Posted on 13 July 2011
European Parliament & Member States
handed the challenge of saving Europe’s
fisheries
Brussels, Belgium – Following today’s release
of the European Commission’s proposal for
a reform of the Common Fisheries Policy
(CFP), WWF urges the European Parliament
and Member States to step up to the challenge
of saving Europe’s seas and fishing industries.
This will require a serious effort to build
on the Commission’s disappointing reform
agenda by establishing a clear framework
and timeline for achieving sustainable fisheries
management.
“There is growing alarm among civil society,
businesses and consumers about the disastrous
management of Europe’s fisheries. The CFP
reform is a once in a ten year opportunity
to ensure fish stocks recover and Europe’s
fisheries return to prosperity,” Tony Long,
Director of WWF’s European Policy Office
said. “It may be the last one. While the
European Commission’s proposal contains
some potentially good elements, too much
is being left to chance. Ministers and MEPs
must demonstrate the political courage to
invest in sustainable fisheries management
now or be prepared to carry the responsibility
for ravaged stocks in the near future. [1]”
On the positive side,
the proposal establishes the need to exploit
fish populations at levels that guarantee
their survival [2] and identifies multi-annual
plans as a way to achieve this. However,
crucial delivery mechanisms, responsibilities
and timeframes for these plans (outlining
who should do what and by when) are missing.
Furthermore, the Commission’s paper lacks
a clear vision for reducing the overcapacity
of Europe’s fleet, proposes an ineffective
discard ban, and falls flat on expectations
about stakeholder involvement at a regional
level and the EU’s leadership role in the
international fisheries arena.
Overcapacity of the
EU fleet
The mechanism proposed to deal with the
overcapacity of the fleet, i.e. transferable
fishing concessions, a very specific form
of Rights Based Management (RBM), is inflexible
and excludes safeguards to prevent a concentration
of fishing activities to a small number
of vessels or to guarantee a timely revocation
of the concessions should conservation goals
not be met. While WWF is supportive of RBM
it advocates a wide toolbox of schemes to
suit any specific fishery, unlike what has
been proposed by the European Commission.
“There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution
for the overcapacity of the EU fleet given
the variety of fisheries that exist in Europe.
Nor will ‘the market’ automatically solve
this problem. WWF believes it is important
to give fishermen a more secure stake in
the fishery to boost stewardship, but this
should be linked to clear conservation goals.
As the proposal stands, this isn’t the case,”
Tony Long commented.
Regional co-management of fisheries
WWF looks to the European Parliament and
Member States to ensure that a genuine decentralisation
of fisheries management takes place. Stakeholders
at a regional level, including fishermen,
officials, scientists, industry and NGOs,
need to be recognised as co-managers of
their fishery, working together to implement
multi-annual plans. A clear co-management
mechanism – although essential for transforming
Europe’s fisheries – is missing from the
proposal. It is also disappointing that
the artisanal fishing sector and fisheries
issues in the Mediterranean, a region accounting
for 6 out of 10 European fishing jobs, are
not addressed in the proposal.
Discards
WWF welcomes the Commission’s intention
to end the wasteful practice of discarding.
However, the proposed discard ban alongside
the new option to commercialise undersized
fish and fish caught in excess of quotas
is the wrong solution for a pressing problem.
It is likely to encourage fishermen to fish
less selectively whereas the widespread
adoption of selective gear is precisely
one of the most effective measures for ending
discards.
EU vessels abroad
With 60% of fish consumed within the EU
being caught abroad, it is disappointing
to see just a few vague statements in the
Commission’s proposal short of clear targets,
measures or deadlines to ensure that the
EU positions itself as a global leader in
promoting sustainable fisheries.
Notes to the editors
[1] Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki
has warned that only 9% of EU fish stocks
are likely to be at sustainable levels by
2022, when the next CFP reform is due, if
the current reform fails to move beyond
a situation of status quo.
[2] A commitment to achieve Maximum Sustainable
Yield (MSY) for fish stocks by 2015
3 out of 4 assessed fish stocks in Europe
are overfished, the EU fleet continues to
be 2 to 3 times too large to be sustainable,
and landings at EU ports fell by 30% between
1998 and 2008.
An independent poll commissioned by WWF
and carried out in 14 EU countries earlier
this year revealed that 78% of EU citizens
support a reform of the Common Fisheries
Policy that ensures that all European fish
products come from sustainable, non-overfished
stocks (see: http://assets.panda.org/downloads/data_fish_poll_results.pdf)
