LETTER TO ITALIAN OFFICIAL ON DRIFTNETS

UNCLAS ROME 002001

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

STATE FOR OES/O BALTON AND OES/OMC TINKHAM
STATE ALSO FOR EUR/WE, COMMERCE FOR NOAA/NMFS/IA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIS SENV PHSA ETRD IT FAO
SUBJECT: LETTER TO ITALIAN OFFICIAL ON DRIFTNETS

REF: A) STATE 100593 (NOTAL) B) ROME 1174 (NOTAL)

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On June 7, Emboffs delivered letter in
ref (A) to Paolo Scarpa Bonazza Buora, the Italian Under
Secretary of Agriculture responsible for Fisheries. Scarpa

SIPDIS
emphasized that as of 2002, the GOI had "solved and
stopped" the driftnet problem, and strongly opposed any
illegal activities still going on. Scarpa asked his
subordinates to explain the technical content of an April
ministerial decree that was recently struck down by the TAR
(Administrative court). He asserted that NGOs that had
brought suit against the government's decree had
"misunderstood" it. In response to a request in OES/O DAS
Balton's letter, he instructed his subordinates to provide
Emboffs with data on 2004 enforcement activities as soon as
possible. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) On June 7, Minister-Counselor for Agricultural
Affairs and Counselor for EST Affairs delivered reftel (A)
letter from OES/O DAS David Balton to Paolo Scarpa Bonazza
Buora, the Italian Under Secretary of Agriculture
responsible for fisheries. Elisabetta Giannoccari
(Fisheries Deputy Director) and Claudio Teso from Scarpa's
office, also attended the meeting. Scarpa Bonazza
emphasized that he was very familiar with the driftnet
problem and confirmed that he was the person in his
Department responsible for the issue. The U/S underlined
that as of 2002, the GOI had "solved and stopped" the
driftnet problem, and strongly opposed the "still-present
but impossible-to-eradicate" illegal activities. Scarpa
also mentioned that the GOI is working with the General
Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) to ban
the use of driftnets in the Mediterranean by non-EU
countries. He noted that the GOI condemns the fact that
driftnets are still allowed - until 2008 - in the Baltic
Sea.


3. (U) Scarpa discussed the GOI's April decree (see
paragraph 4),and noted that several NGOs opposed it. He
confirmed that on June 2, the administrative court of the
Lazio Region (TAR) suspended the decree until June 20,
pending a final decision. Scarpa instructed Giannoccari to
provide the Embassy with the 2004 (and 2005) enforcement
data requested in the Department's letter by June 15.
COMMENT: Since Port Captaincies no longer collect
driftnet-only enforcement statistics, we believe it will
take longer for the Embassy to receive the data. END
COMMENT.


4. (SBU) Giannoccari explained the technical content of
the April 2005 decree signed by Scarpa and strongly opposed
by the NGOs. Giannoccari emphasized that the ministerial
decree was not/not related to driftnets, but just to
gillnets, which are still allowed by the EU and differ from
driftnets because they are anchored. The decree provided
for the use of a new gillnet, which is "only slightly
different" from the usual one, since it is "as high as 20
meters instead of 4 meters". Moreover, this net can be
used beyond the 3 miles - but within the 12 miles
territorial zone - and only around the Italian "smaller
islands" during the period of April 15 - July 31, 2005.
The extension to 12 miles instead of 3 was justified by the
fact that it is impossible to catch pelagic fish very close
to the coasts, because there is too much summer tourist
boat traffic. COMMENT: At the end of the meeting, Scarpa
tried to justify the decree, stating that the fishermen in
these small islands are the ones who have traditionally
used driftnets, and now that the EU has banned them, they
feel they are disadvantaged when they see boats from non-EU
countries (e.g. Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria) using them in
the nearby international waters. END COMMENT.


5. (SBU) COMMENT: The "catch" in the April decree is that
it is practically impossible to anchor the gillnets in deep
waters, such as those around the Italian small islands of
volcanic origin. Thus the gillnets, at 5-kilometers long

and 20-meters high, bear a strong resemblance to illegal
driftnets. It is also important to note that the gillnets
were authorized in national waters only. We believe that
the suspension of the ministerial decree by the TAR - and
hopefully a final decision to reject it - should make
enforcement easier. END COMMENT.


6. (U) On June 4 and 5, a few days after the court
suspended the decree, the local Sicilian press reported
enforcement actions by the Customs Police against illegal
driftnets. One account mentioned that the police caught a
boat near the Eolic Islands, seized the net, administered a
1000-euro fine, and reported the boat's owner to the
magistrates for committing fraud against both the GOI and
the EU. The article did not mention if the incident
occurred in international waters or not.

SEMBLER


NNNN
2005ROME02001 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED