Brussels, 14/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Despite progress in certain areas, such as regionalisation of some management measures, and new governance for aquaculture, the fisheries industry is very critical of the content of the first package of proposals for the reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP) set out by Commissioner Maria Damanaki on Wednesday 13 July (see EUROPE 10418).
President of Europêche (Association of National Organisations of Fishing Enterprises in the EU) Javier Garat, and Chairman of the Copa-Cogeca Working Party on Fish Giampaolo Buonfiglio highlight that “the Commission has not taken into account the sector's essential demands, which have been put forward on many occasions over the past two years, and has also not provided any socio-economic elements within the proposed measures”. However, the two also highlight the Commission's dramatisation of the situation in the European fisheries sector and the worryingly generalised overview that it gives of the state of fish stocks in one of the recent communications, “fish stocks in European waters are improving”.
The two organisations request that the Commission does not move away from the CFP's fundamental objectives, which appear in the TFEU, and state that the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) objective should be achieved “gradually and in a flexible manner, depending on the situation in the various European fish stocks”. The Commission wants all fish stocks to be managed according to this principle by 2015 at the latest.
Europêche and Copa-Cogeca recommend a “maximum progressive reduction” in discards rather than the pure and simple ban the Commission would like, “which would be very difficult to achieve”, they state. The sector wants numerous pilot projects to be developed in order to identify the technical difficulties and costs that would result from a ban on discards.
On the issue of transferrable fishing concessions, the two organisations reiterate that they may prove to be “inappropriate for small-scale coastal fishing and would in any case not be suitable for fishing in the Mediterranean”. They add: “Any decision relating to establishing and allocating these concessions should, therefore, be the responsibility of the member states.”
They say that it is regrettable that the Commission has not succeeded in establishing a definition of small-scale coastal fishing acceptable to the sector; a definition which would guarantee that there would be no discrimination between the different fleet segments and regions in the EU. Retaining one single criterion, “fishing vessels with a length of less than 12 metres overall and which do not use any towed gear (…)”, is not appropriate as it is too simplistic and fails to fit the various regional situations.
Withdrawal of aid to the fleet will have a “very negative impact” on the fisheries sector. Removal of aid for scrapping fishing vessels will dramatically slow the reduction of the fleet and withdrawal of aid for modernisation will condemn the fleet to an ageing process which will have a devastating effect on the safety of the people on-board, the organisations argue. Financial support for the modernisation of vessels may also prove to be necessary within energy efficiency measures, which are largely supported by the EU (installing engines which use less fuel and which reduce pollution).
Garat and Buonfiglio express their surprise at the fact that such a radical proposed reform to the CFP should completely ignore the economic and social consequences it will have, “bearing in mind the significant reduction in the number of jobs that is expected in the short-term, particularly in the fish harvesting sector”. Europêche and Copa-Cogeca request the creation of a socio-economic element to accompany the policy. They highlight that the sectoral social partners recently submitted an extensive action plan for employment, training and safety of fishermen in response to the Commission's priorities outlined in the EUROPE 2020 communication. Europêche and Copa-Cogeca are ready to work together with the Community's institutions in order to ensure that the future CFP is economically viable in the interests of both fishermen and the wider European society. (L.C./transl.rt)