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Udvalget for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri 2009-10
KOM (2009) 0163 Bilag 8
Offentligt

NOW IS THE TIME TO SECURE A FUTURE

FOR EUROPEAN FISHERIES

Excessive pressure on fish stocks has degraded the marine environment and made

European waters an increasingly difficult place to run sustainable and profitable

fisheries.

Europe is reforming its Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). This is a once in a decade

opportunity to set things straight, and we have no time to lose. Successful reform can

deliver healthy oceans, abundant fish stocks and a sustainable livelihood for the fishing

industry and fishing communities. WWF looks forward to working with decision-makers,

fishermen and other industry partners to jointly safeguard our oceans.

Over 85% of assessed fish stocks in European waters are fished to their maximum potential or

over-fished. This is bad news for marine biodiversity, bad news for the fishermen, businesses

and communities who rely on seafood as a source of income and bad news for European

consumers who want to enjoy healthy, fresh, sustainable seafood.

More effective management of fisheries is needed to reduce pressure on the marine

environment. Reform of the CFP needs to deliver better strategy; enhanced stakeholder

engagement and appropriate scope.

Three key elements the reform must deliver are:

•

Mandatory Long Term Management Plans (LTMPs)

for all EU fisheries, to be in

place by 2015. These plans must meet clear minimum standards set out in the new

Regulation and aim to achieve centrally agreed targets; they must assess capacity and

environmental impact because sound fisheries management decisions will be based on

these assessments. These ecosystem based plans will move Europe away from the

politically motivated annual quota negotiations and set fisheries on a more stable track

towards rapid recovery.

•

Effective Regionalisation.

Stakeholders must be at the heart of the decision-making

process. This can be accomplished with a new management regime which has Regional

or Member State stakeholder development of the LTMPs, and co-management of the

fisheries once the plans are in place. By involving stakeholders more directly, we will be

able to design workable and effective management strategies to ensure that the EU

meets its environmental commitments.

•

Scope.

The CFP principles should apply to all fisheries in EU waters, including the

Mediterranean, and to European vessels wherever the fish in the world’s oceans.

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THE CFP REFORM NEEDS TO:

1. Improve Governance

The current CFP is unsustainable as it fails to create adequate incentives for long-term

conservation. A new governance system is needed to tackle the global fisheries crisis and

deliver long term health for the oceans and security for all who are dependent on them for their

livelihoods and for food.

Mandatory LTMPs with fishermen and other key stakeholders engaged in the decision-making

process are the way forward for all European fisheries.

The CFP should set high level objectives but the plans will have the flexibility for each fishery to

tailor the way in which they meet these, including how to limit access and assure compliance

against measurable objectives and indicators. The Regulation needs to set out clear standards

that each LTMP must address such as environmental impact and capacity assessments of the

fishery which will guide measures to address overcapacity and ecosystem impacts. The plans

should cover the whole fishery rather than a particular species and will provide a framework for

the most appropriate management tools for each fishery.

Case study 1: Scottish Conservation Credits Scheme

Set up in 2008, the Scheme credits fishermen for adopting conservation measures which are

most suitable to the fisheries covered by the Scheme (mixed whitefish and Nephrops trawl

fleets) and to the objectives of the Scheme (cod conservation). It brings together decision-

makers, scientists, industry and NGO representatives for monthly steering group meetings. The

Scheme is a prime example of co-management that could easily be replicated: the better

understanding and high compliance generated demonstrate the value of granting all

stakeholders a degree of ownership in the management process.

2. Commit to an ecosystems approach

LTMPs need to be ecosystem based. They should assess – and then limit -- the impact of the

fishing operation on both the target species and on non target species (including mammals,

turtles and birds). Critical habitat and predator/prey relations should also be considered.

Effective management tools to address wider ecosystem impacts including time and/or area

closures and catch selectivity improvements, should be identified.

3. Pave the way for Regionalisation

The CFP needs to set clear high level objectives whilst providing greater freedom on how to

meet them - where, when and how to fish will better reflect local and regional circumstances.

Effective CFP Regionalisation means adopting LTMPs at the level of the fisheries. By placing

more responsibility in the hands of those who know the fishery best, unproductive EU micro-

management can be avoided. Regional co-ordination will be needed to oversee all LTMPs in an

area, to ensure that the plans are compatible and to avoid over-exploitation. Such structures

can be designed to fit within the current Lisbon Treaty. Ideally, EU level approval would

hopefully become a formality in this context.

Case study 2: Co-managament of fishery in France

A recent WWF project in France has shown how a framework that places fishermen at the

centre of fisheries management can be successful. WWF has tested the idea of co-

management of coastal resources with more than a hundred professionals representing the

industry as a whole including scientists and politicians. The Bay of Biscay’s Norway lobster

fishery, and small scale coastal fishing in the Var department, served as pilot sites to test the

idea. Both sites successfully showcased WWF's approach to delivering economically, socially

and ecologically viable European fisheries.

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4. Address overcapacity and improve profit margins

Overfishing of key stocks has resulted in dwindling catches. Many fisheries are today running

close to or at a loss. LTMPs should legally oblige each fishery to assess capacity and put in

place a reduction strategy when overcapacity is identified. Solutions can include prioritising the

removal of more destructive fishing methods or the retention of higher employment-generating

vessels, depending upon the priorities of the fishery and its community. Delivering a system

where the fishing capacity of the fleet is aligned with the available seafood resources in a

sustainable manner will secure the long-term profitability of the industry.

5. Embrace Rights Based Management (RBM)

The adoption of effective rights based management systems can provide incentives which can

be successful in addressing overcapacity, rebuilding fish stocks and improving the overall

environmental performance of fisheries. RBM can also help strengthen the economic efficiency

of fisheries and phase out dependency on subsidies. When designed appropriately RBM can

engender improved stewardship. Any system of RBM should be individually tailored and carried

out within the framework of the LTMP; well-designed ones can preserve important principles

such as community linkage or accessibility to new entrants.

6. Place the environment at the heart of fisheries management

The CFP currently gives equal weight to ecological, economic and social considerations.

However, without a healthy marine ecosystem, a thriving and sustainable fishing industry cannot

exist. The ecological pillar needs to be given top priority to enable the recovery of marine

species and habitats. The new CFP also needs to establish a means of delivering Member

States’ commitments under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) to achieve good

environmental status for fish stocks and marine habitats by 2020. For this to happen

management systems must be built into LTMPs that will identify and prevent significant threats

both to marine species and to habitats, in line with the requirements of the MSFD.

7. Operate on a level playing field

The European fleet, from small scale coastal fisheries to large scale industrial operations,

should operate on a level playing field. No one sector should be overly represented and all

voices need to be present in the fishery decision-making process. Balanced capacity, economic

efficiency, social aspects and ecological sustainability, should all underpin the management of

any European fishery.

LTMPs need to use the right tools to keep fishing capacity within sustainable limits. If a rights

based system is adopted, fishing access rights can be subject to trading restrictions – for

example to ensure that ‘fishing community vital’ vessels participate in the fishery - as long as

these conditions don’t undermine the objectives of the LTMP.

8. Cut the waste

The discard problem generated by the single stock quota system is a symptom of many of the

things that are wrong with the current CFP. Reform must make it a thing of the past by

introducing a system that limits catches rather than landings.

Under a new management system more selective removal and improved links with markets

should also reduce the amount of fish discarded. LTMP discard strategies should encourage

operators to minimise the removal of non-target or less desirable species by setting reduction

targets and timelines together with effective monitoring and enforcement. Setting removal

quotas for mixed fisheries must be a priority.

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Case study 3: Danish fully documented fishery trials - total allowable catches rather than

landings

Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) is now a cost-effective and relatively simple way to record

catches rather than landings. Boats are fitted with a set of cameras that record images of

catches and discards. This information, combined with data from associated GPS units, means

that fishermen can prove they are adopting best practices onboard. A Danish trial rewarded

trawlers by allocating TACs up to 30% higher to account for the fish which was no longer being

discarded. Adopting this approach more broadly would help manage discard reduction.

9. Develop a culture of compliance

For LTMPs to work, the right people need to be at the table: Member States, control agencies,

scientists, conservation organisations, seafood processors together with the catching sector.

CFP reform should see fishermen jointly agreeing targets and strategies as co-managers of

their fisheries and a similar approach could be used for securing access rights. Improved

compliance should flow from industry’s greater sense of ownership in the decision-making

process.

10. Tackle Relative Stability

Given some of the negative environmental consequences of relative stability to date, there

needs to be some way of limiting its influence on fisheries policy making, especially if there is to

be a move towards rights based management. Much of the industry supports relative stability

because it gives the fleet long-term security in the proportion of resource available to it. It is

possible that this security could be better served by the allocation of formal fishing rights within

mandatory ecosystem-based LTMPs. Meanwhile, rights based management schemes can be

designed to address a range of issues such as controls to prevent the monopolising or

overconcentration of fishing rights, to protect cultural links with the fishery or to ensure access to

new entrants.

11. Take less, earn more

Taking less and earning more should be the goal of the reformed CFP. With improved

marketing and better liaison with processors and buyers, supply can better match demand and

the returns from each catch can be maximised.

Another key step is allowing consumers to make sustainable choices. The blue tick box of the

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is presently the only eco-label which utilises an

independent, third party certification process allowing the traceability of the fish from net to

plate. The establishment of an EU minimum set of criteria, based on FAO standards, would help

ensure only trustworthy eco-labels exist in the European marketplace.

12. Fish in a sustainable way, both home and away

Regardless of whether a European vessel fishes in EU waters or beyond, it should be subject to

the principles and objectives of the CFP. This includes fishing according to the removal targets

and clear sustainability objectives set by a LTMP.

The reformed CFP should provide a basis for the EU to demonstrate leadership on sustainable

fishing practices in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs). Fisheries

Partnership Agreements (FPAs) should be subject to continuous assessment, including the

examination of alternative arrangements with third countries to better meet the needs of industry

and partner countries as well as the marine environment they exploit.

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It’s time for a change in fisheries: we need to manage our community resources

better, and we need to behave more responsibly wherever we fish. The reform of the

European Common Fisheries Policy gives us the opportunity to make this change.

WWF’s approach of putting fishermen at the heart of the decision-making process

through stakeholder-led Long Term Management Plans, alongside improved control,

compliance and standardisation of procedures, should set us on a firmer footing

towards the more economically desirable prospect of sustainable European fisheries.

Take less, earn more.