Brussels, 29/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 29 January, the European Commission adopted a report concluding “the implementation of the measures has been too poor to adequately protect deep sea stocks” (roundnose grenadier, black scabbardfish, blue ling, orange roughy, etc.). The report analyses measures that have been in place since 2002, when quotas were introduced for these species, but does not take into account Council decisions of November 2006 on catch levels for the years 2007 to 2008.
In its report, the Commission stresses that many deep-sea stocks have such a low productivity rate that catch levels are probably too low to allow economically viable fishing. Also, it takes such a long while for stocks to recover (as such species take a long while to grow and live a long time) that any reduction in fishing must be considered as a permanent measure and not just a way to increase catches in the longer term.
Data collected has allowed the Commission to note that catches of deep-sea species off-loaded in ports have more often than not been far smaller than the Total Allowable Catches (TACs), which seems to indicate that the latter are not yet sufficiently restrictive. A table shows that the 2005 quotas were not fully used (13-61% use for deep-sea sharks, 10-98% for scabbardfish, 13-75% for tusk, 8-79% for grenadier, 23-76% for orange roughy, and 5-98% for blue ling). Despite shortcomings, it is likely that TACs have made it possible to reduce the rate of mortality through fishing of some of the main species concerned. For the long-term management of deep-sea stocks, it is nonetheless obvious that TACs must be completed by other measures, such as fishing restrictions, the report states.
The EU has gradually set in place measures to manage fishing activity (fishing permits, ceiling on fishing capacities, 10% reduction in the fishing effort in 2005 and the same again in 2006). The Commission has above all assessed whether the decisions on fishing activity have allowed the EU to comply with the opinion of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), namely to reduce fishing activity by 30%. Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom have provided data showing that the fishing effort in 2005 accounted at most for 65% of the 2000 effort which, the Commission notes, leads one to believe that the Community has well and truly come into line with the NEAFC recommendation.
The report also stresses that, except for a few rare exceptions, fishing vessels that operate for exploitation of deep-sea species catch a variety of species, although they may only be aiming to catch one or two. In particular, it occurs that some deep-sea species, such as ling and tusk, are to be found among the by-catches of deep-sea demersal harvests.
The Commission is also highly critical of the fact that member states have not taken seriously the implementation protection measures for orange roughy (prohibited fishing zone, located to the west of the United Kingdom and Ireland). The Commission notes that early warning systems available to the fishing activity surveillance centres are generally not regulated to automatically set off an alarm when a fishing boat is fishing or crossing the orange roughy protection areas. (lc).