US embassy cable - 03ROME3484

UNCLAS  ROME 003484 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
RULSJGA  Commandant, US Coast Guard 
RUCOCGA Commandant, Atlantic Area US Coast Guard 
RUCPDC Commerce/NOAA/NMFS Enforcement, Sustainable Fisheries 
 
DEPT FOR OES FOR ACTING DAS BALTON; OMC FOR TINKHAM, WARNER- 
KRAMER, PLE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE 
 
COMMERCE FOR NOAA/NMFS/IA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIS, SENV, PHSA, ETRD, IT, EUN 
SUBJECT: Progress Report on Ending the Italian Driftnet 
Fishery 
 
REFS:  A) STATE 210780  B) 2002 ROME 5662 
 
1.  Summary:  On 25 July 2003, Department and Embassy Rome 
officers met with Italian Department of Fisheries Deputy 
Director Plinio Conte to discuss Italy's implementation of 
the 1999 US-Italy driftnet agreement.  It appears that Italy 
has made significant progress towards ending the use of 
large-scale, high seas driftnets.  Embassy Rome will forward 
documents provided during the meeting to the Department. 
End summary. 
 
2.  On July 25, as requested by ref A, EST section arranged 
a meeting for OES/OMC officer Stetson Tinkham with 
appropriate Italian fisheries officials.  Tinkham opened the 
meeting with a brief statement of USG concerns that a lack 
of reporting by Italy on how it was fulfilling the terms of 
our 1999 bilateral agreement might cause the driftnet issue 
to become an irritant in our bilateral relationship once 
again. 
 
3.  Italian officials (list in para 6 below) led by 
Fisheries Deputy Director Plinio Conte then described a 
series of steps that they had taken to bring driftnet 
fishing to an end.  These include: 
 
--Enacting new legislation that requires "compulsory 
dismissal or conversion" (boats could be scrapped or convert 
to another gear type) of the driftnet fishing licenses of 
the last 89 licensed actively fishing Italian driftnet 
vessels.  The legislation entered into force on December 
2002 and allocated a total of 5 million Euro (equally 
distributed between compensations to boat owners and to crew 
members), including funds provided by the Sicily and 
Calabria regional governments. 
 
--Identifying crew members and vessel owners who would be 
compensated under the retirement scheme.  They noted that 
each valid crew member (about 320) would receive 7,500 Euro 
in compensation, even if they convert to another type of 
fishing.  Note:  According to the law, the compensation for 
the owners, who decide to convert to another type of 
fishing, will vary from 9,861 to 60,333 Euro depending on 
vessel tonnage.  If the owners decide to be compensated for 
scrapping these vessels, the compensation (which will also 
include EU funds) will be much higher, varying from 75,000 
to 353,560 Euro for the same-size vessels.  Italian 
officials told us that "many" owners would apply for the 
scrapping.  End note. 
 
--Canceling the driftnet portions of the fishing licenses of 
all of the 89 remaining vessels. 
 
--Deleting the names of these vessels from the EU vessel 
registry, which contains a unique registry number for each 
vessel. 
 
--Seizing and sealing the nets from all 89 vessels. 
According to the law, the driftnets can be "recycled or 
transformed" and the owners keep the profits of these 
operations. 
 
--Receiving European Commission approval for their 
compensation plan in February 2003.  Part of the 
Commission's review included a finding that the buyback 
funds were not a "market-distorting measure."  Note: 
according to the text of the EU approval, the GOI 
compensation to convert is considered "reasonable", since 
the owners would receive only 15 pct and the crew only 50 
pct of the EU compensation for definitive retirement (as 
mentioned above).  End note. 
 
--Seeking to initiate a uniform sanction scheme among all EU 
 
 
member states in order to reduce disparities in the level of 
sanctions applied for fisheries violations.  Fisheries 
International Affairs Giannella mentioned that the Council 
will establish a catalogue of sanctions to be applied by 
Member States for serious infringements.  Comment:  this is 
a complicated matter because the Justice system is within 
the competency of member states.  End of comment.  Giannella 
also mentioned the idea of establishing a EU Joint 
Inspection Structure at Community level, pooling national 
and EU monitoring and inspection resources for more 
effective implementation of control across the EU. 
Regarding enforcement, Giannella pointed out that non-EU 
(e.g. Malta and Cyprus) and North-African fishermen are 
still allowed to use driftnets.  For this reason, the EU 
will try to transform its driftnet ban into a Mediterranean- 
wide ban, using the instrument of the General Fisheries 
Council for the Mediterranean (GFCM).  According to 
Giannella, Italy insists on the need of a comprehensive 
approach by the EU of Med fisheries issues.  For this 
reason, the GOI has organized the Euro-Mediterranean 
Conference on Fisheries and Agriculture that will take place 
in Venice on November 25-27, 2003. 
 
--Considering the use of marine reserves and marine 
sanctuaries to protect spawning and nursery areas for marine 
species. 
 
4.  Italian officials were not aware of recent NGO reports 
of driftnet fishing out of ports on the island of Ischia, 
but suggested that there will always be some who try to 
break the rules.  They then provided copies of several 
documents that will be forwarded to the Department 
(OES/OMC).  These include:  the July 2002 law establishing 
the mandatory end of driftnet fishing; a summary of driftnet 
enforcement activities for 2002 (through October, the end of 
the fishing season); and related documents.  Note:  2002 
driftnet enforcement data were already known to us (ref. B). 
In summary, Port Authorities dedicated 15,101 hours and 
93,614 nautical miles to driftnet monitoring in the 2002 
season.  During their monitoring activity, they caught and 
seized the nets of 9 illegal driftnet vessels in Palermo, 44 
in Calabria, 19 in Catania, 12 in Bari, 2 in Naples, and 17 
in Sardinia.  End note. 
 
5.  GOI officials promised to provide information about 
seized or surrendered driftnets recycling and a summary of 
driftnet enforcement efforts for 2003 later in the year. 
 
6.  A list of participants in the meeting follows: 
 
U.S. - Stetson Tinkham (OES/OMC); Federica Signoretti 
(Science Office, Embassy Rome). 
 
Italy - Plinio Conte (Fisheries Deputy Director); Comm. 
Pietro Verna (head of National Center for Fishery Control 
and Operations); Pasquale Giannella (International Affairs 
director); Giovanni Granato (EU Funds Director); and Felice 
Mazzeo (Fishery Regulations Director). 
 
7.    This cable has been cleared by OES/OMS Stetson Tinkam. 
 
Dwyer 
 
 
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 2003ROME03484 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED