Activities of Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA related to 2020/0002M(NLE)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT containing a motion for a non-legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Seychelles and its implementing protocol (2020-2026)
Amendments (24)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the overall aim of the EU- Seychelles SFPA is to promote sustainable fishing and to define the rules that govern access for Union fishing vessels to the fishing zone of Seychelles, granting access to the appropriate share of the surplus of living marine resources;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas fishing, including tuna fishing by EU vessels under the agreement, is an important sector for the Seychelles economy, being essential to the country’s economic development and its food securityjob creation, and whereas healthysustainable stocks are key to its long-term stability;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the SFPA should continue to contribute to the sustainable development of the Seychelles fisheries sector, with the aim of ensuring long-term food security and food sovereignty for the Seychelles population;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas EU tuna vessels operating under the agreement in the period between 2014 and 2017 landed approximately 22% of their regional tuna catch at the Indian Ocean tuna cannery (at the international market price);
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas evidence has come to light that some of, according to the ex-post report, the sectoral support provided under the previous EU-Seychelles fisheries partnership agreement has been used to fund infrastructure that benefits the non- domestic fleet rather than the local fisheries sector, for example the commercial harbourhelped improve small-scale fishery infrastructure, manage the Ile du Port tuna quay project, strengthen the observer programme, re- start a national aquaculture development programme, develop capacity-building of staff and upgrade the VMS System and the Fisheries Monitoring Centre;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that the EU-Seychelles SFPA, while providing fishing opportunities for EU vessels, should ensure that the fishing activity of the EU fleet adheres to sustainability and environmental protection objectives and does not harm marine biodiversity, meaning that EU vessels should only fish surplus, as calculated on the basis of the best available scientific knowledge and adviis a sustainable and responsible fisheries agreement that grants EU vessels an appropriate share of the surplus of living marine resources, as well as providing scientific cooperation and use of the best available scientific advice via which the parties will exchange the biological conservation and environmental statistics required to manage and conserve living marine resources;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the SFPA ishould be fully in line with and contributes to conservation and management measures taken by the regional organisations to which the Republic of Seychelles belongs, notablyand is committed to the resolutions and recommendations of the IOTC;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Regrets the fact thatCalls for the Seychelles fisheries sector, including its artisanal component, has noto been involved throughout the negotiations; Calls for it to be included immediately with a view to ensuring that its interests and the development of the Seychelles fisheries sector are not undermined by the EU- Seychelles SFPAformed of the content and implementation of the agreement, thus improving dialogue between the parties, ensuring full adherence to the EU- Seychelles SFPA, promoting its development and ensuring there is no disruption to traditional local fishing activities;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. DeploresTakes note of the fact that the Protocol to the EU-Seychelles SFPA will allow for an increase in fishing capacity, with a stable number of authorised purse seiners and an increased number of longliners, despite the low utilisation rate of capacityfact that not all the opportunities provided under the previous agreement were used, despite scientific recommendations to reduce the catch of yellowfin tuna, and despite calls from the Seychelles fishers’ union to reduce fishing effort in the region;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for the implementation of the measures recommended by the IOTC, particularly those concerning the restoration of yellowfin tuna stocks; urges the Commission to take additional emergency measuresthe necessary measures within the legal framework to stop the overfishing of yellowfin tuna by the EU fleet;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Welcomes the fact that the protocol requirement for EU tuna seiners to undertake to supply tuna canning plants and/or the Seychelles local processing industry has been met;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the introduction of measures to limit the number of support vessels and the usefact that the protocol states that, in order to reduce the impact of Ffish Aaggregating Ddevices (FADs), which have a negative impact on juveniles; considers, however, that these measures are not sufficient to limit the negative impact of FADs on biodiversity and marine litter on the ecosystem, and the amount of synthetic marine waste, EU vessels are to use FADs made of natural or biodegradable materials which can be recovered in Seychelles waters when they are no longer operational, in accordance with the provisions laid down in Seychelles legislation;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Welcomes the fact that, for the purposes of environmental management and the observation of marine ecosystems, the Seychelles authorities are envisaging the establishment of a specific fund to which the owners of EU purse seiners will contribute;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the establishment of marine protected areas by Seychelles in its waters over recent years; expresses concern with regard to their management and warns of the negative effects that activities such as oil exploration and exploitation could have in these protected areas;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Stresses that the collection of accurate and reliable data, as well as effective monitoring and controls, is key to ensuring healthysustainable fish stocks in the long term, and that the EU-Seychelles SFPA must reinforce cooperation in these fields; welcomes the possibility of carrying out risk-based joint inspection programmes on EU vessels, monitoring, control and surveillance programmes, and of guaranteeing a shift towards an electronic catch-reporting system following the agreement in the Joint Committee;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the introduction of an obligation for the Seychelles Government to publish all fisheries agreements signed by Seychellescommitment made by the Seychelles Government to make public and exchange information on any agreement authorising foreign vessels to fish in its fishing zone and on the resulting fishing effort, in particular data on fishing authorisations issued and catches declared, bearing in mind that fleets from south-east Asia are currently fishing under an unpublished agreement;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Warmly welcomes the Seychelles authorities’ undertaking not to agree to conditions more favourable than those set out in the agreement for other foreign fleets fishing in the Seychelles fishing zone that have the same characteristics and capture the same species as those covered by this agreement and its implementing protocol;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Invites the Commission to look into twhe question of reflagging of EU vessels that seek to bypass rules regarding taxation, fishing quotas or transparency, while still being owned by EU citizens or companies, including by promoting a mandatory IMO number that would be attachedther EU vessels are correctly implementing the provision concerning the attachment of a mandatory IMO number to a vessel for its whole lifetime;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses that sectoral support should be targeted more precisely so as to finance only those mehas been positive thus far asu res that actually help the local fishing sector to develop and contribute to efficient fisheries management, crew safety training and the improvement of Mgards infrastructure, capacity-building and fisheries management and conservation, as pointed out in the ex-post report; stresses that efforts must be made to press ahead with crew safety training, improving monitoring, Ccontrol and Ssurveillance (MCS), and training for women and young people; calls for the publication of the detailed list of projects being funded by the sectoral support provided under this SFPA, thus making it possible to raise the profile of such actions, also calls for the introduction of a budget to make sure that the outcomes of the programme are communicated;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Welcomes the fact that the parties have undertaken to promote economic, trade, scientific and technical cooperation in the fisheries sector and in activities relating thereto, and to encourage human and institutional capacity-building in the fisheries sector to improve skills development and enhance training capacities so as to contribute to sustainable fishing activities in Seychelles and the development of the blue economy;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Commission to furtherEmphasises the fact that there has been an increase in 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 reduc ing the share of access rights that is paid for from the EU budgeix-year duration of the agreement;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Draws the attention of the Commission and the Council to the fact that persistently proceeding with the provisional application of international agreements before Parliament has given its consent is not compatible with the guiding principles of the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making, and that this practice damages the democratic credentials of the EU as a whole and calls, therefore, for the procedure to be improved;