FLF, Alm.del - 2009-10 - Bilag 250: Henvendelse af 29/4-10 fra WWF Danmark om den forestående reform af EU´s fælles fiskeripolitik

NOW IS THE TIME TO SECURE A FUTUREFOR EUROPEAN FISHERIESExcessive pressure on fish stocks has degraded the marine environment and madeEuropean waters an increasingly difficult place to run sustainable and profitablefisheries.Europe is reforming its Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). This is a once in a decadeopportunity to set things straight, and we have no time to lose. Successful reform candeliver healthy oceans, abundant fish stocks and a sustainable livelihood for the fishingindustry and fishing communities. WWF looks forward to working with decision-makers,fishermen and other industry partners to jointly safeguard our oceans.Over 85% of assessed fish stocks in European waters are fished to their maximum potential orover-fished. This is bad news for marine biodiversity, bad news for the fishermen, businessesand communities who rely on seafood as a source of income and bad news for Europeanconsumers who want to enjoy healthy, fresh, sustainable seafood.More effective management of fisheries is needed to reduce pressure on the marineenvironment. Reform of the CFP needs to deliver better strategy; enhanced stakeholderengagement and appropriate scope.

Three key elements the reform must deliver are:•Mandatory Long Term Management Plans (LTMPs)for all EU fisheries, to be inplace by 2015. These plans must meet clear minimum standards set out in the newRegulation and aim to achieve centrally agreed targets; they must assess capacity andenvironmental impact because sound fisheries management decisions will be based onthese assessments. These ecosystem based plans will move Europe away from thepolitically motivated annual quota negotiations and set fisheries on a more stable tracktowards rapid recovery.•Effective Regionalisation.Stakeholders must be at the heart of the decision-makingprocess. This can be accomplished with a new management regime which has Regionalor Member State stakeholder development of the LTMPs, and co-management of thefisheries once the plans are in place. By involving stakeholders more directly, we will beable to design workable and effective management strategies to ensure that the EUmeets its environmental commitments.•Scope.The CFP principles should apply to all fisheries in EU waters, including theMediterranean, and to European vessels wherever the fish in the world’s oceans.

THE CFP REFORM NEEDS TO:1. Improve GovernanceThe current CFP is unsustainable as it fails to create adequate incentives for long-termconservation. A new governance system is needed to tackle the global fisheries crisis anddeliver long term health for the oceans and security for all who are dependent on them for theirlivelihoods and for food.Mandatory LTMPs with fishermen and other key stakeholders engaged in the decision-makingprocess are the way forward for all European fisheries.The CFP should set high level objectives but the plans will have the flexibility for each fishery totailor the way in which they meet these, including how to limit access and assure complianceagainst measurable objectives and indicators. The Regulation needs to set out clear standardsthat each LTMP must address such as environmental impact and capacity assessments of thefishery which will guide measures to address overcapacity and ecosystem impacts. The plansshould cover the whole fishery rather than a particular species and will provide a framework forthe most appropriate management tools for each fishery.

Case study 1: Scottish Conservation Credits SchemeSet up in 2008, the Scheme credits fishermen for adopting conservation measures which aremost suitable to the fisheries covered by the Scheme (mixed whitefish and Nephrops trawlfleets) and to the objectives of the Scheme (cod conservation). It brings together decision-makers, scientists, industry and NGO representatives for monthly steering group meetings. TheScheme is a prime example of co-management that could easily be replicated: the betterunderstanding and high compliance generated demonstrate the value of granting allstakeholders a degree of ownership in the management process.

2. Commit to an ecosystems approachLTMPs need to be ecosystem based. They should assess – and then limit -- the impact of thefishing operation on both the target species and on non target species (including mammals,turtles and birds). Critical habitat and predator/prey relations should also be considered.Effective management tools to address wider ecosystem impacts including time and/or areaclosures and catch selectivity improvements, should be identified.

3. Pave the way for RegionalisationThe CFP needs to set clear high level objectives whilst providing greater freedom on how tomeet them - where, when and how to fish will better reflect local and regional circumstances.Effective CFP Regionalisation means adopting LTMPs at the level of the fisheries. By placingmore responsibility in the hands of those who know the fishery best, unproductive EU micro-management can be avoided. Regional co-ordination will be needed to oversee all LTMPs in anarea, to ensure that the plans are compatible and to avoid over-exploitation. Such structurescan be designed to fit within the current Lisbon Treaty. Ideally, EU level approval wouldhopefully become a formality in this context.

Case study 2: Co-managament of fishery in FranceA recent WWF project in France has shown how a framework that places fishermen at thecentre of fisheries management can be successful. WWF has tested the idea of co-management of coastal resources with more than a hundred professionals representing theindustry as a whole including scientists and politicians. The Bay of Biscay’s Norway lobsterfishery, and small scale coastal fishing in the Var department, served as pilot sites to test theidea. Both sites successfully showcased WWF's approach to delivering economically, sociallyand ecologically viable European fisheries.

4. Address overcapacity and improve profit marginsOverfishing of key stocks has resulted in dwindling catches. Many fisheries are today runningclose to or at a loss. LTMPs should legally oblige each fishery to assess capacity and put inplace a reduction strategy when overcapacity is identified. Solutions can include prioritising theremoval of more destructive fishing methods or the retention of higher employment-generatingvessels, depending upon the priorities of the fishery and its community. Delivering a systemwhere the fishing capacity of the fleet is aligned with the available seafood resources in asustainable manner will secure the long-term profitability of the industry.5. Embrace Rights Based Management (RBM)The adoption of effective rights based management systems can provide incentives which canbe successful in addressing overcapacity, rebuilding fish stocks and improving the overallenvironmental performance of fisheries. RBM can also help strengthen the economic efficiencyof fisheries and phase out dependency on subsidies. When designed appropriately RBM canengender improved stewardship. Any system of RBM should be individually tailored and carriedout within the framework of the LTMP; well-designed ones can preserve important principlessuch as community linkage or accessibility to new entrants.

6. Place the environment at the heart of fisheries managementThe CFP currently gives equal weight to ecological, economic and social considerations.However, without a healthy marine ecosystem, a thriving and sustainable fishing industry cannotexist. The ecological pillar needs to be given top priority to enable the recovery of marinespecies and habitats. The new CFP also needs to establish a means of delivering MemberStates’ commitments under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) to achieve goodenvironmental status for fish stocks and marine habitats by 2020. For this to happenmanagement systems must be built into LTMPs that will identify and prevent significant threatsboth to marine species and to habitats, in line with the requirements of the MSFD.

7. Operate on a level playing fieldThe European fleet, from small scale coastal fisheries to large scale industrial operations,should operate on a level playing field. No one sector should be overly represented and allvoices need to be present in the fishery decision-making process. Balanced capacity, economicefficiency, social aspects and ecological sustainability, should all underpin the management ofany European fishery.LTMPs need to use the right tools to keep fishing capacity within sustainable limits. If a rightsbased system is adopted, fishing access rights can be subject to trading restrictions – forexample to ensure that ‘fishing community vital’ vessels participate in the fishery - as long asthese conditions don’t undermine the objectives of the LTMP.

8. Cut the wasteThe discard problem generated by the single stock quota system is a symptom of many of thethings that are wrong with the current CFP. Reform must make it a thing of the past byintroducing a system that limits catches rather than landings.Under a new management system more selective removal and improved links with marketsshould also reduce the amount of fish discarded. LTMP discard strategies should encourageoperators to minimise the removal of non-target or less desirable species by setting reductiontargets and timelines together with effective monitoring and enforcement. Setting removalquotas for mixed fisheries must be a priority.

Case study 3: Danish fully documented fishery trials - total allowable catches rather thanlandingsRemote Electronic Monitoring (REM) is now a cost-effective and relatively simple way to recordcatches rather than landings. Boats are fitted with a set of cameras that record images ofcatches and discards. This information, combined with data from associated GPS units, meansthat fishermen can prove they are adopting best practices onboard. A Danish trial rewardedtrawlers by allocating TACs up to 30% higher to account for the fish which was no longer beingdiscarded. Adopting this approach more broadly would help manage discard reduction.

9. Develop a culture of complianceFor LTMPs to work, the right people need to be at the table: Member States, control agencies,scientists, conservation organisations, seafood processors together with the catching sector.CFP reform should see fishermen jointly agreeing targets and strategies as co-managers oftheir fisheries and a similar approach could be used for securing access rights. Improvedcompliance should flow from industry’s greater sense of ownership in the decision-makingprocess.

10. Tackle Relative StabilityGiven some of the negative environmental consequences of relative stability to date, thereneeds to be some way of limiting its influence on fisheries policy making, especially if there is tobe a move towards rights based management. Much of the industry supports relative stabilitybecause it gives the fleet long-term security in the proportion of resource available to it. It ispossible that this security could be better served by the allocation of formal fishing rights withinmandatory ecosystem-based LTMPs. Meanwhile, rights based management schemes can bedesigned to address a range of issues such as controls to prevent the monopolising oroverconcentration of fishing rights, to protect cultural links with the fishery or to ensure access tonew entrants.

11. Take less, earn moreTaking less and earning more should be the goal of the reformed CFP. With improvedmarketing and better liaison with processors and buyers, supply can better match demand andthe returns from each catch can be maximised.Another key step is allowing consumers to make sustainable choices. The blue tick box of theMarine Stewardship Council (MSC) is presently the only eco-label which utilises anindependent, third party certification process allowing the traceability of the fish from net toplate. The establishment of an EU minimum set of criteria, based on FAO standards, would helpensure only trustworthy eco-labels exist in the European marketplace.

12. Fish in a sustainable way, both home and awayRegardless of whether a European vessel fishes in EU waters or beyond, it should be subject tothe principles and objectives of the CFP. This includes fishing according to the removal targetsand clear sustainability objectives set by a LTMP.The reformed CFP should provide a basis for the EU to demonstrate leadership on sustainablefishing practices in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs). FisheriesPartnership Agreements (FPAs) should be subject to continuous assessment, including theexamination of alternative arrangements with third countries to better meet the needs of industryand partner countries as well as the marine environment they exploit.

It’s time for a change in fisheries: we need to manage our community resourcesbetter, and we need to behave more responsibly wherever we fish. The reform of theEuropean Common Fisheries Policy gives us the opportunity to make this change.WWF’s approach of putting fishermen at the heart of the decision-making processthrough stakeholder-led Long Term Management Plans, alongside improved control,compliance and standardisation of procedures, should set us on a firmer footingtowards the more economically desirable prospect of sustainable European fisheries.Take less, earn more.

Further Reading:WWF full response to the Green Paper:http://assets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_response_to_the_2009_cfp_green_paper.pdfWWF elaboration of LTMPs:http://assets.panda.org/downloads/ltmp_full_final.pdfWWF elaboration of Regionalisation:http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/policy/wwf_europe_environment/initiatives/fisheries/publications/?179101/2012-Common-Fisheries-Policy-Reform-Long-Term-Management-Plans-and-Regionalisation-of-EU-FisheriesWWF and Scottish Conservation Credits Scheme:http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/scottish_conservation_credits_scheme.pdf

WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environmentand to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by:---conserving the world's biological diversityensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainablepromoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption

www.panda.org/eu/fisheries