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Reform of Common Fisheries Policy

EU Court of Auditors' 2011 Report on Over-capacity in the EU Fishing Fleet and the failure of the Common Fisheries Policy to respond — We provide here the full text of the 2012 Report by the EU Court of Auditors into whether the Common Fisheries Policy and the European governmental institutions are properly addressing the question of overcapacity in the EU fishing fleet. The Court of Auditors concludes that there are serious failings and shortcomings in the CFP in this regard, and that European governmental institutions are failing in their legal duty to ensure that EU seas are fished sustainably e.g. matching the size of the fleet to the size and condition of fish stocks. Between 1995 and 2009 the annual tonnage of fish landed by the EU fleet has fallen from 7 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes, and yet between 1992 and 2008 the effective capability of the fishing fleet to catch fish, taking the impact of technological improvements into account, is estimated to have increased by 14%. It is clear that until that overcapacity in the fishing fleet is properly addressed over-fishing will continue and, as a result, fish stocks and the general ecological structure of EU seas will continue to be imperilled. Moreover, this failure to match the capacity of the fleet with the size and condition of stocks is illegal, yet no legal accountability is currently in operation.

House of Commons EFRA Committee consultation on CFP Reform: — We provide here MARINET's submission made to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee in connection with the Committee's request for public submissions about the adequacy or otherwise of the EU Commission's draft proposals announced on 13th July 2011 for reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy.

Food Security is central to CFP reform, supported by the correct policy and management objectives — We provide here a summary of the essential objectives that reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) must implement in order to achieve the primary aim of CFP Reform, namely the re-establishment of Food Security. Presented here is our graph, researched from scientific papers, which plots the decline in the North Sea cod population against the rise in the UK human population over the period 1880 to 2010. This is a graphic representation of the Food Security issue.

MARINET has made a submission to the EU Commission in connection with the Commission's public consultation on how fishing quotas should be set for 2012 and beyond, and how over-fishing can be eliminated - "Fishing Opportunities : COM (2011) 298 final". Our submission explains precisely how these to key issues of CFP Reform should be determined, and the steps necessary to bring them to reality.
The submission consists of three documents:
1. The main submission, titled "EU Commission Fishing Opportunities submission 14th July 2011.
2. An addendum to the main submission, titled EU Commission Fishing Opportunities submission addendum 16th July 2011.
3. A legal addendum defining obligations in law which CFP Reform must observe, titled EU Commission Fishing Opportunities submission T Appleby 18 July 2011, courtesy of Tom Appleby MA Dip Law (Solicitor non-practising)Senior Lecturer, Environmental Law Research Unit, University of the West of England, Bristol.

Defining the compliance of Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy with EU law — We provide here a short statement, agreed with Ocean 2012, (www.ocean2012.eu) which explains how to determine whether the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, and its reform, operates in compliance with EU law. This compliance is essential not just in terms on legal principle, but also because such compliance will ensure the use of the ecosystem-based approach to marine management and the use of those marine management tools which are capable of restoring commercial fish stocks in our seas to something approaching their historic levels. The restoration of historic levels is important, not just in order to restore the biodiversity and fecundity of the marine ecosystem per se, but also in order to enable us to harvest fish at levels which assure EU citizens with "food security" from their own seas. Compliance of Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy with EU law is therefore a key political, legal and ecological necessity.

The Decline in North Sea Fish stocks between 1880 and 2010 — We provide here our Briefing which records the severe decline that has taken place in most stocks of commercial fish species in the North Sea between 1880 and 2010. 1880 marks the advent of the introduction of steam powered fishing practices which have been further developed throughout the subsequent 120 years to result in our current intensive fishing practices, using sonar and many other technical improvements. As a result of the unrestrained use of these technical improvements the North Sea, in common with most other fishing grounds around the UK, is now a pale shadow of its former self in terms of the fish stocks which it contains, and as a consequence the overall UK marine ecosystem has become severely degraded. This Briefing has been produced to inform the public and, in particular, UK and EU parliamentarians and policy makers who are interested in and concerned with Reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. This Briefing records the historic levels of UK North sea fish stocks, and thus the targets that the regeneration of North Sea fish stocks should be linked to under the current reform of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy and the implementation of the EU's Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Wild Atlantic salmon under severe threat — We provide here the text of an article by Robert MacDougall-Davis, a biologist and writer specialising in fish ecology, about the severe threat to the survival of the Wild Atlantic Salmon, the causes of that threat, and the management strategies needed to bring the Wild Atlantic Salmon back from the brink of commercial, if not actual, extinction.

MARINET's Report to Marine Scotland (Scottish Government) on whether fish farming is acceptable, or not — This report outlines the severe stress that farming of carnivorous species — salmon, cod — places on both wild populations and the wider marine ecosystem, and examines the serious threat posed by genetic modification of farmed fish, and the serious inadequacies in the current regulatory regime for the assessment of the environmental impact of fish farming.
Appended to this report are also our answers to additional questions posed by Marine Scotland's consultants in connection with this survey by the Scottish Government

Why The Boom Times Ended — A fascinating history of the rise and fall of the fishing industry as told in Ian Robb's book 'Memories of the East Anglian Fishing Industry'.

Fisheries monitoring via the use of Fisheries Log Books and Geographical Information Systems — Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform can nowadays be greatly assisted by electronic, computer-based aides that record in detail a boat's location and its fishing activity. This means that compliance with quotas can be accurately recorded and logged and this information can, in turn, be used to manage fish stocks and their related quotas with a great deal of accuracy and finesse. These electronic aides — Fisheries Electronic Log Books and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) — are therefore key tools in CFP reform, and this report explains the nature and usefulness of these new tools.

Ecological Meltdown in the Firth of Clyde — We provide here the article published July 2010 by Dr. Ruth Thurstan and Prof. Callum Roberts, York University, titled Ecological Meltdown in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland: Two Centuries of Change in a Coastal Marine Ecosystem. This article records how overfishing in the Firth of Clyde has brought its marine ecosystem close to a state of total collapse.

MARINET's Briefing on its Common Fisheries Policy Reform Campaign — We reproduce here our briefing which explains in simple terms the urgent need for CFP Reform and, most importantly, how the our CFP Reform Campaign will deliver a result which guarantees, firstly, that commercial fish stocks will be restored to historic population levels, and secondly, their future management will maintain these restored population levels.

The effects of 118 years of industrial fishing on UK bottom trawl fisheries — We publish here a study, published in Nature Communications 4th May 2010, by Prof Callum Roberts and Ruth Thurstan (York University) and Dr. Simon Brockington (Marine Conservation Society) which shows that developments in the UK's trawling fleet have masked an "extraordinary" decline in the amount of fish in our waters over the past 120 years, and that accordingly the need for Reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy is both profound and urgent.

MARINET makes submission to EU Fisheries Reform public consultation — The EU has commenced a process which will lead to reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Up until now, the CFP has been determined by the Council of Ministers, with MEPs and the Parliament having no say in the matter. However, following the passing of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament is now a party in constitutional terms to the formulation of the Common Fisheries Policy. This means there there is now a wider democratic input, and the new Common Fisheries Policy will have to reflect the wishes of the European Parliament.

EU Green Paper on Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy — We provide here a copy of the European Commission's Green Paper on Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. This Green Paper is a discussion document, and the EU Commission is requesting any citizen of the EU to comment on the principles of CFP Reform before the end of December 2009 if they have matters they wish to raise. Comments should be sent to European Commission — Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries “CFP Reform”, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium or by email to: mare-cfp-consultation@ec.europa.eu

Rôle of the Common Fisheries Policy in implementing the Ecosystem Approach — We provide here a Statement by the European Commission [COM (2008)], dated 11.4. 2008, about the rôle of the Common Fisheries Policy in the implementation of the ecosystem-based approach to marine management throughout European seas.

EU Council Regulation No. 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy — We provide here the EU Council Regulation (law) which enables member states to create conservation zones in the seas over which they have jurisdiction (i.e. out 200 nautical miles) in order to protect fishing stocks and marine life. This law was enacted on 20th December 2002.

We also publish here advice dated 20th July 2009 supplied to us by the UK Government (Defra) which clarifies whether highly protected marine conservation zones (i.e. prohibition of fishing) can be established in UK seas out to 200 nautical miles under the UK Marine and Coastal Access legislation and EU Council Regulation 2371/2007.
It is interesting to note that the UK Government has never sought to implement Council Regulation 2371/2007 with respect to the establishment of conservation areas which prohibit fishing for the purpose of rebuilding fish stocks or to protect marine biodiversity.