Hi There,

This may be of interest.........from the EFFTA.

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS THE PAN EUROPEAN CORMORANT MANAGEMENT PLAN WITH AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY

One of the most important decisions in European angling history took place on December 4th, 2008 as
the European Parliament decided to support a pan-European Cormorant Management Plan.

EFTTA and the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) are extremely happy with the positive outcome of the plenary voting on MEP Dr. Heinz Kindermann's report "on the adoption of a European Cormorant Management Plan to minimise the increasing impact of cormorants on fish stocks, fishing and aquaculture."

As many as 558 MEPs voted in favour of the report and its resolutions. Only seven MEPs voted against it!

This exceptionally strong backing from the European Parliament puts heavy pressure on the European Commission and the Council of Ministers to put forward the request for a pan-European management plan and all the basic elements needed for the smooth and effective implementation of such a plan.

These elements include more and better data, improved co-ordination between Member States, greater involvement of stakeholders and clarification of some of the legal terms and the terminology in use.

With cormorants causing widespread devastation to fish stocks - and thereby affecting the quality of recreational angling available to anglers in Europe - The 'Kindermann Report' has been supported at every stage by EFTTA.

EFTTA Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Claude Bel, said: "After the Committee on Fisheries gave such an overwhelming vote in favour of the Kindermann Report, we are delighted that the European Parliament understood just how important it is to have a workable management plan for these birds."

Jan Kappel added: "A tremendous amount of work was put into the report which was accepted by the Committee on Fisheries, by all parties.

“We have had to present a very reasoned argument against some strong opposition from the bird lobby - particularly when they have used emotive headlines from European angling magazines as an argument against a European Cormorant Action Plan.

"But we remained confident that there was overwhelming evidence that something needed to be done to find a solution that helped to conserve fish stocks whilst at the same time providing the appropriate levels of protection for cormorants -and we were right as the outcome shows."


Best Regards

robbie

Well this should be interesting to see if it makes a difference,but I very much doubt it having just reapplied for a licence again after 5 years and Im waiting to see the outcome of it.Not holding up much hope though.Having had to send so much information on costs,etc and asked for details of damaged fish,which far from getting into a diving suit and swimming all day with them,you only see the damaged ones when they surface or are caught which can be counted but its not the full picture.
Anyway Ill leave it for now on this one and see the outcome of issue.

__________________
Kevin

This is a very big step forward.watch this space.

Jim

__________________
The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.