Brussels, 16/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Letting fish stocks return to healthy and sustainable levels would result in an increase in landings, profits and income for fishermen and shipowners, according to a new independent study published on Tuesday 16 October and backed by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature).
The study - “Socio-Economic Benefits of a Bold EU Fisheries Reform” - is the first of the type to evaluate the economic and social benefits for the European fisheries sector of implementing a strong reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP).
“If politicians vote for a bold and ambitious common fisheries policy reform that will, together with the proper implementation, allow the fish stocks to recover, in just ten years from now, we could start seeing huge benefits. By 2022, EU fishermen could be landing an additional 2.8 million tonnes of sustainably caught fish and generating extra income of €2.1 billion per year for the fisheries sector - around 80% more - than if past trends are allowed to continue”, the study says. Furthermore, the income per fisherman could be up to 50% higher on average than it is today, thanks to an ambitious CFP reform. An ambitious reform would thus allow up to 35,000 jobs to be saved. It would enable the Spanish fleet to provide 7,000-9,000 more jobs and to generate €130-€280million more than if the stocks continue deteriorating. France and the United Kingdom could also make significant gains, with additional income of between €120-€250million for each of them and the creation of between 1,000 and 3,000 jobs.
The study presents some stark conclusions as to what would happen without CFP reform. If fish stocks and the number of fishermen continue to decline without further CFP reform, then by 2022: - EU fishermen will land 1.4 million fewer tonnes of fish compared to 2009 (in other words a decline of 30%); - EU fishing fleets could decrease by 20%; - 50,000 fishermen could have lost their jobs across the EU (which is a 30% drop in employment compared to 2009). The study says that in the case of status quo, landings could fall by 26% for the Spanish fleet, 20% for the French fleet and 27% for the Polish fleet.
The report notes that EU landings in fish products have fallen by an average of 3.7% per year (although Iceland and Norway have managed to maintain their production at relatively constant levels). Between 2000 and 2009, EU landings declined by over 22%, from 6.6 to 5.2 million tonnes.
The size of the EU fleet and on-board employment declined by 2.2% and 3.7% per year, respectively.
The WWF calls for a reformed CFP which: - ensures fish populations are above levels which can support maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015; - establishes multi-annual plans by 2015; - enhances cooperation at regional level on sustainable management of fish stocks; - stops the wasteful practice of discarding unwanted fish while bringing unwanted catches to zero by 2018 at the latest; - limits subsidy payments to sustainable fishing practices. (LC/transl.fl)