Five years on from the 2002 reform, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has not yet attained its main objective, namely to ensure the sustainable management of European fish stocks. This is the verdict issued by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in its report ‘WWF mid-term review of the EU Common Fishery Policy: For a living planet’ ⁽¹⁾. The report presents an assessment of the implementation of the “new” CFP, identifies its main shortfalls and recommends a number of actions. “The majority of European fisheries are not being sustainably managed. Too few fisheries are profitable and too many need taxpayers’ money to survive,” notes Aaron McLoughlin, head of the European marine programme at WWF Europe. He adds that “fisheries ministers have voted to allow too many fish be caught to make sustainable harvests possible”.

The French EU Presidency very diplomatically postponed this challenge to fisheries governance until a later date as it readies to kick off, on 29 September, debate on the future reform of the CFP (see separate article).

GOOD, BUT CAN DO BETTER

Although the framework and the objectives of the CFP are sound, their implementation by the Commission and the Council seriously alters the original legislative intent, particularly for setting TACs and quotas and applying the precautionary principle to decisions, argues the WWF. Its principal criticisms concern:

- the annual process of setting TACs and quotas: pushed by the Council - which is interested in protecting short-term interests - the procedure sets quotas that far exceed scientific recommendations

- multiannual stock management and recovery plans: these are put in place too slowly and their success is hampered by member states’ reluctance to reduce quotas

- the ecosystem approach: 20% to 60% of catches are discarded yearly in European fisheries, undermining the effectiveness of conservation measures and the state of the ecosystem. Certain instruments and regulations, such as the use of TACs as the main tool for the management of mixed fisheries, lead inevitably to discards

- the EU’s relations with regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs): the report confirms that the EU is an active member of ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna) but regrets the insufficient enforcement of its decisions

- the adjustment of fishing capacity to stock conservation needs: although most member states have reduced fleet capacity, this question still lies at the heart of overfishing, a chronic problem for the EU.

RECOMMENDATIONS...

The regulatory and institutional framework for the CFP has to be simplified, argues the WWF, which also calls for longer-term decisions such as the use of multiannual (five-year) action plans. The reform of the CFP has not put an end to political interference: to attain the goal of sustainable exploitation of resources, it is imperative for the Council and Commission to strengthen and formalise the decision making process for TACs and other management measures by adopting harvest control rules (HCR) for each fishery.

Management and recovery plans should be adopted for all fish stocks and should be determined in collaboration with stakeholders, including the RACs (regional advisory councils). Plans should include HCR based on the state of the stock in terms of both limits and target reference points, taking into account uncertainties of assessments and associated risks to long-term productivity. Until such time as all stocks are covered, the introduction of recovery plans for stocks below safe biological limits should be accelerated.

The ecosystem approach and its implications for fisheries management should be clarified and indicators defined to measure the impact of fishing activity on the ecosystem and the state of resources so that appropriate management decisions can be taken.

The Commission should better assist member states to achieve a stable and enduring balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities by giving annual guidance on fishing opportunities in terms of fishing capacity and fishing effort. In addition to setting fishing capacity reference levels, the Commission should also advise on the changes in capacity that would be required to adjust current rates of fishing mortality in each stock relative to the agreed “precautionary reference points”.

… AND SUPPORT FROM NGOS

This analysis is shared on the whole by other environmental organisations, which also find fault with the Community’s decision making procedures that are too dependent on political and industrial pressure. Oceana also highlights the need to abolish subsidies - including those aiming in principle to provide support for the scrapping of vessels - whose perverse effects result in an increase of fishing capacity. Greenpeace is mistrustful of the role of the RACs, which are of course a forum for discussion, but which it fears have potentially too much clout in decision making due to their composition, seen as imbalanced (over-representation of economic and political interests).

“Too few fisheries are profitable and too many need taxpayers’ money to survive”
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