2. Welcomes the deployment of EU ships and planes under Operation Atalanta to combat piracy, and its effectiveness in a narrow area of the Gulf of Aden, but calls on Member States and the Commission to act in the rest of the area where the danger is present, especially in view of the fact that, to the south and east of Somalia, lawful and duly regulated fishing is conducted by Community flag-state fishing vessels, outside Somali waters (200 miles);

As you are certainly well aware, this activity has expanded significantly and now threatens the delivery of humanitarian aid to Somalia and maritime safety in the Gulf of Aden and well beyond, including ships travelling off the coast of Kenya and Tanzania.

The number of a Member State’s fishing vessels authorised to operate in a third country’s waters, unless a ceiling in the number of vessels is established, is defined on the basis of Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) allocated to that Member State.

Yearly traffic in B.C. waters surrounding the Gulf Islands consists of a quarter of a million pleasure craft, which is increasing every year, 6,000 fishing vessels, more than 3,000 merchant ships and increasing traffic from our neighbours to the south.

There's the seine group, an area D gillnet group, and then there's a gulf troll out here.

The officers employed on all those buoy tenders, icebreakers, fisheries patrol vessels and throughout the Canadian Coast Guard fleet, as well as ships in commercial industry that do the resupply in the Arctic; all the ships that are carrying refined petroleum products in Canada; on the lakes, carrying the grain from the Great Lakes out to the export facilities on the gulf or on the coast; the tugboats that are assisting the cruise ships that come alongside in these ports and help the container ships come in, and so forth, and all the marine pilots — they are all Canadian seafarers and are required to be. As much as it is not a big ind ...[+++]ustry, compared to the international scene, it is essential, important and vital.