BC FISH CANADA/Canada serves notice on Spanish owned trawlers

By Gavin Will

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, April 17 (Reuter) Canada, within days of reaching a fishing conservation agreement with the European Union (EU), renewed threats on Monday of retaliation against Spanish owned vessels.

Fisheries Minister Brian Tobin said two vessels registered in Belize but owned and crewed by Spaniards were illegally fishing for turbot on the Grand Banks in an area which Canada and Spain have hotly disputed since early March.

"A notice is being sent to Belize telling that country there are two vessels fishing in a manner contrary to Canadian conservation rules and law, and asking them to have those vessels withdrawn," Tobin told reporters.

"We'll wait to see what's going to happen, and if necessary we'll take all the measures required to put an end to that flag of convenience presence."

Belize is not a party to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) and as such has no quota for turbot, also called Greenland halibut.

The agreement between Canada and the EU providing for far reaching inspection and conservation measures was only reluctantly ratified by the Europeans on Monday after nearly six weeks of eyeball to eyeball confrontation in which shots were fired across the bow of a Spanish trawler.

Some 800 Newfoundlanders, hard hit by the decimation of once lucrative fish stocks, gathered at the St. John's harbour to greet seven Coast Guard and Department of Fisheries and Oceans vessels that had been patrolling the Grand Banks.

It was primarily Spain with which Canada has battled since early March, and Canada is eager to ensure Spain does not get around its quota by registering vessels in other countries.

Aside from the threat, Tobin sounded a conciliatory tone in assessing the agreement, noting that the next step was to extend it to other member states within the NAFO in September.

"It will take a genuine partnership. We're not declaring a victory here, and if there is a winner in this conflict then it's the fish."

Canada had seized the Spanish trawler Estai on March 9, accusing it of overfishing, and a few weeks later it cut the nets of another.

Press reports said Canadian vessels were within 30 minutes of closing in on another Spanish trawler Saturday before news arrived from Europe that an agreement had been struck.

Tobin himself from Newfoundland, where unemployment is more than 20 percent said he understood Spanish anger.

"We ourselves understand how difficult it is for an industry and community to deal with a new reality," he said. "We're still doing it and it'll be tough for Spain as well."

Spanish fishermen's leaders say the agreement will cut Spain's catch by 80 percent and double Canada's.

Spain has filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and despite the weekend agreement is not withdrawing it. It is also maintaining a new visa requirement for Canadian citizens visiting Spain.