The European Commission has published its annual communication on fishing opportunities, announcing their initial plans for next year’s fishing quotas in the EU. The communications shows that there is still a long way to go to reach the objectives of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy and the commitment to end overfishing by 2015 where possible.
The communication gives a snapshot of the state of EU fish stocks as well as reflecting where the commission stands in its commitment of implementing the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). This is the second communication since the reformed CFP, which requires an end to overfishing by 2015 where possible and by 2020 at latest.
The communication states that the Commission will propose fishing limits in line with maximum sustainable yield (MSY) where such advice exists. There is an important difference here in what the Commission proposes and the objective of the CFP. The Commission aims to rebuild stocks to biomass levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield (Bmsy), whereas Article 2 of the CFP is to restore and maintain populations above Bmsy levels. Furthermore, a more flexible stance would be considered if MSY limits were to “significantly reduce fishing and seriously jeopardise the sustainability of the fleet involved” although they do not explain how this would be evaluated. There is one important indicator that the communication is missing in order to really make significant steps towards ending overfishing in EU waters. There is no information on biomass levels, an important indicator when measuring progress towards rebuilding stocks.
The communication includes an analysis on the state of EU fish stocks, based on a recent STECF report. It reveals an alarming sate of fish stocks in European waters, where despite an increase in the number of stocks exploited at MSY levels, 48% of Northeast Atlantic, including the Baltic and North Sea are overfished, and increase of 7 % from last year. A similar trend is seen in the Mediterranean where an alarming 93% of fish stocks are now overfished.
The Communication indicates increased levels of overfishing, despite increased number of stocks exploited at MSY, as fisheries ministers have consistently set fishing limits above scientific advice. It is our hope that fisheries ministers take the scientific advice serious this year and set fishing limits in line with scientific advice to restore and maintain fish populations above biomass levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield.
The Fisheries Secretariat and Seas at Risk have produced a briefing for the Council of Ministers who will be discussing the communication at their meeting on 16 June.
What happens next?
For the Baltic Sea, the scientific advice was released on 29th May (see FISH summary) and the Commission proposal on Total Allowable Catches (TACs) is expected in August with a likely Council decision on TACs in October. Advice for the other stocks in the Atlantic, North Sea, Antarctic, Black Sea will be release from June to October, with Commission proposals in October and November, and decisions expected at the December Council.