European Parliament 2014-2019 Committee on Fisheries 14.6.2016 MISSION REPORT following the Mission to Gdansk, Poland from 17 to 19 May 2016 Committee on Fisheries Members of the mission: Jarosław Wałęsa Ulrike Rodust Francisco José Millán Mon (PPE) (Leader of the mission) (S&D) (PPE) CR\1096006.doc PE583.940v01-00 United in diversity
SUMMARY The Members of the Parliament s Committee on Fisheries that took part in the mission to Poland: - had a meeting with marine scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Gdynia, the Stanisław Sakowicz Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn and the Faculty of Food Sciences and Fisheries of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin; - Visited a sturgeon hatching and rearing centre in Grzmięca, Kuyavian- Pomeranian Voivodeship; - Took part in a Roundtable on Aquaculture at the National Marine Fisheries Research institute in Gdynia with a large number of stakeholders in the Polish aquaculture sector and representatives from DG MARE of the European Commission; - Held a meeting with the managers and employees of Gadus Sp. z o.o., a fishing and fish processing company based in Gdynia, and visited their modern fish processing plant. Members of Parliament participating in the delegation: Jarosław WAŁĘSA (EPP), Vice Chair, Head of the Mission Ulrike RODUST (S&D) Francisco José MILLÁN MON (EPP) PL DE ES Annexes: 1. Programme 2. List of participants PE583.940v01-00 2/15 CR\1096006.doc
Tuesday, 17 May 2016 16:30-18:30 Meeting with the scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, the Inland Fisheries Institute and West Pomeranian University of Technology Venue: National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Gdynia The National Marine Fisheries Research Institute (NMFRI) in Gdynia is Poland s oldest marine science centre. Since 2000, the Institute has been supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The NMFRI s mission is to provide advice on human activities affecting and affected by marine ecosystems. The main research interests of the NMFRI include disciplines that enable an ecosystem approach to fisheries management, i.e. marine ecology, marine chemistry, fishing gear technology, and fishery economics. The area of innovative and technical research done by the NMFRI comprises fish processing technology and mechanization as well as food and environmental chemistry. *** The Stanisław Sakowicz Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn was founded in 1951. The Institute is also subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The Institute conducts a wide variety of research and publishing activities which aim to disseminate information about and popularize fisheries. The scientific disciplines pursued at the Institute include specializations such as ichthyobiology, limnology, aquatic ecology, hydrobiology, veterinary sciences, and economics. *** The West Pomeranian University of Technology was established in 2009 by merging two institutions, but the Faculty of Food Sciences and Fisheries is over 59 years old, as it was the oldest faculty of the Agricultural Academy in Szczecin. Dr. Zbigniew Steve Karnicki of the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute welcomed participants, briefly presented the history and activity of the NMFRI and introduced the scientists taking part in the meeting. CR\1096006.doc 3/15 PE583.940v01-00
In their presentations the scientists mostly focused on the main species of fish exploited by the Polish fishermen in the Baltic Sea, such as cod, sprat and herring, as well as species grown in aquaculture farms, mainly carp and rainbow trout. Some presentations also focused on different elements affecting the Baltic Sea fisheries, such as climate change, environment pollution, overfishing, etc. The specificities of spawning and recruitment of some of the fish species targeted by fishermen in the Baltic Sea were also discussed. One scientist also presented a series of machines for the automated processing of fresh fish, particularly carp, which was developed by the West Pomeranian University of Technology. The presentations were followed by an extensive debate with the Members. PE583.940v01-00 4/15 CR\1096006.doc
Wednesday, 18 May 2016 11:00-14:00 Study visit to the sturgeon hatching and rearing centre Venue: Sturgeon stocking centre, Grzmięca, Poland On invitation of the Polish Angling Association (Polski Związek Wędkarski (PZW)), Parliament s mission went on a study visit to a sturgeon hatching and rearing centre, located in the village of Grzmięca, about 180 km south of Gdansk. Members were welcomed by Mr. Mirosław Purzycki, President of the Torun district of the PZW, and Mr. Dionizy Ziemiecki, Chairman of the Board of the PZW. Members of the EP had a chance to visit and get acquainted with a modern centre for hatching and rearing of sturgeon and trout. The centre currently carries out a project called Reinstitution of Atlantic sturgeon and the creation of selective aggregation of selection and development of natural resources in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, a partnership between the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Torun district of the PZW, for which part of the funding came from the European Regional Development Fund. The first phase of this project already was successfully implemented, when a batch of small CR\1096006.doc 5/15 PE583.940v01-00
sturgeons was released into the Polish waters. After the visit to the hatching and rearing centre, guests were invited to a conference where the President of the PZW Mr. Dionizy Ziemiecki presented the results of studies on the growing cormorant population in Poland and in Europe and discussed the damage that these aquatic birds cause to environment and particularly to fisheries and the aquaculture sector. In the discussion, Ms Ulrike Rodust stressed the need for cooperation of all Member States in developing mechanisms to regulate the cormorant population. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Jarosław Wałęsa thanked the hosts for a very interesting and useful visit, suggested that such meetings should take place more frequently and invited representatives of the Polish fisheries and aquaculture sector to attend a PECH Committee meeting in Brussels. The now nearly extinct Baltic Sea sturgeon population belongs, as it has been recently discovered, to the Atlantic sturgeon subspecies (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) and not to the European variant (Acipenser sturio) as had been previously thought. This species migrated to the Baltic about 1300 years ago and displaced the native species. Sturgeons are anadromous fish which spend most of their life in salty sea waters, while spawning take place in rivers. In addition, sturgeons are known for the phenomena of PE583.940v01-00 6/15 CR\1096006.doc
homing they return for spawning to the place of their birth. These features characteristic to the species promise a rather good prospects for restoring sturgeon population in Poland and the Baltic Sea. Up until the XIX century it was a very important and heavily exploited fish stock in Poland and other countries of the Baltic Sea. However, overexploitation of the fish stock as well as proliferation of hydropower plants on rivers and general deterioration of environmental conditions resulted in a sharp decline in the population of sturgeon in Poland and elsewhere. The last living wild sturgeon in Poland was harvested from the Vistula River in 1965. The last known specimen of the Atlantic sturgeon in the Baltic Sea region was caught in Estonia in 1996. It was 2.9 m long, weighed 136 kg, and was estimated to be about 50 years old. Work aimed at reinstitution of sturgeon to Polish waters started in 1996. It is coordinated by the Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn, in collaboration with the Institute of Water Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin. In late 2009 more than a 100 tagged sturgeons, caught in the Saint John River (Canada), averaging approximately 1,2 m and weighing more than 10 kg, were released to the Pomeranian Bay, where the species once spawned. In 2013 the project expanded to include some several other countries of the Baltic Sea basin. CR\1096006.doc 7/15 PE583.940v01-00
Wednesday, 18 May 2016 17:30-19:45 Aquaculture round table Venue: National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Gdynia The round-table debate was moderated by Dr. Karnicki of the National Marine Fisheries. Mr. Jarosław Wałęsa introduced the other members of the PECH mission, Mrs. Ulrike Rodust and Mr. Francisco Millán Mon, and welcomed all the participants. Mr. Wałęsa also expressed his regret that Mr. Marek Gróbarczyk, Polish Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation, who until November 2015 was himself a member of the Parliament s Committee on Fisheries, had cancelled his official meeting with Parliament s mission, and that the Ministry had also refused to send a single speaker or an observer to this round-table. Mr. Wałęsa stressed that the domestic political situation in Poland should not negatively impact on the quality of fora and discussions like this one. Mr. Wałęsa then stressed the historically strong importance of the aquaculture sector in Poland. Even though local aquaculture does not satisfy the internal Polish demand for fish, it PE583.940v01-00 8/15 CR\1096006.doc
is on the increase, particularly trout-rearing. Therefore, due to high demand and long traditions, the future of aquaculture in Poland looks promising. The DG MARE presentation highlighted that, despite growing output of the EU aquaculture sector, the EU remains by large a net importer of both caught and farmed fish and other marine products. However, a key factor for the EU aquaculture sector is its uncompromised focus on high quality of the products and on sustainability, which is highly appreciated by European consumers. Other presentations focused on challenges and opportunities faced by the freshwater fisheries in Poland, on technical features of aquaculture and on the best practices related to fish processing in Polish factories. Mr. Millán Mon also stressed the great potential of aquaculture sector in the EU, drawing on examples from Spain he is familiar with. Answering questions raised by participants, the Commission representative Mrs. Roller stressed that prospects for organic aquaculture remain limited and will make up only a rather small part of aquaculture output, recalling EU rules on recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), which become more and more popular but cannot be certified as organic. Possible solutions could relate to sustainability certificates. Issues of eco-labelling were also raised: participants questioned the Commission s initiative on extensive labelling requirements that, ideally, should help European consumers make an informed choice. Another issue raised were differences in taxation of the aquaculture sector in the different Member states. National rules on taxation of land use, water use, etc. in some cases have a significant impact on prospects for expansion of aquaculture sector. Mrs. Roller stressed that the EU has virtually no powers to influence national legislation on taxation. CR\1096006.doc 9/15 PE583.940v01-00
Thursday, 19 May 2016 10:30-13:00 Visit to the fish processing plant Gadus Sp. z o.o. Venue: Gadus Sp. z o.o., Gdynia Members of the Committee on Fisheries had a meeting with the managers and employees of Gadus Sp. z o.o., a fishing and fish processing company based in Gdynia, and visited their modern fish processing plant. Gadus Sp. z o.o. was established in 1996 by members of Sztormowski family with long traditions in the fishing sector. Head office and main production sites are located in Gdynia. Over the past 20 years a small local company, which started as an intermediary between the local fisherman and processors of fish, grew into a vertically integrated enterprise that has its own fishing fleet, catching pelagic and white fish, fish processing plants and, the latest PE583.940v01-00 10/15 CR\1096006.doc
addition, a chain of Gadus Delikatesy rybnie retail shops selling various fresh and frozen fish, as well as gourmand fish and seafood products (produced in a new workshop recently opened by the company) directly to the consumers. The company s fishing fleet now includes 16 fishing vessels, with annual catch volumes of 1 000 tonnes of cod, 1 200 tonnes of flounder, 6 000 tonnes of sprat and 2 000 tonnes of herring. The processing plants are equipped with modern production lines, so that wholesale clients can request specific processing of fresh and frozen products according to their preferences. The company also has its own transport and delivers its goods throughout Europe. This way the company is able to control every part of the production chain from the catch to the final consumer. CR\1096006.doc 11/15 PE583.940v01-00
European Parliament 2014-2019 Committee on Fisheries Tuesday 17 May PECH mission to Poland 17 19 May 2016 DRAFT PROGRAMME Updated on 28/04/2016 Individual arrivals in Gdańsk Flights arrive at Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa airport (GDN) via MUC (12:30; 16:10), CPH (14:20), WAW (14:25) Individual transfers to Sofitel Grand Sopot Address: Powstańców Warszawy St 12/14, Sopot, 81-718, Poland Phone:(+48) 58 520 60 00 15:45 Gathering in the lobby of the hotel and transfer by bus to National Marine Fisheries Research Institute 16:30-18:30 Visit to the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute and Fisheries Monitoring Center Meeting with the scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute and Inland Fisheries Institute -Venue: National Marine Fisheries Research Institute Address: ul. Kołłątaja 1, 81-332, Gdynia, Poland Phone: (+48) 587-356-232 www.nmfri.gdynia.pl 19:00 Diner with M.Gróbarczyk, Minister of Maritime and Inland Navigation (TBC) -Venue: Restaurant "Mondo di Vinegre" Address: Gdynia, ul Polska 1, Muzeum Emigracjii Phone: +48 500 863 030 Hotel:Sofitel Grand Sopot Address:Powstancow Warszawy St 12/14, Sopot, 81-718, Poland Phone: (+48) 58 5206000 PE583.940v01-00 12/15 CR\1096006.doc
Wednesday 18 May 08:00 Gathering in the lobby of the hotel and transfer by bus to Grzmięca 11:00 Study visit at the sturgeon hatching and rearing centre - Venue : Grzmięca Address: Sturgeon stocking centre, Grzmięca, Grzmięca 1 Phone: +48 56 493 91 49 13:00 Lunch 14:00 Transfer by bus from Grzmięca to Gdynia 17:00 Aquaculture round table at the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute - Venue :National Marine Fisheries Research Institute Address: ul. Kołłątaja 1, 81-332, Gdynia Phone: +48 587-356-232 www.nmfri.gdynia.pl 19:45 Transfer by bus from Gdynia to Sopot 20:30 Dinner on the invitation of MEP Jarosław Wałęsa - Venue : Meridian restaurant Address: Plac Zdrojowy 2, 81-718 Sopot Przystań Jachtowa Molo Phone: (+48)505 090 913 http://www.meridianmolo.pl/ Hotel: Sofitel Grand Sopot Address:Powstancow Warszawy St 12/14, Sopot, 81-718, Poland Phone: (+48) 58 5206000 Thursday 19 May 08:45 Gathering in the lobby of the hotel and check-out 09:15-10:00 Press conference - Venue : Sofitel Grand Sopot Hotel - Library Address: Powstańców Warszawy 12/14, 81-718 Sopot, Poland Phone: +48 58 520 60 00 10:00 Transfer by bus to fish processing plant 10:30 Visit to the fish processing plant - Venue : GADUS Sp. z o.o. Address: ul. Unruga 111, 81-153 Gdynia, Poland http://www.gadus.pl/ CR\1096006.doc 13/15 PE583.940v01-00
12:15 Lunch 14:00 Individual departures from Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa airport (GDN) Flights leave via FRA(14:25), CPH (18:25), WAW (14:55) *** D OF PROGRAMME *** PE583.940v01-00 14/15 CR\1096006.doc
COMMITTEE MISSION TO POLAND 17-19 May 2016 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS Updated on 11/05/2016 MEMBERS (3) Jarosław WAŁĘSA (EPP), Vice-Chair, Head of delegation (out of quota) Francisco José MILLÁN MON (EPP) Ulrike RODUST (S&D) PL ES DE SECRETARIAT (1) Saulius MILIUS (responsible Administrator) POLITICAL GROUPS (1) Martin KONECNY (S&D) INTERPRETERS (6) Agnieszka POREBSKA (Team leader) Izabela PODSIADLO Jose Antonio ALBEROLA CAMPELLO María Dolores PÉREZ PABLOS Johanna MURPHY Claus RITTER PL PL ES ES DE DE CR\1096006.doc 15/15 PE583.940v01-00