Dutch pulse fishermen have to wait months for clarity about the future of the controversial electric shock fishing method. The European Commission will issue an opinion before the summer of 2021, it was announced on Monday.
That opinion also includes a positive pulse fishing report from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), said a senior official in the European Parliament’s fisheries committee.
At the request of the Dutch government, ICES investigated pulse fishing, which is prohibited in the EU from 1 July 2021. The Board concludes that the pulse technique for flatfish is cleaner and less harmful to the seabed, and leads to less unwanted bycatch than the traditional beam trimming technique.
The report was explained to the fisheries committee by ICES chairman Mark Dickey-Collas on Monday. It was the first time since parliament voted to ban the method last year that the subject was back on the table.
Dickey-Collas said he realized how sensitive the topic is. He stressed the independence of the Council and said that the switch from beam trawl to pulse trawl reduces the adverse impact on ecology and environment in the North Sea.
‘The pulse is great’
“There is now hardly a fishing method that has been researched as well as the pulse”, said MEP and member of the committee Peter van Dalen (ChristenUnie).
“Scientists tell us: the pulse is great. So the European Commission has the ball. It must revert to the pulse when evaluating technical measures and in the run-up to the new common fisheries policy.”
The Hague is challenging the ban at the Court of Justice of the European Union. According to a spokesperson, it is not known when the issue will be raised.
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