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EU May Send Old Fishing Boats to Tsunami States |
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| BELGIUM: January 13, 2005 | ||
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BRUSSELS - The European Union may send old or redundant fishing boats to tsunami-hit Asian states, to replace vessels wrecked by the killer wave, the European Commission's president said on Wednesday.
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The EU scraps trawlers every year, but instead of destroying the boats European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said they could be given to the coastal Indian Ocean states ravaged by the Dec. 26 wave, which wiped out the fishing industry. "We have all seen pictures of boats wrecked by the tsunami and our own fishing industry is about to destroy boats from its own fleet in line with fishery limits," Barroso told a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. "My services are currently exploring whether vessels are available, what state of repair they are in and if they meet the needs of the fishing communities in the tsunami-affected areas." The 25-nation bloc has pledged 1.5 billion euros to the tsunami-hit states and backed calls for debt relief. It is also seeking to give the worst-affected states trade breaks.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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