Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ZAGREB1504
2006-12-21 10:26:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Zagreb
Cable title:  

CROATIA VOTES TO ACTIVATE ADRIATIC FISHING ZONE IN 2008

Tags:  ECON EFIS ECIN HR 
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DE RUEHVB #1504/01 3551026
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211026Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7075
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 001504 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR/SCE BALIAN AND RIEHL
BUDAPEST FOR ESTH HUB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIS ECIN HR
SUBJECT: CROATIA VOTES TO ACTIVATE ADRIATIC FISHING ZONE IN 2008

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 001504

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR/SCE BALIAN AND RIEHL
BUDAPEST FOR ESTH HUB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIS ECIN HR
SUBJECT: CROATIA VOTES TO ACTIVATE ADRIATIC FISHING ZONE IN 2008


1. (SBU) Summary: Amid no small amount of political posturing, the
Croatian parliament voted to activate Croatia's self-declared
Protected Ecological and Fishing Zone (ZERP) in the Adriatic as of
January 1, 2008. The ZERP, first enacted prior to the last round of
parliamentary elections in 2003, has never been activated as a
result of EU opposition, led by Italy and Slovenia and Croatia's
fear that its accession negotiations could be harmed as a result.
The intent of the ZERP is to extend regulations on sizes and seasons
of catches that currently apply only to Croatia's small domestic
fishing fleet to foreign-flagged vessels fishing within Croatia's
Adriatic Exclusive Economic Zone. In the December 15 vote,
opposition parties took maximum advantage to force the Government's
hand in advance of next year's elections. However, the activation
of the zone in 2008 is anything but certain. Not only are Italy and
Slovenia likely to continue their opposition, but Croatia does not
have the capacity for enforcement over such a large area of open
sea. End Summary.

History of the ZERP
--------------

2. (SBU) In 2003, just prior to the last round of parliamentary
elections, the Croatian parliament passed a law declaring the
creation of a Protected Ecological and Fishing Zone (ZERP) in the
area of the Adriatic between the outer edge of Croatia's territorial
waters and the midpoint of the Adriatic where Croatia's Exclusive
Economic Zone meets Italy's. The creation of the ZERP, long sought
by Croatia's fishing industry, provoked a quick reaction from Italy,
whose large, subsidized fishing fleet regularly trawls the waters of
the Croatian half of the Adriatic. With EU membership negotiations
still hanging in the balance, the new government that came to power
in December of 2003 quickly moved to exempt EU member state
countries from the ZERP.


3. (SBU) Croatia's fishing industry is small, old and at a decided
disadvantage in the competition for diminishing Adriatic fish
stocks. In calling for the ZERP, Croatian fishermen hoped that
imposing more stringent restrictions on Italian vessels would help
bolster their position and preserve Croatia's natural heritage from

Italy's rapacious, industrial fishing fleet. These restrictions
include limits on size, quantity, fishing seasons and vessel size
and horsepower. Croatians who follow this issue are quick to point
out the fact that the Italian side of the Adriatic is virtually
devoid of marine life after years of over-fishing. However, when
the new Government decided in 2004 not to extend the ZERP to EU
member states, the result was that the new rules applied only to the
Croatian fleet and Italian boats continued to fish on the Croatian
side of the Adriatic without any restrictions. This has led to
charges of "discrimination" against Croatian fishermen that found
new political traction with the 2007 elections already in sight.

Italians Fishing Off Croatia's Pier
--------------

4. (SBU) Relations with Italy, a former colonial power on Croatia's
Dalmatian coast, are always delicate. Opinion among Croatian
fishermen, politicians and environmentalists is that Italian fishing
practices are destroying the Adriatic ecosystem. Assistant Minister
for Fisheries Ivan Katavic told us recently that Italy's subsidized
fleet is many times larger than Croatia's and, in fact, has
significant over-capacity. Italian boats regularly fish on the
Croatian side of the Adriatic and even enter Croatia's territorial
waters, which include some of the few places with still plentiful
stocks. According to Katavic, the Italians do not follow Croatian
regulations on the size or quantity of fish caught, as there is a
substantial Italian domestic market for gourmet delicacies made of
small, juvenile fish.


5. (SBU) Croatian police periodically detain Italian fishermen, but
as Katavic told us, the Italians have developed the incursions to an
art form, allowing only decrepit decoy vessels to be caught while
the more modern vessels get away with the catch. Croatia, which has
no coast guard, also has few resources with which to patrol
thousands of kilometers of coastline.

GOC Between a Rock and the EU
--------------

6. (SBU) Having begun negotiations for EU membership in October
2005, the GOC is loath to do anything that could slow what is its
single most important foreign policy goal. As the Croatian
government took the issue up this month, reaction from the European
Commission was that Zagreb should refrain from "unilateral" and
"non-neighborly" acts. Croatian PM Sanader, already feeling
significant pressure over the issue, accused the resident EU
ambassador of being misinformed and overstepping his mandate.


7. (SBU) EU pressure on Croatia over the ZERP comes from Italy and,
to a lesser degree, Slovenia, both of which have also declared
protected areas in the Adriatic. Slovenia's self-declared zone even
extends into Croatian territorial waters, part of the on-going
contretemps between the two countries over their maritime boundary.

ZAGREB 00001504 002 OF 002


However, with Slovenia set to become the first 2004 accession
country to take over the EU presidency in 2008, the stakes for
Zagreb are high.


8. (SBU) The Government managed to beat back opposition calls for
the immediate activation of the ZERP, delaying its application to EU
member states until January 1, 2008. With this, Sanader has
succeeded in neutralizing the issue for the 2007 elections, but the
larger question of relations with Italy and Slovenia and, therefore,
the EU still looms. Whether Croatia will risk further friction with
Brussels over this issue is unclear, since the measures will likely
only be temporary. Once Croatia does join the EU, Croatia's waters
will become EU waters and fisheries management will be decided in
Brussels.

Biggest Losers: The Fish
--------------

9. (SBU) Despite Croatia's insistence that the ZERP will help
preserve fish stocks in the Adriatic, the GOC is also subsidizing
the construction of a more modern fishing fleet in order to capture
anticipated EU quotas upon Croatia's entry into the Union. While
Croatia's harvest is therefore likely to increase over the coming
years, the lack of any means to actually control Italian fishing in
the Adriatic means that the ZERP is not likely to change much, even
if Croatia does stick to its guns and apply the measure to EU member
states after January 1, 2008.

BRADTKE