Brussels, 17/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - European Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg, usually more diplomatic and cautious, let it be known in a speech to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on Thursday 16 July, that he might be tempted to try individual transferable (i.e. they can be sold) quotas, though they are severely criticised by several member states in the debate on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CAP). Borg also raised the possibility of a resources management system by fishing effort (authorised fishing days), an idea supported especially by Spain, which is the country most against the current total allowable catch (TAC) and quota system.
What might be the best management system for our fish and shellfish stocks? “We have, of course, looked to other countries such as Iceland and New Zealand, where individually tradable rights are used to manage fish stocks with apparently good results,” Borg said. This system of quota management is, then, one of the possible options contained in the Commission's Green Paper on CFP reform.
Such a system of individual transferable rights operates with TACs and quotas, but it could very well also work with fishing effort, he went on to say. “We could envisage, for example, a system that functions entirely on the allocation of fishing effort for stocks or groups of stocks that are fished together,” he said, adding, “Such a system would work by allocating every vessel with an allowance in days at sea, which the vessel owner would manage throughout the year”. This would mean the crew could land all catches, and so avoid discards and reduce false declarations. Another advantage is that it would be easier to monitor.
But what then for the principle of relative stability (the way quotas are currently shared out among EU countries)? Borg said that current relative stability could be turned into fishing effort. Thus rights, as apportioned between member states, “would not be affected in any way”, the commissioner suggested. Furthermore, a vessel owner could decide either to use his effort rights or to sell them to another vessel owner. This could, in turn, “help us to achieve the objective of having a smaller fleet commensurate with our resource base,” he said. This remains, however, only one option among several others, hastily added the commissioner, fully aware that these very liberal ideas would fit well with some countries, but not all.
Borg once again highlighted the urgent need to tackle the problem of the overcapacity of the Community fleet, for example, through recourse to transferable rights. The commissioner acknowledged that were these individual transferable fishing rights were to be instituted, there would have to be some protection for small-scale fisheries.
When speaking about social issues, Borg raised the idea of reviewing fishermen's remuneration, for example, by means of collective agreements, with the potential advantages of better recruitment, more professionalism and more stable revenues for fishers. However, there being no tradition of collective agreements in the industry could be a disadvantage, Borg said. Another option would be to extend the rules on security and working conditions to small vessels. (L.C./transl.rt)