kom (2019) 0483 - Bilag 2: Henvendelse af 9/12-19 fra Our Fish m.fl. vedr. EU's fælles fiskeripolitik og klimaindsats

Europaudvalget 2019-20
KOM (2019) 0483 Bilag 2
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Overﬁshing

Crunch time:

act now to end

overfishing in the EU by the

2020 deadline

Figure 1: Number of cases by Member State where Total Allowable Catches (TACs)

were set above scientiﬁc advice, with or without active push

Member States who actively pushed

for higher TACs (France, Ireland, Spain,

UK, Belgium, Portugal and Denmark)

Member States who quietly accepted

higher TACs (Sweden, Netherlands

and Germany)

Rest of Europe

The size of the circle reﬂects the number

of cases where TACs that the Member

State has a share of were set too high

(on average 2017– 2019)

The upcoming December Council is the key

opportunity for the European Commission, the

Council of European ﬁsheries ministers and individual

Member States to show that they are serious about

ending overﬁshing, by setting sustainable ﬁshing

limits in line with science and the law.

The objective of ending overﬁshing by 2020 and

restoring all stocks above healthy, productive levels

was a cornerstone of the reform of the Common

Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2013.

Now, ﬁve years later, ClientEarth’s

report

on the setting

of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the Northeast

Atlantic

assesses whether decision-makers are on

the right track, and which key issues they must address

before the deadline bites.

So far, the performance of the Council, and particularly

of certain Member States, has been disappointing.

Some vocal Member States like France, Ireland, Spain,

Belgium, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Denmark

have successfully pushed for ﬁshing limits beyond

sustainable levels in the last three years, while others

have failed to stop them (Figure

1).

When TACs are set

above scientiﬁc advice, all Member States are to blame,

either directly (if they actively pushed for this),

or indirectly (if they quietly accepted it).

Last year, the Council still set more than half of the

assessed TACs above scientiﬁc advice, instead of taking

long-overdue steps to allow depleted stocks to recover.

1 This information is based on an analysis of documents about Member State comments during the December Council processes 2017 to 2019,

received in response to ClientEarth’s Access to Information Requests.

2 ClientEarth (2019). Taking stock – are TACs set to achieve MSY? November 2019.

https://www.documents.clientearth.org/library/download-info/

taking-stock-are-tacs-set-to-achieve-msy.

3 The report focuses on a subset of TACs set for 2015 to 2019 during the December Council process, i.e. excludes stocks shared with third countries,

Deep-Sea stocks and Baltic stocks.

kom (2019) 0483 - Bilag 2: Henvendelse af 9/12-19 fra Our Fish m.fl. vedr. EU's fælles fiskeripolitik og klimaindsats

So how can decision-makers start to right past wrongs? Here are our recommendations:

1. Follow scientiﬁc advice and restore all stocks in line

with the Common Fisheries Policy’s requirements

3. Improve transparency of the TAC-setting process

The ongoing lack of transparency and accountability of the

TAC-setting process prevents the public from engaging

properly in the process. This makes it easier for ministers

to set unsustainable TACs behind closed doors.

Despite the imminent deadline, progress towards setting

sustainable TACs to end overﬁshing has been far too slow:

several stocks have remained at dangerously low levels for

years. Yet, many of the proposed TACs are still too high, and The European Ombudsman recently agreed with

the Council frequently exceeds the Commission’s proposal ClientEarth’s concerns, urging the Council to publish

even further, particularly for data-limited stocks (Figure

2).

all relevant ﬁles as soon as they are circulated to the

Member States, ahead of December Council.

This goes against the precautionary approach, a crucial

cornerstone of international environmental law, as well

4. Ensure reliable reporting on progress towards

as the key objective of the CFP to ﬁsh ALL harvested

ending overﬁshing

stocks sustainably, and restore them above healthy and

Certain elements of the Commission’s reporting have been

productive levels capable of producing the Maximum

misleadingly positive, suggesting that the EU’s work to end

Sustainable Yield (MSY).

overﬁshing is nearly done. As ClientEarth’s

report

shows,

this is not the case, and decision-makers must urgently face

2. Properly implement, monitor and control the

the remaining challenges rather than resting on their laurels.

landing obligation

Since the landing obligation, or ‘discard ban’, fully came

into force in 2019, TACs are now set based on the

assumption that all catches will be landed. However,

compliance remains poor, and the various exemptions

can turn into dangerous loopholes, if they are not reliably

monitored and factored into the TAC-setting.

Failing to properly control and enforce the landing obligation

while basing TACs on total catches leads to overﬁshing if

unreported discards beyond the agreed TACs continue.

EU decision-makers have so far failed to beat the

2020 deadline, but it is not too late to meet it by

setting sustainable TACs in line with science and

the law in 2019.

The Commission, the Member States and the Council

should now focus all their strength on this ﬁnal push

to end overﬁshing, and Members of the European

Parliament can play a crucial role in keeping them

in check.

Figure 2:

% of number of TACs exceeding scientiﬁc advice, by advice basis

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

MSY-based advice

Precautionary advice

For further information please contact:

Jenni Grossmann,

Science and Policy Advisor

Email:

[email protected]