The first multiannual plan (MAP) under the new CFP was agreed last night after a deal was struck at trilogue. It will cover management of the Baltic cod, sprat and herring stocks.
A central sticking point to the conclusion of the trilogue was the decision over fishing limits. Ranges of fishing mortality are necessary in order to allow quotas to be set flexibly to take into account annual changes to stocks and the ecosystem, however the limits of the ranges were a source of disagreement between the institutions.
Article 2.2 of the CFP is clear in that annual quotas are to be set below Fmsy, however, the Baltic MAP will allow for quotas to be set above this limit.
That said, some have interpreted the deadline for this implementation as being 2020 and the Baltic plan will be evaluated three years after it enters into force. If fishing mortality is too high and stock biomasses have not recovered by this point, the MAP could be amended in order to meet the objectives of the CFP. Linnéa Engström (Greens, SE) described the MAP as a “bad outcome”.
“Today only three out of eight Baltic Sea fish stocks are within safe biological limits*. Despite that a fishing plan has now been pushed through that allows for continued overfishing” says Jan Isakson, new Director of Fisheries Secretariat.
“That said it is very good that we finally have a new management plan in place for the Baltic Sea, after the unsustainable cod plan was abandoned in 2012”.
Key to the Baltic multiannual plan is the innovation of multispecies management. Now inter-species interactions will be taken into account. This added complexity places renewed importance on the quality of the latest scientific advice.
One of the aims of multiannual plans is to provide more coherent management over time and reduce the influence of short-term political decisions with regard to annual quotas. This should allow for more sustainable decisions to be taken and also better allow industry to plan over forthcoming years.
Commissioner Vella welcomed the agreement as a “plan (that) sets the basis for the sustainable management of the most important fish stocks in the Baltic Sea”. The rapporteur from the European Parliament, Jaroslaw Walesa (EPP, PL) added “after 10 months of difficult negotiations…we can be proud of a plan which upholds and respects the objectives of the Basic Regulation”.
The Baltic MAP is part of the revision of fisheries management under the CFP which aims to provide more regional solutions to fisheries management. Now, bodies such as BALTFISH will have increased importance with regard to the implementation of the MAP. They will have the authority to devise delegated acts and as such shape the practical and technical details of management.