2FISHERY
Introduction
The EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) aims to maintain fish stocks and diversity in the seas. However, this policy takes economic and trade interests too greatly into account. The Party for the Animals has identified three major problems: the capture and killing methods, over-fishing and the rise of animal-unfriendly intensive fish farms.
Capture and killing methods
Catching fish involves the animals suffering serious injuries, pain and stress. Many fish are crushed to death or injured in the large nets. They are faced with a long-drawn-out death-struggle in driftnets.
The killing methods for fish are also characterised by brutality and protractedness. It is therefore necessary to develop regulations for killing fish. Contrary to popular belief, a fish does not die quickly when it is taken out of water. For example, herring will only suffocate to death after 35 minutes; cod and whiting take some 60 minutes to die. Many fish are ‘skinned’. This entails the fish being cut open while it is alive and the organs and blood being removed. Yet this does not kill the fish right away. Plaice and flounder, for example, hold out for a maximum of 50 minutes. The eel industry still uses a killing method, which involves salt being strewn over the fish’s skin to remove the slime from its body. Eels make protracted swimming movements in order to evade the salt; the effect of the salt on the eel’s skin is comparable to human skin being burned. Moreover, the salt also damages the gills. When the eel finally stops moving, it is conscious but still not dead. Nonetheless, its organs are still removed.
At present, alternative killing methods that have been proved to be more animal-friendly are hardly used. Unfortunately, both the fishery sector and the Dutch government have shown little interest in this problem. This must change.
Measures
| 2.1 | The Dutch government and the EU should actively work towards the development of alternative killing methods for eels and saltwater fish. Alternatives that have been developed, such as death by electrocution, should be subject to certification. |
| 2.2 | Allowing eels to die in salt baths should be forbidden. |
| 2.3 | The use of driftnets in Dutch waters should be banned. |
| 2.4 | The use of dragnets in deep sea water should be prohibited. |
| 2.5 | The size of fishing nets should be drastically reduced. |
| 2.6 | Trawling fishery should be banned. |
| 2.7 | The EU should require adapted nets and sonar systems to prevent dolphins, whales and seals becoming entangled in fishing nets. |
Fish farms
Fish on fish farms are treated in an animal-unfriendly fashion. The fish are stocked at high densities, they are given hormones and are manipulated in a variety of ways to promote reproduction and growth. A new factory fish farming industry has emerged, without much publicity, which is strongly supported by European governments. Fish farming does not provide a solution to over-fishing in the seas, because many farmed fish are exclusively or predominantly feed with (products from) saltwater fish. Fish farms thus pose an extra risk to saltwater fish stocks.
Measures
| 2.8 | Fish on fish farms should be kept according to their nature and behaviour. Ethological research is necessary in this regard. |
| 2.9 | The expansion of fish farms should be prohibited until fundamental research has led to more animal-friendly and ecologically responsible forms of fish breeding. |
| 2.10 | Governmental financial support for fish farms should be discontinued. |
Over-fishing
The EU has attempted to restrict the numbers of fish caught annually by awarding quota to member states. The fisheries lobby is strong and commercial interests play a major role in determining the quota. Despite warnings from independent scientists, the quotas are, therefore, set too high, which means that an irresponsibly high number of fish are caught. Furthermore, there is a booming trade in fish quotas between the European member states, which also strongly hinders an effective reduction in catches. In both the short and long-term, fish species are threatened with extinction and fish-eating birds and mammals will also run into difficulties. In addition, there are limited checks on the quotas, which means that more fish are caught than is actually permitted.
Measures
| 2.11 | Stricter controls on fishing quotas are necessary to protect fish species from extinction. The European Commission must have its own inspectors and satellite techniques to be able to tackle illegal catches. In this regard, a collective European Marine and Air Force Service can be envisaged that gives priority to and carries out these inspections efficiently. |
| 2.12 | Small-scale seasonal and coastal fisheries should be given precedence over industrial fishery in international agreements pertaining to the management of seas and oceans. |
| 2.13 | It should be seen to that Dutch fishing boats do not catch and remove the fish stocks of other countries to such an extent that the local population experiences serious problems as a result. |
A responsible ‘green’ fishery sector prevents over-fishing, leads to minimal by-catch, does not damage the sea environment and employs exclusively animal-friendly capture and killing methods. The government should stimulate the development of such a green fishery sector. Fishing quotas should be drastically reduced to allow the fish stocks to recover.
Pulverisation of fish in pumping and power stations
Each year, millions of fish are pulverized in the screw pumps and turbine blades of around 3000 pumping stations and dozens of electricity generating stations.
Measures
| 2.14 | 2.14 Fish barriers should be built, using sound and light, in combination with fish conduit systems that allow the fish to avoid the screw pumps and turbine blades. |