Brussels, 26/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Fish stocks in the north and west of Europe are recovering, but serious overfishing problems continue in the Mediterranean Sea. This is the main message sent out by Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Fisheries, in a document on the state of fish stocks and outlines of fishing quotas for 2015. A public consultation has been launched ahead of the Commission's presentation, in the autumn, of its proposals on fishing opportunities for next year.
This is the first consultation document on fishing opportunities since the reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP) entered into force on 1 January 2014. 2015 will be the first year of the new obligation to land (end of discards), starting with the pelagic species (mackerel, herring, sprat and anchovy) and all species in the Baltic Sea.
The CFP also aims to make it possible to move towards managing fish stocks in line with the principle of MSY (maximum sustainable yield) in 2015, where possible (otherwise, no later than 2020). The Commission is therefore planning to present TACs which work towards achieving MSY in 2015. This will affect 46 stocks in the north-east Atlantic and the Baltic Sea.
According to data on fish stocks for the Mediterranean, the situation is dismal: at least 96% of the Mediterranean bottom-living fish are overfished and, for the middle-water stocks like sardine and anchovy, this figure is 71% or more. In the Black Sea, all bottom-living fish and 33% of pelagic stocks are overfished. “I am very worried how badly things are going in the Mediterranean Sea”, said Damanaki. “We need to (…) adopt regional fishing plans (…) and I shall be discussing this with all the Fisheries Ministers in the Mediterranean member states”, she added.
There is better news from the north-east Atlantic area, where overfishing has fallen from 86% (30 out of the 35 stocks assessed overfished) in 2009 to 41% (19 stocks out of 46) in 2014.
Pelagic stocks. The Commission notes that most herring stocks are fished at MSY level. The Western horse mackerel and herring in the North West of Ireland are overfished. As for mackerel, the stock may have increased significantly in 2014.
North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat. Saithe, plaice, haddock and nephrops in the Skagerrak and the North Sea are fished at levels which are compatible with the MSY. Cod stocks in the North Sea are still far from the precautionary level. Discard rates have been declining, but are still around 25% of landings.
Baltic Sea. Catches of Central Baltic herring, Bothnian Sea herring and Baltic Seas sprat are fished consistently with MSY. However, the latest advice indicates that, for the Western Baltic cod stock, the fishing mortality rate provided by the existing plan is far from the MSY target. In 2014, the Commission will propose a new multi-annual plan for the Baltic Sea.
Western Scotland, Irish sea and Celtic Sea. In western Scotland, the level of certain stocks of white fish other than haddock remains low. Discards remain high. In the Celtic Sea, fishing opportunities have been reduced. Fishing opportunities for cod and whiting were substantially reduced.
Deep-sea species. For most stocks, the recent ICES advice recommends reducing fishing or banning any increase over the period 2015-2016, unless the sustainability of the fisheries is established. The species for which the situation is of the greatest concern are orange roughy, deep-sea sharks, red sea bream and some stocks of roundnose grenadier.
Iberian-Atlantic area and the Bay of Biscay. The state of stocks of southern hake, megrim and anglerfish is improving. Southern hake stock has experienced good recruitment, but is still overfished. The scientists recommend that fisheries for Norway lobster in the Cantabrian Sea is stopped.
Where there are multi-annual plans in place which respect the MSY objectives, the Commission will propose to continue to apply these. If they no longer respect the MSY, the Commission will make proposals based on the MSY. Where no scientific opinion is available, the Commission intends to apply the precautionary principle “systematically”.
The document shows that the economic performance of the EU fleets in all areas has improved, with a net profit margin which has risen from 1% in 2008 to 6% in 2011. Income registered a greater increase than costs. The gross value added (GVA) generated in 2011 was €3.4 billion (+4% on 2010), gross profit was €1.3 billion (+7%) and net profit €410 million (+22%). The EU fishing fleet landed less, but generated a higher first sale value in 2011. (LC)