Blog: EU fisheries policy is a win-win - Recovering fish stocks and profitable fleets - Hoofdinhoud
The December Fisheries Council starts today. It is an important milestone in our ongoing efforts to make sure that European fishermen have enough fish stocks. This will ensure the long term future of their industry.
The European Commission team within the relevant department - DG Mare - go to great lengths to put balanced and fair proposals on the table.
We took the time to have an interview with Maja Kirchner to outline some of our guiding principles. This interview is conducted by Michael Scheerer. I hope you enjoy, Karmenu.
December is the most important month for the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. Shortly before Christmas, the Commission and the Member States gather in the Council to agree on the following year’s fishing quotas. Talks on the 2018 quotas start today, and this time the Commission has good reason to expect a positive outcome for fish stocks and fishermen alike. Maja Kirchner, the head of unit for Fisheries Management Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea in DG MARE, explains why.
The season of feasts and friendship is about to begin. What fish can Europeans enjoy in good conscience?
Let's start with the good news: any fish that is farmed in the European Union is most certainly a good option. EU aquaculture has to meet the world's most stringent health and environmental standards. So for our colleagues from Central and Eastern Europe, the traditional Christmas carp is not a problem! If they are farmed in the EU, you can enjoy these delicacies with a clear conscience. When it comes to wild fish, the picture is more mixed. In the Mediterranean, for example, more than 90% of assessed fish stocks are currently overfished. But in the Atlantic and the North Sea, popular species like sole, haddock and plaice - which were not in good shape only a few years ago - have recovered and are now back on the menu. This is thanks to continued buy-in to EU policies by Member States, and most importantly by our fishermen.
In terms of stocks and sustainability - what's the situation today, compared to 10 years ago?
As colleagues may know, the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) aims to have all stocks fished at sustainable levels by 2020, thus securing the future of our fishing industry. And we've really managed to turn things around. Only a decade ago, highly emblematic fish stocks like North Sea cod and Northern hake were severely overfished. Now many stocks in the Northeast Atlantic have been rebuilt. North Sea cod is back on many supermarket shelves and now carries the Marine Stewardship Council's sustainability logo. Northern hake has recovered to levels not seen since the 1970s.
Our international partners know: when the European Union is in the room, sustainability will definitely be on the agenda
How did we achieve this? By embracing sustainable fishing practices: scaling down our oversized fleet, reducing catch limits, modifying fishing gear, and adopting 'real time' closures or sea area closures to protect spawning females. Today, a large part of the EU fleet is running high profits while supplying the markets with more fish than it has in decades. It shows that conservation efforts pay off - for fish stocks, and for fishermen as well. Sustainability really is a win-win for everybody, and we hope to build on this progress this week, when fisheries ministers in the Council will decide on next year's catch limits for the North Sea, the Atlantic and the Black Sea. The Commission has tabled an ambitious yet balanced proposal that will allow the EU to continue on the path to sustainable fisheries, for this and future generations.
How is the Commission dealing with the constant 'bycatch' problem?
In the past, fishermen targeting a certain fish species would often simply throw other, unwanted fish species - bycatch - overboard. Needless to say, throwing tonnes of often dead fish back into the sea is extremely wasteful and not at all sustainable! The reformed CFP has banned this practice of discarding and introduced a 'landing obligation'. This means that, by 2019, fishermen will have to bring everything they catch back to the fishing port. We've been phasing this in since 2015, giving fishermen time to adjust - for instance by developing better nets that allow unwanted fish to escape before they're hauled on-board. Countries like Chile, Iceland, New Zealand or Norway already have experience with landing obligations, so we know it works!
How is the EU working internationally to promote sustainable fisheries?
This is an important point: if the EU wants to be credible, we need to practise what we preach - and not just at home, but wherever EU fishing vessels go to fish. That's why we have concluded Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements with many developing countries, not least along the West African coast. These agreements are very clear: EU vessels are only allowed to fish surplus resources that local fishermen would not target - and only within sustainable limits, based on scientific advice. We also support those countries in their own efforts at boosting sustainable fishing: for example by training inspectors, funding patrol boats, building fisheries monitoring centres and improving their scientific data collection.
More generally, since 2008, the Regulation on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing allows us to close the EU's market - the world's biggest - to imports from countries where rampant illegal fishing takes place. Many countries have decided to work with us to change their ways, rather than run that risk. So I like to think that we've built up a reputation for being credible partners when it comes to healthy oceans. Whether it's working to achieve an international moratorium on fishing in the Arctic high seas earlier this month, or hosting the world's leading conference on healthy oceans in Malta in October this year - our international partners know: when the EU is in the room, sustainability will definitely be on the agenda.
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