EU, Poland in new standoff over cod overfishing

The European Commission threatened Poland on Thursday with legal action for failing to clamp down on cod overfishing as a new standoff between Brussels and Warsaw erupted.

Despite warnings from the European Commission that Poland has already filled its cod quota in the Baltic Sea for this year, Polish authorities said Wednesday they had no immediate plans to punish fishermen who catch cod there.

In reaction, EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said: "We expect Poland to honour the closure (of the cod fishery) and primarily that its fishermen respect that closure."

"We will look at what can be done," he said, noting that "we have the power of (launching) an infringement proceeding" against Poland before an EU court.

In the meantime the Commission could ask for "interim measures" from the tribunal.

The Commission has repeatedly told Warsaw that Poland's trawlers have exhausted their quota, warning that continued fishing would add more pressure to a fish stock already facing collapse.

Brussels has threatened to deduct any overcatch from next year's quota -- compounding the anger of Polish fisherman, who were already protesting against a decision by the Commission to slash their 2008 allowance by almost a quarter.

The Polish government considers that cod stocks are not as weak in the Baltic as the Commission's scientists say they are.

The Commission, which frequently voices concern about the state of stocks in the Baltic, has proposed cutting quotas next year by 23 percent in the eastern Baltic and by 33 percent in the west.

Although other big fishing countries sometimes doubt the Commission's analyses of stock levels, Poland's strident attitude is without precedent, according to one EU official.

A spokesman for the Polish Fisheries Ministry said that the minister would meet soon with Baltic counterparts and "if there is an agreement at the ministerial level, there will be no need for sanctions."

Under the leadership of the deeply conservative Kaczynski twins, Warsaw has frequently clashed with its EU partners on numerous points ranging from aid to struggling shipyards to the drafting of the bloc's new reform treaty.

Some Polish media suggested that the new standoff over cod could be attributed to the approaching legislative elections due on October 21.

Some 430 Polish trawlers fish for cod in the Baltic, employing a total of 5,000 people on board and in the onshore processing industry.

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