ENVIRONMENTAL groups, Oceana and MarViva welcomed yesterday’s judgment by the EU Court of Justice which found Italy in breach of EU law for continuing to use driftnets, a fishing gear banned since 2002. Driftnets are a serious threat to the conservation of endangered species in the Mediterranean.
This case was finally taken to the Court in August 2008, after years of lengthy legal proceedings started by the European Commission against Italy, for, inter alia: insufficient and weak controls on land and too few controls at sea.
According to Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana Europe: “The judgment is an important milestone in the elimination of driftnets from the Mediterranean. At last we may be moving towards the end of this illegal fishing gear, seven years after the EU banned their use. Let’s hope that this ruling finally shifts the direction the Italian Government has taken over the past years and now they will move towards their removal from the fleet.”