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FISHERMEN, environmentalists, scientists and consumers are being urged to attend a joint Cod Symposium to give their views on the Cod Recovery Programme.
The Symposium on Cod Recovery is being organised jointly by both the North Sea and North Western Waters Regional Advisory Councils to feed into the review of the Cod recovery programme. In many ways it is the first of its kind as it is being driven from the bottom up by all the stakeholders.
It will be held on March 9 and 10 in Edinburgh, Scotland and speakers from the EU Commission, environmental sector, fishing industry representatives and fisheries scientists are lining up for crunch talks. Issues such as the causes of the cod decline in the North Eastern Atlantic; the success or failure of management measures to date; whether cod recovery is really possible, will be openly discussed. However the symposium also needs the stakeholders.
Sam Lambourn, Chairman of the North Western Waters RAC said:"It is imperative that the fishermen, scientists, and environmentalists come to this meeting and speak up. They are the ones working in this area day in and day out and need to share their knowledge and experiences of the cod recovery programme.
"It is planned that this symposium will look at the cod recovery programme on a region by region basis, so that stakeholders who are knowledgeable on a specific area can consider the impact of the recovery programme on their area in particular. Small working group meetings will be set up to promote discussion and it is hoped that these working groups will allow as many stakeholders as possible to be fully engaged in the meeting, to discuss openly and honestly what things have not worked in the past, what should be done in the future and finally to come up with a practical way forward on how we should all appropriately manage these fisheries."
Hugo Andersson Chairman of the North Sea RAC said the symposium is very timely as at the recent TAC and quota negotiations in December the Council of Ministers recognised the urgent need to review the Cod recovery programme over 2007.
" The best way that stakeholders can influence this process is by attending this symposium and having their say, furthermore the symposium is being held on a Friday and Saturday so that it will not impinge too much on fishing."
The Symposium will be held in North Queensferry, Edinburgh and is planned for Friday and Saturday, March 9 and 10 .
Anyone who wishes to attend should contact the Secretariat of the North Sea RAC at ann.bell@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
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