Brussels, 01/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - The report by Ulrike Rodust (S&D, Germany) on the regulation on the common fisheries policy (CFP) will be voted on at the plenary of the European Parliament on Wednesday 6 February. A number of political groups have submitted amendments to reinforce or attenuate various elements, particularly on the phasing-out of discards and achieving the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) to restore fish stocks. Certain observers anticipate that at the plenary, a large majority will form in favour of the report, whereas the vote in the committee on fisheries (see EUROPE 10755) was tight (13 for, 10 against and 1 abstention).
The EPP group will seek to make the rules on the ban on discards less stringent for fishermen, a move which should make it easier to reach a compromise with the Council. The French member Alain Cadec and Carmen Fraga of Spain are to table an amendment, which has the support of the sector, to water Rodust's proposal down significantly. The timetable for the ban on discards will be more staggered in time (2016 to 2019) under the EPP amendment. The ban on discards in itself would apply solely to species under TAC (total allowable catch) and subject to minimum landing sizes, rather than to all species as recommended by the Rodust report. The EPP Group's amendment is closer to the Council's position, “which has a certain coherence with a view to the trialogues”, Alain Cadec told EUROPE. The EPP has also called for fishing professionals to form the “majority” on regional consultative councils (which give opinions on the stock management measures).
Together with 40 colleagues of various political groups and nationalities, Cadec has also tabled amendments on: - the definition of small coastal fisheries: as called for by the Spanish, the report stipulates boats of less than 50 metres in length spending no more than 24 hours at sea, whereas Cadec's amendment leaves the choice up to the states to determine the notion of “small-scale fishing” on the basis of the specific natures of their maritime basins; - the outermost regions: as called for by France, an amendment calls for the ban on access to 100 nautical miles to be extended to all of the outermost regions (rather than just Portugal's and Spain's) for Community vessels not enjoying historic fishing rights in these areas; - public aid: the amendment aims to allow public aid to continue to be authorised to replace and modernise vessels (to link up with Cadec's report on aid to fishing 2014-2020).
The Greens/EFA Group is to table amendments aiming to improve the ban on discards, particularly to encourage the use of more selective fishing methods (such as nets allowing young fish or certain species to pass through them). According to Spain's Raül Romeva i Rueda, the Greens want to make sure that the ban on discards does not create a parallel market. In order to ensure this, fish landed as a result of the ban on discards should not end up on the market, they argue. A further amendment by the Greens will seek to give fishermen incentives to reduce (accidental) by-catch. Romeva went on to explain that it is also necessary to ensure that the ban on discards is accompanied by a reinforcement of controls at sea and when landing in ports. The Greens/EFA Group also recommends that more possibilities be granted to vessels which fish responsibly (respect for the environment) and create the most jobs. The amendment also calls for environmental and social criteria to be taken into account when dividing up fishing possibilities, rather than the historic catches criterion.
The S&D group, of which the rapporteur is a member, hopes to maintain the balance of the text voted on in the fisheries committee. However, it will propose an amendment to the details for the implementation of the end of discards. The S&D will ask for a vote to get rid of the paragraph stipulating that the proceeds from the sales of fish landed (due to the ban on discards) be paid into a fund managed by the member state in which the fish were landed, and be used for control and monitoring purposes and to gather scientific data. The group argues that the benefits (which are already much smaller because the catches have to be processed into fishmeal) should go to the fishermen in order to compensate them for the additional effort.
The S&D will also submit a number of technical amendments: - granting preferential access within the 12-mile zone to small-scale fishermen (artisanal fishing) and fishermen using environmentally-friendly fishing methods; - imposing strong penalties on member states if they do not follow their obligations under regionalisation; - making subsidies from the EMFF more conditional upon compliance.
Main elements of the Rodust report
Discards. The Rodust report aims for a phasing-out of discards for all species fished and regulated species. This constitutes an extension of the scope of this measure compared to the initial proposal. Depending on the species, the timetable for compulsory landing of catches (arising from the end to discards) will start in 2014 (mackerel, herring, horse mackerel, blue whiting, anchovy, sardine, sprat, bluefin tuna, swordfish, sandeel, Norway pout, salmon in the Baltic Sea, etc), continue in 2016 (cod, haddock, whiting, pollock, lobster, sole and flounder, hake, northern prawn) and be completed in 2017 (other species). De minimis derogations are included to the obligation to land, to allow fishermen to discard up to 5% of their total annual catch (the Greens/EFA Group is against these de minimis derogations, whereas the EPP Group would like to increase this percentage from 5% to 10%. The Rodust report also builds in inter-annual flexibility of 5% for stocks subject to the lansing obligation, whereas a number of countries of the EU, such as France and Spain, are calling for 15%.
In its recommendations of June 2012, the Council provided for a ban on discards solely for species subject to TACs and minimum landing sizes. The provisional timetable of the Council lays down a ban on discards staggered between 2015 and 2018.
MSY. The committee on fisheries of the EP would like the common fisheries policy to “apply the precautionary approach to fisheries management and to ensure that, by 2015, fishing mortality rates are set at levels that should allow fish stocks to recover, by 2020 at the latest, above levels that are capable of producing the maximum sustainable yield and allow all recovered stocks to be maintained at these levels”. The Council has adopted less stringent standards, calling for the fishing mortality rates to be set in 2015 wherever possible, and by 2020 at the latest, so that at least the level capable of producing the MSY can be achieved.
In the view of Isabella Lövin (Greens/EFA, Sweden), the report should stay as it is on MSY, even though achieving above the MSY by 2020 is a minimum. She points out that Norway has reconstituted stocks of cod in its waters four times above the level allowing the MSY to be produced: this is a victory for the environment and the economy. The Greens also stress that greater abundance in stocks will lead to a drop in the prices of fish bought by consumers and a reduction in costs for shipowners, who will not need to go as far in order to fish. Jean-Paul Besset (Greens/EFA, France) said that the Rodust report was a break with the logic of decline in stocks, thanks to the principal of MSY which makes it possible to base the CFP on the resource. He pointed out that in ten years, the reduction in catches of fish in the EU was 25%, the fall in jobs in the fisheries sector 30%, despite the fact that Europe spent €4 billion.
External dimension of the CFP. The Greens/EFA Group welcomes the fact that some of its ideas have been adopted by the Parliamentary committee: - EU vessels fishing outside Community waters must respect the same standards as vessels in European waters; - international agreements concluded with third states should allow the Union access to the resources or waters of those states sustainably to fish “a proportion of the surplus” of the biological resources of the sea, in exchange for financial compensation. Rodust's report also lays great emphasis on the introduction of a “human rights clause” in agreements between the EU and third countries (a “conditionality clause” which makes the agreements subject to the observation of human rights). In addition, between now and 2020, the shipowners of the EU will have to pay the fees entitling them to fish in the waters of third countries covered by the agreements themselves. A further amendment also provides for a measure banning licences to be allocated to a vessel for a period of 24 months following a temporary “re-flagging” in a third state. Lastly, the fisheries committee provides for the European fleet operating outside European waters to be equipped with closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras or equivalent to enable full documentation of fishing practices and catches.
“Sanctuaries”. Rodust gives the member states the option of establishing fish stock recovery areas in which fishing would be banned, in order, amongst other things, to allow the fish to reproduce. The S&D is to table an amendment to add to this provision. It will be up to the member states (together with scientists and the fishermen concerned) to designate these zones, which should represent “at least 10%” of their territorial waters. Certain countries, such as France, feel that this measure (stock recovery areas) could harm the interests of small-scale and coastal fishing.
Sanctions. Under Rodust's report, countries failing to reduce over-capacity in their fishing fleet would be denied resources under the EMFF.
Transferable fishing concessions. Lastly, the Rodust report rejects the notion of transferable fishing concessions (kind of privatisation of fish quotas). At the request of Alain Cadec, the whole of paragraph 4 on transferable fishing concessions has been deleted. The result is that the status quo will stand. In June, the Council retained this type of fishing right, but only on a voluntary basis. (LC/transl.fl)