Positions & Papers
Too many vessels chase too few fish – report on overcapacity in the EU
December 4, 2018
A new report from the Fisheries Secretariat shows that EU rules regarding fishing capacity are not being followed in the Baltic region. Member States have fudged their figures, obscuring which fleet segments and vessels fish on which stocks and the European Commission has not revised its guidelines in order to ensure clarity, as recommended by its own advisory committee. There is clear evidence that overcapacity has been used to influence quota negotiations at the EU Council, however, despite EU subsidy funding being based on there being no overcapacity the Commission has not taken action to follow through. Article 22 of the EU Common Fisheries Policy requires Member States to adjust the fishing capacity of its fleet to the available fishing opportunities. Overcapacity should be identified and addressed, in order to achieve a better balance with the harvested stocks, avoid overfishing, reduce incentives for discarding and other illegal practices, and avoid the socioeconomic problems caused by too many vessels competing over limited quotas. However, the system put in place to address overcapacity in 2013 fails at just about every step, according to the report. You can read our news story on the report here We have also produced national summaries for Denmark, Germany and Poland.
Joint NGO recommendations for EU-Norway agreement on fishing opportunities in 2019
November 19, 2018
In the briefing and annex joint recommendations have been produced ahead of the annual agreement between the EU and Norway concerning fishing opportunities for shared stocks. Fully implementing maximum sustainable yield management, as well as the landing obligation and ensuring greater transparency are among the recommendations, along with detailed TAC recommendations provided in the annex. Details from the 2018 negotiation can be found here.
Council briefing on Deep Sea TACs – joint NGO paper
November 9, 2018
In the letter and policy annex sent to Ministers and Member States ahead of the November Council and which deep sea TACs for 2019 and 2020 were set NGOs called for the EU to fully implement its policy of ending overfishing. This was the first time fishing opportunities were set after the 2020 deadline. A series of policy recommendations for both the most vulnerable stocks and also improvements to data collection, monitoring and transparency were made.
Joint NGO priorities on the revision of the EU Fisheries Control System
October 30, 2018
A broad coalition of NGOs have together drawn up a series of recommendations based on the EU Commission proposal for the revision of the Fisheries Control System, this includes both an analysis of the proposal as well as a detailed 12 point plan for reform. In November 2019 our Joint NGO priorities have been updated.
Joint NGO position on Deep Sea TACs and quotas in 2019 and 2020
September 11, 2018
This briefing provides joint recommendations from ten organisations on Deep Sea fishing opportunities in 2019 & 2020. These TACs will be decided at the November Council and are the first TACs to be set after the EU Maximum Sustainable Yield deadline has passed.
The Fisheries Council will conclude negotiations on the TACs on 19-20 November.
Joint NGO position on Baltic TACs and quotas in 2019
August 1, 2018
This briefing provides joint recommendations from nine organisations on fishing opportunities in the Baltic for 2019. We highlight the priorities of full implementation of the maxiumum sustainable yield objective and the landing obligation, urging Ministers to set quotas not exceeding scientific recommendations.
The Fisheries Council will conclude negotiations on the TACs on 15-16 October in Brussels and the regional management forum, BALTFISH, will conduct preparatory work.
EU Fisheries Control System revision – joint NGO priorities
June 26, 2018
The Commission proposal for a revision of the 2010 EU fisheries Control Regulation has been published and a coalition of NGOs have outlined our priorities here. These include ensuring full compliance with the landing obligation, achieving coherence with Technical Measures, improving enforcement and sanctions, making better use of technology to improve the accuracy of reporting and allow for better data, improving traceability, as well as ensuring MPAs are guaranteed effective protection.
Summary of ICES advice on Baltic stocks for 2019
June 12, 2018
On 31 May 2018, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Advisory Committee published their advice regarding the exploitation of the Baltic Sea fish stocks for 2019. Here we provide a summary and comment on the assessments and advice.
A table with the summary of the ICES advice can be found here.
Western Waters management plan and BMAP revision – NGO recommendations
June 5, 2018
In this paper we provide joint recommendations for the management plan proposals.
Eel Evaluation Roadmap NGO submission
May 12, 2018
In response to the evaluation of the eel evaluation roadmap, we have produced a joint NGO paper providing feedback on the effectiveness and implementation of the EU Eel Regulation. In 2007 the EU agreed to establish measures for the recovery of the eel stock. This legislation has yet to bring about marked improvements in the state of the eel stock. It is our hope that through implementation of urgent measures and better management and protection in the future, we can enable long-term recovery and sustainable exploitation of European eel, but we note that we are a very long way from there today.