Activities of Caroline ROOSE related to 2021/0300M(NLE)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT containing a motion for a non-legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and the Implementing Protocol thereto
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on a motion for a non-legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and of the Implementing Protocol thereto
Amendments (56)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. whereas the EU is a major market for fishmeal and fish oil produced in Mauritania;
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 a (new)
Citation 5 a (new)
— having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 20 October 2021 on a farm to fork strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system (2020/2260(INI)),
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1 a. whereas Mauritania committed in 2017 to reduce and to gradually phase out fishmeal and fish oil production by 2020; whereas, since 2010, the production tripled;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 b (new)
Citation 5 b (new)
— Having regard to the Opinion of the Committee on Development for the Committee on Fisheries 'Toward a sustainable blue economy in the EU: the role of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors' (2021/2188(INI));
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1 b. whereas robust scientific data, efficient monitoring and control systems as well as transparency on catches and fishing licences are necessary for coastal states to determine the available surplus of shared stocks of small pelagic that are currently harvested above scientific limits;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
— having regard to the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries,
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1 c. whereas the Commission’s assessment of the previous protocol called for the establishment of a regional management framework for the exploitation of shared stocks of small pelagic and shared stocks of black hake as it is required following Article 63 of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9
Citation 9
— having regard to the common fisheries policy, and especially to its external dimension,
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Paragraph -1 d (new)
-1 d. whereas shared stocks of small pelagic - on which artisanal fishers rely on for their livelihoods and food security - are overexploited; whereas the demand for those fish is growing with the expansion of foreign-owned fishmeal factories in Mauritania and neighbouring countries, which are putting at risk food security and raising concerns about environmental pollution such as from untreated waste at the local level;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
— having regard to the EU’s commitment to Policy coherence for development enshrined in Article 208 TFEU,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11
Citation 11
— having regard to the Commission’s Ex-ante and Ex-post assessments of the previous agreement and protocol,
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the new direction taken in the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) and their Implementing Protocols, which duly reflect EU priorities and external policy lines; recalls the EU’s commitment to the principle of policy coherence for development and the need for the SFPAs and their implementing protocols to be in line with best scientific advice available, the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; , and the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
— having regard to the Report of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) on the Fisheries Agreement signed between the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and the European Union on 10-12 February 2021,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements must be in line with the best scientific advice available and must neither threaten the small-scale fisheries sector in non-EU countries nor undermine local food security;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recognises the role of the SFPAsat SFPAs can play a role in improving fisheries management, scientific research, data collection, transparency on fishing activities, and enhancing sustainability and good governance in the EU’s partner countries and globally; recalls, in this regard, that SFPAs must neither threaten the small- scale fisheries sector in non-EU countries nor undermine local food security;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas the EU is a major market for fishmeal and fish oil produced in Mauritania;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas robust scientific data, efficient monitoring and control systems as well as transparency on catches and fishing licences are necessary for coastal states to determine the available surplus of shared stocks of small pelagics that are currently harvested above scientific limits;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the Commission’s assessment of the previous protocol called for the establishment of a regional management framework for the exploitation of shared stocks of small pelagics and shared stocks of black hake as is required following Article 63 of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
K a. whereas Mauritania committed in 2017 to reduce and to gradually phase out fishmeal and fish oil production by 2020; whereas, since 2010, the production tripled;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that fishing, notably small scale fisheries, is an important sector for Mauritania’s economy and is essential to the country’s economic development, employment opportunities and food security;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)
Recital K b (new)
K b. whereas shared stocks of small pelagics - on which artisanal fishers rely on for their livelihoods and food security - are overexploited; whereas the demand for those fish is growing with the expansion of foreign-owned fishmeal factories in Mauritania and neighbouring countries, which are putting at risk food security and raising concerns about environmental pollution such as from untreated waste at the local level;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K c (new)
Recital K c (new)
K c. whereas regarding the management of small pelagics, the 2021 Report of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Joint Scientific Committee supported additional measures to reduce fishing effort in the 15 nautical miles fishing zone in Mauritania, such as prohibiting the use of the two sardinella species for producing fish meal, reducing the size of fishing gear of coastal vessels and the introduction of quotas to limit catches of the various fleets operating in the fishing zone;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Underlines that the Partnership must offer guarantees and protect Mauritanian small-scale fishers from unfair competition, including from EU fishers, and must not undermine local communities;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Welcomes the fact that in the new protocol, the reference tonnage for octopus was maintained at zero, in order to reserve octopus for national artisanal fishers which is key for their local development; is worried however that upcoming scientific programmes and/or assessments could open the possibility to revise catch limits of cephalopods; underlines that this fishery should be reserved for artisanal fishers considering its high value added on the artisanal fisheries sector;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Recalls that the EU can contribute to ending overfishing of small pelagic and to ending the situation caused by the negative impacts of fishmeal and fish oil industry in Mauritania on which the EU aquaculture and agriculture industries rely;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Welcomes the requirement in the new protocol for Mauritania to publish a plan for the sustainable management of small pelagic that will apply to all vessels fishing in Mauritanian waters; urges Mauritania, when drafting such a plan, to adopt ambitious measures in line with scientific advice in order to protect those fisheries resources on which local communities rely;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Calls on the EU to step up its efforts by supporting the implementation of a regional management framework for the exploitation of shared stocks of small pelagic, the setup of a regional fisheries management organisation for those stocks and by initiating an international dialogue with concerned countries;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Underlines that the Partnership must offer guaranties and protect Mauritanian small-scale fishers from unfair competition, including from EU fishers, and must not undermine local communities;
Amendment 26 #
4 d. Welcomes the requirements on transparency in the new Protocol regarding the publication for Mauritania of all public and private agreements with foreign vessels in its fishing zone and regarding fishing activities in Mauritania; calls on Mauritania to make this information publicly available and to publish the most recent data as possible in the framework of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI); Expresses concerns that some Fisheries Agreements concluded with third countries were so far not published by Mauritania;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Welcomes the fact that in the new protocol, the reference tonnage for octopus was maintained at zero, in order to reserve octopus for national artisanal fishers which is key for their local development; is worried however that upcoming scientific programmes and/or assessments could open the possibility to revise catch limits of cephalopods; underlines that this fishery should be reserved for artisanal fishers considering its high value added for the artisanal fisheries sector;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the amount allocated to the sectoral support component in the new Protocol; considers that its amount could have been further increased and encourages thits allocation to be used to improve research, surveillance and control of fishing activity and the sustainable development of Mauritania’s small scale fisheries sector; believes that sectoral support should be used to improve scientific data on fish stocks, especially on shared stocks of small pelagic such as sardinella species and horse mackerel, which is key to calculate the surplus; calls on the Joint Committee to promote infrastructure projects that will lead to increased local consumption of fish products and to finance projects benefiting directly to the whole value chain in Mauritanian small-scale fisheries; in addition, calls on the Commission and on Mauritania to proactively publish annual reports on the ways sectoral support is utilised;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Recalls that the EU can contribute to ending overfishing of small pelagics and to ending the situation caused by the negative impacts of fishmeal and fish oil industry in Mauritania on which the EU aquaculture and agriculture industries rely;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3 d. Welcomes the requirement in the new protocol for Mauritania to publish a plan for the sustainable management of small pelagics that will apply to all vessels fishing in Mauritanian waters; urges Mauritania to draw on the conclusions of the 2021 Report of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Joint Scientific Committee when drafting such a plan;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3 e. Expresses concerns however about the potential impacts of expanding the fishing zone for EU trawlers targeting small pelagics by reducing the exclusion zone from 20 to 15 nautical miles; calls on the Commission and Mauritania to follow a strict precautionary approach in regards to modifying the zoning;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3 f. Calls on the EU to step up its efforts by supporting the implementation of a regional management framework for the exploitation of shared stocks of small pelagics, the setup of a regional fisheries management organisation for those stocks and by initiating an international dialogue with concerned countries;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 g (new)
Paragraph 3 g (new)
3 g. Welcomes the publication by Mauritania of the first report to the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), notes that the report is based on information for calendar year 2018, calls on Mauritania to publish more recent data;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Demands that Mauritania inform the Commission on all public or private agreements with foreign vessels in its fishing zone and that this information be included in the annual report to be sent by the Commission to the European Parliament; expresses concerns that, so far, some Fisheries Agreements with third countries were not published by Mauritania;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Welcomes the requirement for Union shipowners of pelagic freezer trawlers and shrimp vessels fishing under the Protocol to contribute to the policy of distributing fish to needy populations, by reserving 2% of their pelagic catches transhipped or landed at the end of a trip for the "Société nationale de distribution de poisson"; notes that local fish consumption is increasing in Mauritania;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Welcomes the requirements in the new Protocol to increase and improve coverage by scientific observers in order to improve data collection;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes the exchange of information required by the Protocol with regard to reports on the activities of foreign fleets and foreign-owned domestic fleets operating in Mauritanian waters; calls on Mauritania to provide full information on all vessels fishing in its waters in a user- friendly format that allows observers to form an overall picture of the total fishing effort, catches per species and status of stocks and calls on Mauritania to make them publicly available; notes that this is a condition for calculating the ‘surplus’ in the spirit of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to ensure that small-scale artisanal fishers and small- scale processors of fish are able to make a living by promoting a sustainable local blue economy, acknowledging the role of women in fish processing by supporting them through projects funded by sectoral support;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Welcomes the employment of qualified Mauritanian seafarers on EU vessels on contract that comply with ILO standards and include social cover; welcomes projects funded by EU development aid in Mauritania such as “Promopeche” which aims at creating jobs and training young people in the field of artisanal fisheries;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Expresses concerns regarding the practice of reflagging in Mauritanian waters in particular and in the region in general;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Notes that the Ex-post evaluation of the previous protocol concludes that overall, Mauritania and the EU captured a similar share of value added of around 40-45% each; but that it states, however, that the value added induced for Mauritania by the activities of EU vessels is relatively low in the absence of economic interactions on land; in this regards calls on the EU to explore ways to improve this aspect under the new protocol;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Highlights the need to work to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing to ensure that fish stocks are maintained at sustainable levels.; expresses concerns regarding the practice of reflagging in Mauritanian waters in particular and in the region in general;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Welcomes sectoral support under axes 6 and 7; calls on the Joint Committee to promote infrastructure projects that will lead to increased local consumption of fish products and to finance projects benefiting directly to the whole value chain in Mauritanian small- scale fisheries;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Stresses the need to limit the use of flags of convenience and reflagging and to address trans-shipment at sea, as these are important tools for closing IUU loopholes;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Expresses concerns about reported human rights abuses such as human trafficking and forced labour on fishing vessels conducting illegal fishing activities in West Africa;
Amendment 47 #
11. Points out that there is a need for better data collection on stocks in Mauritanian waters and that the agreement must be based on the best available scientific advice; believes that sectoral support should be used to improve scientific data on fish stocks, especially on shared stocks of small pelagics such as sardinella species and horse mackerel, on control and surveillance activities and to help artisanal fisheries;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8 c. Calls on the European Commission in regards to article 21 of the Agreement and article 14 of the new implementing protocol, to pay specific attention to human rights in Mauritania including in the fisheries sector; warns that, while being officially illegal in Mauritania, the practice of slavery persists in the country and was condemned at several occasions in previous years by the European Parliament;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the fact that the new protocol allows an adjustment of the EU’s financial contribution and of fishing opportunities in its third year of application; urgescalls on the Commission to make use of this flexibility if necessary;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Welcomes the increase of fees paid by ship owners compared to the last protocol; calls on the Commission to further increase the share of the total cost of SFPAs that is paid by ship owners by increasing the fee per tonne of fish caught, with the aim of reducing the share of access rights that is paid for from the EU budget;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14 b. Welcomes the requirement for Union shipowners of pelagic freezer trawlers and shrimp vessels fishing under the Protocol to contribute to the policy of distributing fish to needy populations, by reserving 2% of their pelagic catches transhipped or landed at the end of a trip for the "Société nationale de distribution de poisson"; notes that local fish consumption is increasing in Mauritania;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Calls on the European Commission in regards to article 21 of the Agreement and article 14 of the new implementing Protocol, to pay specific attention to human rights in Mauritania including in the fisheries sector; warns that, while being officially illegal in Mauritania, the practice of slavery persists in the country and was condemned on several occasions in previous years by the European Parliament;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Welcomes projects funded by EU development aid in Mauritania such as “Promopeche” which aims at creating jobs and training young people in the field of artisanal fisheries; calls on the Commission to improve synergies and coherence between the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals;