EU Caps Trawler Aid For Tsunami States
Date: 01-Mar-05
Country: BELGIUM
EU fisheries ministers said only small boats -- under 12 metres in length -- between five and 20 years old would be sent to Indian Ocean states to help them rebuild their fishing industries shattered by the Dec. 26 killer wave.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has criticised the aid, saying European trawlers are too big for the Indian Ocean where many Thai, Indonesian and Sri Lankan fishermen work on their own in small boats under five metres in length.
But the European Commission, author of the plan, said trawlers would only be donated if the United Nations said they were needed and the Indian Ocean states requested them.
"Not (a) single vessel is going there which is too old, too big," said Commission fisheries spokeswoman Mireille Thom.
The EU could send up to 350 boats to the Indian Ocean, based on the average number of boats meeting the tsunami aid criteria scrapped per year in the bloc, she added.
But WWF urged the EU to help revive the domestic boat making industry in the region instead of donating its old trawlers.
"We urge the EU institutions to ensure that this will not harm the local communities nor increase pressure on the region's marine resources," said Gilly Llewellyn of WWF's Asia Pacific Marine Programme in a statement earlier this month.
EU fishermen receive aid when they destroy their boat to get rid of over-capacity in Europe due to dwindling fish stocks.
They will receive the EU subsidy when they donate their boat to ravaged Indian Ocean states, plus an extra 20 percent premium to transport the trawler to Asia and make it seaworthy.
The 25-nation bloc has pledged 1.5 billion euros to the tsunami-hit states and backed calls for debt relief. It is also speeding up trade breaks for the worst-affected countries.