Over the past few years there has been significant progress in implementing the 2013 common fisheries policy (CFP) reform, states a communication adopted by the European Commission on Wednesday 5 July.
This document, which will be presented at the July Agriculture and Fisheries Council takes stock of how the CFP rules are being implemented and provides a basis for setting total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2018.
MSY. According to the latest assessment from the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), based on 2015 data, 39 of 66 stocks assessed in the North-East Atlantic are being fished within the principle of maximum sustainable yield, equating to 59%, up from 52% in 2014). Median fishing mortality has now stabilised at around 1.0. In 2017, the number of total allowable catches (TACs) set in line with MSY advice increased to 44, representing 61% of all catches in the North-East Atlantic.
Stocks. Average stock biomass in the North-East Atlantic increased by 35% between 2003 and 2015.
Economic performance. The EU fleet registered record net profits of €770 million in 2014, a 50% increase over the 2013 figure of €500 million.
Capacity. In recent years, the balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities across the entire EU fleet has improved. Between 2007 and 2015 the EU fishing fleet’s capacity fell gradually, with the number of fishing vessels decreasing by 6%, engine power by 14% and tonnage by 24%.
Multiannual plans. After the adoption of the Baltic plan in 2016, the Commission has proposed multiannual plans for demersal fish stocks in the North Sea and for small pelagics in the Adriatic.
Governance. The Commission says that CFP governance has clearly become more decentralised (with multiannual plans and delegated acts adopted through regionalisation).
The Commission acknowledges that further efforts are needed in particular to bring down the high levels of overfishing in the Mediterranean, to reduce the number of individual stocks exploited above MSY in the North-East Atlantic and to implement the landing obligation (ending discards at sea). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)