Brussels, 21/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament (EP) fisheries committee, meeting in Strasbourg in the evening of Monday 21 May, discussed the draft report by Ulrike Rodust (S&D, Germany) on the reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP). Rodust backs the Commission's main proposals on the broad thrust of the reform: management of stocks according to the principle of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015 at the latest, banning discards (though introduced gradually and fishery-based, rather than species-based), and putting in place “individual and collective”, fishing concessions in order to bring an end to the overcapacity in the fishing fleet. The rapporteur puts forward a new suggestion: a measure that requires member states to close between 10% and 20% of their waters to fishing within three years to protect vulnerable habitats and improve the productivity of fish stocks.
Rodust's draft report does not confine itself to the basic regulation reforming the CFP. It contains over 200 amendments and it is absolutely clear that the fisheries committee will bring major changes to the draft report before it goes to the EP plenary session.
The Commission's draft regulation sets the objective that, by 2015, all fish stocks should be exploited at the level of MSY. The rapporteur supports this objective. In her amendments, she states that a legally binding obligation must be placed on the Council to reduce fishing mortality to an MSY-compatible level (FMSY) by 2015. For a transitional period, there must be an even sharper reduction in fishing mortality among heavily overfished stocks in order to allow the stocks to grow, the draft report says.
Gradual ban on discards. The proposal that all species caught should be landing, and the consequent ending of discards, should be retained, Rodust says, as this will provide a substantial incentive to greater selectivity and thus to the avoidance of unintended by-catches. This measure, if applied intelligently, will, in the long term, contribute to increased landings. To make the landing rule work, the rapporteur suggests a number of amendments and additions to the Commission proposal are necessary. These include: - requiring member states to conduct pilot projects on improving selectivity in order to pave the way for the landing rule and help fishermen to reduce by-catches; - directing the financial support for improved selectivity towards those fisheries in which application of the landing rule is particularly problematic; - making provision for a gradual and fishery- rather than species-based approach, so that detailed regulations can be worked out in multiannual plans before the landing rule comes into force; - drafting rules to ease the impact of the landing rule on fishermen, including, inter alia, de minimis exceptions for small-volume by-catches if they cannot be processed on land, and an exemption for by-catches with a high survival rate after discarding at sea.
A transparent system of individual and collective fishing concessions. Criticism of the Commission's proposed “transferable fishing concessions” (TFCs) focuses primarily on the fact that they are to be tradable and can therefore be monetised. The rapporteur wishes to highlight another aspect of fishing concessions - the fact that, for fishermen, they constitute not just a financial resource but also a guaranteed right to fish. Fishermen know that they are entitled, for a specified period of time, to fish a specified proportion of the national quota and can thus plan ahead more securely. This security is also good for the environment because the fishermen have a full year to fish their quota and do not need to try to catch as much as possible in the shortest possible time.
As a means of realising these advantages without monetising fishing rights, the rapporteur therefore suggests that the word “transferable” in Article 27 be deleted. Fishing concessions will thus remain the property of the member states and will be transferred to operators for specified periods of time only. The proposal permits the voluntary “pooling” of fishing concessions in order to allow traditional collective forms of management or management by producer organisations. The question of who will be granted these fishing concessions is clearly of the utmost importance. The member states should be required to take social and environmental criteria into account so that small local fisheries and selective catching practices are supported, the draft report states.
Regionalisation. The rapporteur proposal wants to achieve closer coordination among the member states so that when responsibilities are delegated to them, under a multiannual plan or a technical framework regulation, the result is not a patchwork of varying national measures.
The draft report therefore calls on the member states to cooperate on the adoption of (“regionalised”) national measures. At the same time, the Advisory Councils will be given a stronger role, in that they will have to be consulted by both the Commission and the member states before any measure is taken. If the Commission or the member states subsequently depart from their recommendations they must present sound reasons for doing so. The Advisory Councils should also be consulted when the landing rule is being introduced and, before it comes into force, should submit proposals for the implementation of fully documented fishing. It should also be part of their role to make proposals for exemptions for species of fish with higher survival rates. Such proposals must then be subject, of course, to further scientific assessment.
Stock recovery. The draft report goes a step further than the Commission proposal in that it suggests an additional measure (the new Article 7(a)) requiring member states to close 10-20% of their territorial waters to fishing within three years. Such closures can be used as a way of protecting vulnerable habitats and can also help to improve the productivity of fish stocks, where, for example, spawning areas are closed to fishing.
Transitional measures for the Mediterranean. The EU currently imposes no catch restrictions on Mediterranean fish stocks apart from bluefin tuna. The number of overfished stocks in the Mediterranean, however, is particularly high and the available data particularly poor. The fragmentary nature of the fleets makes it difficult to implement control measures. One of the major problems in the Mediterranean is that of monitoring implementation of Regulation 1967/2006 and checking the catches landed, because there is a myriad of tiny ports and landing places. The rapporteur suggests, therefore, the introduction in the Mediterranean of a system of territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs). Under this system, a group of fishermen will share a given area in which they are allowed to fish. The rights-based scheme will enhance the fishermen's sense of responsibility, facilitating self-monitoring or reciprocal monitoring arrangements, as the fishermen have an interest in ensuring that no illegal fishing takes place in their area. When delimiting the geographical extent of TURFs, member states must, the draft report says, take account of the situation in the areas closed to fishing. The member states must see to it that fishing mortality in the TURFs is restricted so that the objectives of the regulation, especially that of MSY, can be achieved. Such restrictions, which may entail limiting either catches or fishing effort, must be coordinated between TURFs in which the same species is caught. It may be possible, ultimately, for the Council to introduce long-term limits on catches or fishing effort in respect of certain fish stocks.
The draft report makes provision for joint fisheries management partnerships between the Eu and third countries. Under such agreements, the EU could make available financial resources and technical assistance. In return, the partner countries concerned would commit to effective fisheries management arrangements compatible with those of the EU. (LC/transl.rt)