had to wait for it to be formed, adding that both governments would have little room for manoeuvre to resolve the border dispute. (hina) vm sb