Report: EU subsidies fund overfishing

By GRETCHEN MAHAN

BRUSSELS

An international environmental group said Wednesday that European Union subsidies to the fishing industry have worsened overfishing in EU waters.

The EU spends an average of some 54 million euros ($73 million) in annual subsidies meant to stabilize fish stocks and strengthen EU fisheries' competitiveness in foreign markets.

The EU tries to limit fishing by paying fisheries to destroy some of their ships -- but, the group says, fisheries have received more money to build new ships and modernize existing ones than they have to reduce their fleets, giving fishermen the ability to catch even more fish.

"Public moneys have funded overfishing with devastating effects on the marine environment," Pew Environment Group Policy and Research Director Markus Knigge said. "There should not be any more financing for these measures."

The report said ten EU nations received 95 percent of EU fishing subsidies from 2000 to 2006. Spain received the most with 46 percent, and Italy, France, Greece, Denmark, Britain, Portugal, Germany, Poland and Sweden received another 49 percent.

The report said Spain spent over 90 percent of its funds on projects that had a neutral or negative effect on fish such as threatened bluefin tuna. Poland was the only country that spent most of its subsidies on projects that benefited fish populations, the report said.

Some 88 percent of stocks are overfished in EU waters, according to 2009 estimates. The Pew report said at least nine of the EU's key stocks of bluefin tuna, hake and monkfish are in decline because of newly installed nets that let fishermen catch larger numbers of fish.

The EU's fisheries program no longer funds the construction of new ships but continues to fund ship renovations. EU spokesman Johan Reyniers said the EU disagrees with the idea that these projects inherently cause overfishing.

"Support for vessel modernization fosters the use of more selective fishing gear and fishing techniques reducing the negative impact on the environment," he said.

Reyniers said many of the issues in the report have already been addressed in the current fisheries program and the EU will continue to improve its policies to make fishing more sustainable.