Brussels, 29/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - A study carried out by the Association française d'halieutique (French Fisheries Association, AFH) demonstrates clearly that, despite the protestations of the authorities, the decisions taken by the Council last December on total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2012 were not all in line, far from it, with scientific opinion (sirs.agrocampus-ouest.fr/AFH).
Among the 111 TACs adopted by the EU Council of Ministers in December of last year, 28 related to stocks on which scientists had delivered a TAC recommendation. These are the best known stocks, which together amount to 30% of the total volume of the TACs adopted - 0.60 million tonnes out of 1.99 million tonnes. Of the 111 TACs adopted by EU fisheries ministers, only 59 - amounting to 40% of TAC volume - reflected exactly the scientific advice.
The French authors of the report consider three categories of stocks:
(1) For the 59 stocks, which together amount to 40% of the total TACs adopted, the decisions taken were in line with scientific advice. With only a few exceptions (for example, megrim in the Celtic Sea), TACs remained at the same level or increased (as was the case, for example, with herring in the North Sea, southern hake, turbot, North Sea plaice, and sole in the North Sea, Eastern and Western Channel). In other words, when the state of a stock improves and the scientific recommendation is on the up, the political decision reflects this.
(2) For 28 stocks, which represent 30% of total TACs adopted, authorised catches were higher than the recommended levels. These related to stocks for which scientists recommended that catches be reduced (14 stocks) or at least not increased (3 stocks). By way of example, the TACs for herring in the Eastern Channel and Norway lobster in the Bay of Biscay were kept at the same level in 2012 although scientists had called for them to be cut. TACs for whiting in the Celtic Sea and haddock in the Bay of Biscay were put up, by 15% and 25% respectively, although scientists had called for no increase. For these 28 stocks, the total volume of 2012 TACs rose by 15% compared with Commission proposals but fell by 16% compared with 2011 TACs. In other words, scientific advice was not followed for stocks for which lower catch levels had been recommended. “Unsurprisingly, it is the most painful decisions that politicians are most reluctant to go along with”, the report states.
(3) For the remaining 24 stocks, which also amount to 30% of the volume of TACs adopted, the political decision cannot be linked to any precise recommendation. This is the case, in particular, for mackerel, halibut, saithe, pollack, blue whiting, rays and sharks, and northern prawn.
The study shows, too, that the decision-making process for TACs and quotas has become extremely complex, “opaque” even. “If this process is to be made more transparent it will require the involvement of all the players and management units will have to be redefined in line with current knowledge on the state of stocks. This is a major challenge for fisheries management and for the current reform of the common fisheries policy”, the AFH scientists state.
The scientists note that, while the situation for some stocks would appear to be improving, the state of European fish resources overall continues to give cause for concern. Fifty per cent of stocks are judged to be outside the limits of environmental sustainability or present signs of decline. And these do not have TACs. In addition, scientific knowledge remains very fragmented. Only a small number of stocks have been accurately assessed. There is no scientific monitoring of around half of the catches in EU waters, or the monitoring is not enough to allow TAC recommendations to be made. “There is a real shortfall in research, with research funding clearly insufficient to meet the challenges of sustainable exploitation of the sea's natural resources”, the experts conclude. (LC/transl.rt)