FISCHLER: NO SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES WITHOUT EXPANSION OF JURISDICTION

VENICE, Nov 25 (Hina) - The position of the European Union is that fisheries management in the Mediterranean requires expansion of the jurisdiction of coastal countries beyond the territorial waters and the creation of broader protected fishing zones, EU agriculture and fisheries commissioner Franz Fischler said at a conference on sustainable fisheries in the Mediterranean that opened in Venice on Tuesday. #L# Noting that the expansion of jurisdiction referred to the protection of living resources, Fischler said in his opening address that a proposed approach must be in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, especially in case of half-closed and closed seas and the rights of geographically disadvantaged countries. The commissioner called on Adriatic nations to continue making maximum efforts to arrive at a solution to this sensitive issue through cooperation. Without explicitly mentioning Croatia, he criticised ecological and fishing zones being declared without the recommended harmonised approach. Unilateral actions send wrong signals and create problems rather than solve them, Fischler said. The EU commissioner called on Mediterranean countries to work on establishing a multilateral system to achieve sustainable fisheries. Fischler said that the Mediterranean was facing the same fate as the northern Atlantic and the North Sea unless joint action was taken. Fischler proposed that concrete steps be taken through the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, which should develop into a regional fisheries organisation. (hina) vm sb