At the end of this year’s negotiations on fishing possibilities for 2008, Scottish fish processor may be jubilant but environmental NGOs and the public are not. In Sweden, people are signing a petition to save the cod in Kattegat. While writing this article, another 289 people added their names to the list.
Short-term interests prevail again
Just before Christmas every year, the Fisheries Council meets to agree on the limits for fishing opportunities for stocks in the North-East Atlantic for the following year. The basis for discussions is a proposal from the European Commission. According to Reuter’s World Environment News service Planet Ark, EU officials attending the meeting cited Britain, Denmark, France, Ireland and Spain as having particular complaints about the proposals.
Some early Christmas present to find that short-term interests have prevailed yet again when the results of the negotiations were made public yesterday. In his speech following the meeting, Commissioner Joe Borg said that this Fisheries Council was relatively short. Maybe they should have taken more time to consider the future of Europe’s fish stocks…
Hope for North Sea cod squandered
As is often the case, negotiations were particularly focused on cod. For the first time since the recovery plan was put in place, there was some good news on the main North Sea cod stock: a good year class from 2005 is now approaching reproductive age and could bring hope of recovery for this stock. Other stocks are still in a very poor condition.
This opportunity to safeguard the stock, however, was squandered by the Commission early on in an agreement with Norway to increase the quota with 11 per cent. The EU followed the same line yesterday, and even though it is coupled with a 10 per cent decrease in fishing opportunities, this is not likely to be anywhere near enough. The increase was supposed to be followed by strong measures to reduce bycatch of young cod, but in the end only voluntary measures proposed by the fishing industry were agreed. The decision has already been condemned by environmental NGOs working with fisheries policy issues.
– 2008 will be earmarked as the year when cod had a chance to recover but was jeopardised due to lack of will to put in place clear measures to reduce cod bycatch, says Carol Phua, WWF Fisheries Policy Officer. Whether the industry’s plan will actually lead to fishermen avoiding cod at sea remains to be seen.
The North Sea cod quota for 2008 will be 22,000 tonnes, of which 18,386 tonnes is the EC quota. For the other cod stocks, the Commission had proposed 25 per cent cuts. This was watered down by ministers to reductions ranging from 8 to 18 per cent. The quotas for the Irish Sea and West of Scotland stocks ended at -18 per cent, after scientists advised no fishing and the Commission proposed cuts of 25 per cent. The cut for cod in the West Atlantic is 9 per cent.
Public demands cod closure in Kattegat
The modest decrease of 8 per cent for the cod in the Kattegat has restarted a debate in Sweden about closing the cod fisheries completely. Only earlier this week, staff at the Swedish Marine Laboratory released the results of their trawl surveys in the area. It showed that the condition of the stock is worse than ever before. During multiple surveys they failed to find any new recruits to the stock and very few individuals older than 2 years, identifying high fishing pressure as the main culprit. ICES has recommended a complete closure of this fishery for six years now.
At the meeting, the Swedish Government suggested a closure of the fishery during the spawning period in January-March. But after strong resistance from Denmark, this proposal was discarded. Isabella Lövin, a Swedish journalist that published a book about the failure of fisheries management in Sweden, today wrote a critical article in one of the Swedish newspapers after she heard about the Council decision. One of her readers has started a petition to save the Kattegat cod. Someone should start one in Denmark, as the country is believed to be responsible for this quota decision.
Mixed bag for other fish stocks
Even though the agreement for next year is dominated by decreasing catch opportunities, it is by no means enough to ensure recovery of stocks, nor sustainable fisheries. Some examples of this is the decision to increase the quota for southern hake, currently under management of a recovery plan, with 15 per cent when scientists recommend a closure of the fishery. Not only does this not follow the intentions of the agreed recovery plan, but ICES has also voiced concerns that the reduction in fishing mortality agreed in the plan may not be sufficient to achieve recovery within 10 years. Northern hake remains in good condition and modest increases were agreed at around 2,5 per cent.
Norway lobster (Nephrops) in Iberian waters is covered by the same recovery plan and instead of the Commission’s proposal to reduce the TAC by 15%, in line with the recovery plan, a 5 per cent decrease was agreed. This is despite warnings from STECF and ICES that real catches are likely to be as much as 75 per cent above the legal quota.
Ministers also failed to follow their agreed multi-annual management plan for plaice and sole in the North Sea. They reduced the quota for North Sea sole by only 15 per cent, even though the plan specifically calls for more drastic cuts if the stocks fall below the safe biological minimum. For plaice, the reduction will be 3 per cent after the agreement with Norway earlier this winter. For the Celtic Sea plaice stock, ministers agreed an increase of 17,75 per cent, where ICES recommended a 43 per cent reduction.
Following requests from a number of Member States, a number of other TACs were increased, including stocks such as megrim, lemon sole, turbot and angler fish.
Cuts for pelagic stocks in poor condition
A number of the pelagic stocks in EU waters, including the main herring stocks, are in extremely poor condition. For anchovy in the Bay of Biscay and sandeel in the North Sea, the Commission proposed that the fisheries remain closed until in-year advice is received on the stocks in the late spring. For anchovy, of prime interest for Spain and Portugal, a zero TAC was set until the end of spring 2008. Sandeel in the North Sea will likewise be subject to an in-year proposal on the basis of results from the exploratory fishery in the spring.
Poor recruitment continues to mark the main EU herring stocks and reductions were agreed across the board, ranging from -15 to -92 per cent. A 37 per cent reduction was agreed for blue whiting, which continues to deteriorate, in line with the earlier agreement with Norway and the Faroe Islands.
Modest decreases for mackerel of around 8 per cent were agreed. For horse mackerel in western waters, the TAC was increased by 24% to 170,000 tonnes, with reductions for the other stocks.
Some relief for threatened sharks
Germany has highlighted the threat to sharks in EU waters, in particular species such as porbeagle and spurdog that are thought to be threatened with extinction. The Commission has announced that an action plan for sharks will be produced in 2008 – a requirement under the International Plan of Action for Sharks adopted by the FAO in 1999. It has also launched a consultation process open for submissions until 15 February 2008.
This week, ministers agreed to cut next year’s TAC for spurdog by 25% and, for the first time, set a TAC for porbeagle. TACs for skates and rays were also reduced by 25%.
EU fisheries policy forgets future generations
The European Commissioner Joe Borg also said in his speech after the meeting that the decisions taken by the Council had broadly respected the following three principles set out by the Commission:
- to ensure that the provisions agreed under the long term plans are respected
- to keep to our commitments under international and bilateral agreements
- any decisions have to be in line with the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy to achieve sustainable fisheries
Broadly is the operative word. As outlined above provisions under the long-term management plans have been breached and the sustainable future of EU fisheries has yet again been compromised. The systematic failure to manage EU fisheries is all pervasive. The members of the European Parliament Committee on Fisheries commended the Portuguese Presidency on their successful negotiations earlier today.
Have EU ministers and parliament members not read the report commissioned by the Directorate-General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, which claims that the EU is “doing worse than the rest of the world in terms of conservation of fish stocks”? Or the recent, damning report from the EU Court of Auditors deducting that sufficient information about the state of the fish stocks – the necessary basis for setting correct quotas – is not available because both fishermen and Member States fail to report all of their landings?
Who will defend the interests of the European public in the management of this public resource, and that of future generations?