Yesterday, the EU fisheries ministers disappointed when agreeing on fishing possibilities for 2014 for EU waters and EU vessels in some international waters. Baltic Ministers also signed the BALTFISH Memorandum of Understanding.
The deal was closed in record time and of the 153 included in the proposal, 27 will be exploited in line with Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) in 2014. For another 39 stocks, the Council agreed on Total Allowable Catches (TACs) higher than the Commission proposal and the underlying scientific advice.
For many stocks, the agreed reductions in TACs are not sufficient to ensure recovery or sustainable exploitation rates. In some cases the Commission proposal was not in line with the scientific advice, for others the advice was in line with MSY transition rather than reaching the MSY target already in 2014, or the Council simply compromised on a higher TAC. For example, for sole in the Irish Sea (Division VIIa), ICES advised that only a zero catch would be compatible with the MSY approach. However, this was ignored by the Commission and the Council then exceeded the proposed TAC.
For haddock stocks in CelticSea and West of Scotland, as well as the Irish Sea, the story repeated itself with the Commission neglecting the scientific advice and the Council adopting TACs even higher than the proposal. For several nephrops fisheries the agreed fishing possibilities also exceeded the scientific advice – a deal that will contribute to continued high discard rates of white fish and other species unless current trials with more selective gear are broadly implemented.
Fishing possibilities in the Black Sea were also agreed yesterday. This covers only two species, turbot and sprat, and affects only two Member States, Bulgaria and Romania. The Commission had proposed a 15 % cut for turbot, but this was overruled by the Council which left the TAC from 2013 unchanged.
Only last week, the European Parliament agreed on the final text of the new basic Regulation, with the objective to have all stocks managed above MSY levels by 2015, where possible, or by 2020 at the latest.
– With yesterday’s agreement, the Fisheries Ministers will struggle to reach the new objective next year, potentially exposing the sector to massive cuts in 2015. Overall, this deal is not showing the commitment we were hoping for in terms of stock recovery under the new CFP, says Niki Sporrong, Director of FISH. In addition, we would have liked to see a clear commitment to more selective fishing a year ahead of the implementation of the EU discard ban.
During the meeting, Baltic Fisheries Ministers also signed the BALTFISH Memorandum of Understanding, formalising the new regional structure that has developed in the Baltic Sea region since 2009 as part of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). It will play a crucial role in implementing the new regionalisation element of the reformed CFP and sets out the terms of collaboration with regional stakeholders, including the Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council (BS RAC). NGOs have emphasised the importance of openness and transparency from the very beginning, and hope this represents another step in the right direction.