VENICE CONFERENCE ON FISHERIES ENDS

VENICE, Nov 26 (Hina) - A conference on sustainable development of fisheries in the Mediterranean, which pooled representatives from 36 countries, ended in Venice on Wednesday with the signing of a ministerial declaration on a wide consensus on the need for promoting the management of fisheries in the Mediterranean. #L# The conference was organised by the European Commission and the Italian EU Presidency, and the declaration was signed by all 36 European and Mediterranean countries, as well as Russia and Japan, which have fishing fleets on the open seas of the Mediterranean. The ministers who attended the conference agreed in the declaration that the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) should grow into a regional organisation for fisheries. It was decided that the GFCM's scientific committee should draw up concrete proposals and estimates about endangered stocks by October 2004. It is noted in the document that the proclamation of protected fishing zones will facilitate the protection and control of fishing thus contributing to a better management of resources and the fight against illegal fishing. The document recommends a careful analysis of ways to declare such zones which would take into account precedents and the need to apply a harmonised regional approach adapted to fishing requirements and based on dialogue and co- ordination. In an area like the Mediterranean, with shared resources and strong historical ties among neighbouring countries, problems cannot be solved with unilateral action, said the EU's agriculture and fisheries commissioner, Franz Fischler, alluding to Croatia's decision to expand jurisdiction in the Adriatic and possible similar moves by other countries. Croatia, which was indirectly criticised at the conference for its "unilateral" decision to declare a protected ecological and fishing zone, was also directly named at the closing news conference. The Italian under-secretary for fisheries, Paolo Scarpa Bonnano, said he believed that there was a problem and that the Croatian government would have to accept a multilateral approach to solving it. "I believe that the Croatian government, with whose representatives we have talked in Venice, has to accept that the approach to solving the problem must be multilateral. Unilateral action, if taken, will lead to significant disturbing developments," Scarpa said. Croatia has postponed the implementation of its decision until 3 October 2004. Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic said the Croatian delegation had reason to be satisfied with the outcome of the conference. "Although allusions were made to the effect that more attention should be paid to co-ordination, Croatia was not directly criticised at the conference. I think that the conference appreciated the fact that, although it has expanded jurisdiction, Croatia has postponed implementing the decision for one year in order to carry out some proposals, including a subregional meeting in Zagreb," he said. Under-secretary Scarpa said that it still had not been decided where the proposed Adriatic conference would be held - in Rome, Zagreb or Slovenia. The Croatian delegation attending the Venice conference agreed to continue bilateral talks with Italy and Slovenia and invited all Adriatic countries to the subregional meeting in Zagreb. It was also decided that the Croatian-Italian commission for fisheries should resume meetings. (hina) rml sb