The committee approved the report by Mr Heinz KINDERMANN (PSE, D) on the proposal for a
regulation on the management of fishing efforts in the Baltic Sea. The report is based generally
on the Commission proposal, which represents the first step towards full integration of Sweden
and Finland into the common fisheries policy. However, the committee refused to approve
several points. It did not wish fishing activities to be linked to previous fishing rights or for a
status quo with regard to the number of vessels to be set, which it considered represented an
unacceptable limit on fishing efforts. In addition, the Commission proposals risked proving
counter-productive as fishermen would no longer be able to abandon one fishing ground for
another containing a more productive species. Finally, the committee considered that the Baltic
Sea should be seen as a single fishing zone and catches of target species should not be limited to
a single type of gear.
The same type of gear could be used to catch different species; for example, pelagic trawlers
designed to catch herring could be used to catch cod.�