Finistere Presents Pathbreaking Pact To Save Fisheries

摘要

A new approach to saving fisheries and all the human activities that go with it in a given area has been developed and was presented, on 10 February in Brussels. The 'territorial pact' was presented by the French department of Finistere (850,000 inhabitants), located in the western tip of Brittany. Several European Commission representatives (DG MARE) spontaneously confirmed the usefulness of the initiative in three regards: first, the pact represents "a new way" of "forcing all the economic and institutional players to work together," they noted; second, it "heads in the right direction," namely that of an "integrated maritime policy" (economic viability, environmental protection, preservation of fishery resources and spatial planning) encouraged by the green paper of June 2006; and third, "unlike other initiatives in Europe, which barely mention fishermen," Finistere's initiative is grounded wholly in the fisheries sector. In short, for its champions and for many observers, the pact could serve as a European laboratory at a time when the European Union member states are analysing the future of the Common Fisheries Policy in the run-up to its reform in 2012.