The Common Fisheries Policy
Vilanova i la Geltrú, 16th of June 2010
Index
Introduction: some data related with European fisheries
• Who are the main stakeholders?
• General information of the fishery sector
Main characteristics of the Common Fisheries Policy
• Main characteristics
• Some problems
Towards a new Common Fisheries Policy
• Political process
• Some proposals
Some European data on fisheries
Source: Maratlas http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/atlas/maritime_atlas/
Source: La politique commune de la pêche en chiffres. Edition 2010. Commission européenne
Source: La politique commune de la pêche en chiffres. Edition 2010. Commission européenne
Source: La politique commune de la pêche en
chiffres. Edition 2008. Commission européenne
Source: La politique commune de la pêche en chiffres. Edition 2010. Commission européenne
2005
Where EU captures comes from?
72
%
10
%
6,7
%
2,5
%
1,7
%
1,3
%
Source: La politique commune de la pêche en chiffres. Edition 2010. Commission européenne
The Common Fisheries policy
Short history
1. Council Regulation (EEC) No 101/76 of 19 January 1976 laying
down a common structural policy for the fishing industry
2. Council Resolution of 25 January 1983 on measures to adjust
capacity and to improve productivity in the fisheries sector
3. Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992
establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture
4. Council Regulation (EEC) No 2371/2002 of December 2002 on
the conservation and sustainable exploitation of the fisheries
resources under the Common Fisheries Policy
Objectives
•
The objective of the Common Fisheries Policy should therefore be
to provide for sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources and
of aquaculture in the context of sustainable development, taking
account of the environmental, economic and social aspects in a
balanced manner. (article 4 preamble, 2002 CFP version)
•
The Common Fisheries Policy shall ensure exploitation of living
aquatic resources that provides sustainable economic, environmental
and social conditions. (article 2, 2002 CFP version)
Balanced manner?
•
88% of Community stocks are being fished beyond
Maximum Sustainable Yield (maximum catch which on average can
be taken year after year from a fish stock without deteriorating the productivity of fish
stock). Fishing above MSY in the short term will lead to lower catch opportunities in
the long term as the fish stock is fished down.
•
33% of these stocks are outside safe biological limits,
which means that they may not be able to replenish.
Source: European Commission Green Paper reform on the Common Fisheries policy. 2009.
Main areas of CFP in practice
1. Definition of fishing rules
2. Monitoring the size of the European fishing fleet
3. Funding and technical support
4. Providing national authorities with the tools to enforce the rules
5. Negotiating on behalf of EU countries in international fisheries
organisations and with non-EU countries around the world
6. Market
7. Supporting the development of aquaculture
8. Funding scientific research and data collection
Main areas of CFP in practice
1. Definition of fishing rules
2. Monitoring the size of the European fishing fleet
3. Funding and technical support
4. Providing national authorities with the tools to enforce the rules
5. Negotiating on behalf of EU countries in international fisheries
organisations and with non-EU countries around the world
6. Market
7. Supporting the development of aquaculture
8. Funding scientific research and data collection
Fishing rules
Fishing rules
There are three types of fishing rules.
•Fishing effort limitations - restrict the size of the fleet that
sets to sea and the amount of time it can spend fishing.
IMPUT APPROACH.
•Catch limits - restrict the quantity of fish that can be taken
from the sea before fishers need to stop fishing. This is done
by TACs and quotas. OUTPUT APPROACH
•Technical measures - regulate how and where fishers can
fish. They can, for example, be used to protect young fish,
encourage the use of more selective fishing gear or prevent
serious damage to the marine environment.
Problems with fishing effort regulation
•On average fleets have been reduced by only 2% a year.
Which has been offset by technological progress in fishing
efficiency (2-3% a year).
•Fishing capacity concept (GT/days or KW/days) is
misleading and it does not consider real environmental
impact of the different fleet segments and gears, different
fuel requirements, different quality of fish and different social
outcomes.
•Externalisation of fleet overcapacity.
Fishing rules
There are three types of fishing rules.
•Fishing effort limitations - restrict the size of the fleet that
sets to sea and the amount of time it can spend fishing.
IMPUT APPROACH.
•Catch limits - restrict the quantity of fish that can be taken
from the sea before fishers need to stop fishing. This is done
by TACs and quotas. OUTPUT APPROACH
•Technical measures - regulate how and where fishers can
fish. They can, for example, be used to protect young fish,
encourage the use of more selective fishing gear or prevent
serious damage to the marine environment.
Catch limits (I)
•Total allowable catches (TACs) are catch limits that are set for most
significant commercial fish stocks.
Scientific advise
Proposal by the Commission
Council of Fisheries Ministers.
Decision by the
•TACs are set annually for most stocks (on December) and every two
years for deep sea species. For an increasing number of stocks, TACs
are set in line with multi-annual plans.
Source: la politique commune de la pêche en chiffres. Edition 2010. Commission européenne
Catch limits (II)
•Use of 'maximum sustainable yield ' (MSY) concept as a
management goal. Use in multi-annual plans for particular fish stocks or
fisheries.
•The TACs are shared between EU countries under a system known as
'relative stability' which keeps national quotas stable in relation to each
other, even when the total quantity of fish that can be caught varies with
the productivity of the fish stocks.
Problems with Catch limits (III)
TACs agreed each year (by
Council) are many times much
higher than those recommended
by the European Commission.
A=Commission-proposed TAC
B=Council-adopted TAC
Source: WWF Mid-Term Review of the
EU Common Fisheries Policy. 2007
2006 TACs
2007 TACs
Problems with Catch limits (IV)
… even if the European Commission also sometimes does
over-quote what scientific advise suggest….
Source: WWF Mid-Term Review of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. 2007.
Problems with Catch limits (V)
… even worse sometimes there is an over-fishing of TACs ….
How much?....who knows? 1,8% official statistics in 2004, but the
Commission acknowledged that these official data “might not reflect the
situation correctly in all cases” and that it is “likely that some quota
overruns may be worse than what they appear or are ignored”.
Problems with Catch limits (VI)
•Relative stability is not working properly.
There is a considerable discrepancy between the quotas allocated to
Member States and the actual needs and uses of their fleets, it has
created unexpected effects as out-flagging by fishing operators, it
contributes to discards (due to national limits), it is not flexible.
• The management system does not differentiate between smallscale fleets and industrial fleets.
•It does not encourage best environmental and social practices.
Fishing rules
There are three types of fishing rules.
•Fishing effort limitations - restrict the size of the fleet that
sets to sea and the amount of time it can spend fishing.
IMPUT APPROACH.
•Catch limits - restrict the quantity of fish that can be taken
from the sea before fishers need to stop fishing. This is done
by TACs and quotas. OUTPUT APPROACH
•Technical measures - regulate how and where fishers can
fish. They can, for example, be used to protect young fish,
encourage the use of more selective fishing gear or prevent
serious damage to the marine environment.
Technical measures
•Technical measures include:
•minimum landing sizes
•minimum mesh sizes for nets
•closed areas and seasons
•limits on by-catches (catches of unwanted or non-target species)
•requirement to use more selective fishing gear (to reduce
unwanted by-catch)
•measures to prevent damage to the marine environment.
Technical measures differ considerably from one sea basin
to another, according to local conditions
Problem with fishing rules
What is the proper scale of decisionmaking?.
From micromanagement to self-management?
Size of fleets
Size of fleets
•Since January 2003, Member States have had to respect a
entry-exit regime for the capacity of their fleet, measured in
terms of both tonnage and ower. The idea is to ensure that
the capacity of national fleets can never be any greater than
it was on that date
•Community Fleet Register (CFR) was established. It is the
main tool for monitoring the size of the EU fishing fleet.
Problems with size of fleets
•Quality of current data. Are the registered boats really fishing?
•Where is going the EU overcapacity?
•How the “qualities” of size fleets are considered?
Funding
Funding
•The European fisheries fund (EFF) is the main financial
mechanism associated to CFP. Budget of €4.3 billion for
2007-2013.
•Previously (2000-2006) the financial mechanism was the
Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG). EU
allocations for FIFG were €3.2 billion
Funding
The EFF has five axes:
• Adjustment of the fleet (e.g. to support scrapping of fishing vessels)
• Aquaculture, processing and marketing, and inland fishing (e.g. to
support the shift to more environmentally friendly production
methods)
• Measures of common interest (e.g. to improve product traceability
or labelling)
• Sustainable development of fisheries areas (e.g. to support
diversification of the local economy)
• Technical assistance to finance the administration of the fund.
Funding
Fisheries control
Control regulation
•Current system is laid down in the Control Regulation which
entered into force on 1 January 2010 and which thoroughly
modernised the EU's approach to fisheries control.
Problems with control regulation
•In 2007 the EU Court of Auditors heavily criticized the
fisheries control in the European Union
•Fisheries control has generally been weak, penalties are not
dissuasive and inspections not frequent enough
•No link between funding and the development of control
systems at the national level
•Data supported by national governments to control fisheries
has been many times partially or directly wrong
International action
International action
•More than a quarter of the fish caught by European fishing
boats are actually taken outside EU waters. Around 8 % of
EU catches (2004-06) are made under fishing agreements
with countries outside the EU, while another 20 % are taken
on the high seas, mainly in regions under the care of
regional fisheries management organisations.
•As a major fishing power, and the largest single market for
fisheries products in the world, the EU does have an
important role in a number of international organisations.
This involves developing and implementing policy on
fisheries management and – more generally – the Law of the
Sea.
Problems with international action
• In the past EU fleet has contributed to overfishing on some
areas (example West Africa)
•Part of the fleet has been “re-flaged” and avoid EU
standards
•The fishing agreements have been paid with public money
not by EU vessel ownersing, why?
• In the past fishing agreement have not contributed to
development.
•Need to improve governance and transparency
Conclusion
World fisheries biggest impact on
marine environment and often
unsustainably managed
Towards a new Common
Fisheries Policy
Towards a new CFP
•Green paper on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy
(June 2010)
•Consultation on the Green paper (31 December 2010)
•Impact assessment of the proposals (autumn 2010)
•Meetings
•First draft: first semester 2011
•New CFP: end 2012
OCEAN2012
Key demands OCEAN 2012
• Prioritisation of environmental objectives
• Decision-making framework differentiating between
strategic and operational management decisions
• Quantitative and qualitative capacity limits
• Access to fisheries based on environmental and
social criteria, as well as compliance
• Phase out public aid that sustains overcapacity
Stock management
• No fishing without fish; no fish without
ecosystems
• Precautionary principle & ecosystem-based
approach
• Follow scientific advice – legally binding?
• Make MSY interim; better target needed
• LTMPs for all major stocks
• Minimise impact of fishing activities
Future decision-making
• Setting overall, long-term policy objectives
• Determining the available fish resources
• Determining the amount and type of fishing
power needed
• Allocating access to the resource
• Local/regionalised implementation
Better coherence
Long-term policy objectives set by highest decisionmaking bodies in line with:
• Environmental legislation such as 2008 Marine
Strategy Framework Directive, the 1992 Habitats
Directive and the Convention on Biodiversity
• EU development policy
Reducing overcapacity
• Fishing power – a measure of the properties of a
fishing vessel, measured in terms of the fishing
mortality the vessel causes on the fish stock or
stocks
• Legally binding capacity reduction – better match
with available resources
• Quality of capacity as well as quantity
• RBM systems can play a role, but more in allocating
resources and limiting input than reducing capacity
Access to resources
Set up criteria for (preferential) access:
•Selectivity
•Environmental impact
•Energy consumption
•Employment and working conditions
•Quality of product
•History of compliance
OCEAN 2012
• Brings environmental and social interests
together
• Gives focus and coordination to stakeholders
with same vision
• Spreads information and knowledge
• Not only in Brussels, but also in Member
States
Thanks for your attention
Miquel Ortega Cerdà
mortega@ent.cat
www.ent.cat
http://miquelortega.cat