On Thursday 30 April, in its assessment of the Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which covers the decade from 2014 to 2024, the European Commission took the view that while some progress has been made in reducing overfishing and strengthening fisheries management, the gains in terms of sustainability are still insufficient.
The Commission believes that fish stocks are recovering too slowly. According to the institution, the proportion of stocks fished at sustainable levels has risen from 50% in 2014 to 63% in 2022, and fishing pressure has decreased. But fish stocks have not recovered as expected. In addition, EU aquaculture, although profitable, remains relatively small and has not achieved the growth in production that its potential would allow, regrets the institution.
What’s more, the economic gains forecast for 2014 did not fully materialise, not least because of new challenges such as geopolitical developments and high energy prices. The value of EU trade in fisheries and aquaculture products has increased by 18% in real terms between 2015 and 2024, but progress on the economic and social dimension of the policy has been more limited than expected.
The evaluation also notes that the landing obligation - which requires all fish caught to be brought ashore, even unwanted or undersized species - has not led to the expected level of improvement in fishing practices or better selectivity, mainly due to poor implementation of this rule.
So, according to the Commission, in most cases the main challenge is not the CFP rules themselves, but inconsistent implementation and enforcement in EU Member States.
The evaluation should inform possible reforms of the CFP. It will also serve as a basis for the Commission’s ‘Vision for Fisheries and Aquaculture 2040’ and feed into the EU’s wider strategy for external action in fisheries.
See the evaluation: https://aeur.eu/f/lrz (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)