Damanaki urged ambitious to reform Europe’s fisheries policy
BUSINESSES and conservationists met EU Commissioner Maria Damanaki in London today and urged on her to deliver ambitious reforms of the Common Fisheries Policy.
The world’s largest conservation organisation, WWF, has formed an alliance with key industry players to demand that the European Union, the fourth largest producer of fish and aquaculture products, ensure a reliable supply of sustainable seafood. They asked that the long term management of fisheries replace the current short-sighted ‘race for fish’ and end the widespread practice of discarding, which is the result of poor management and fishing practices that aren’t attuned to market and consumer needs.
WWF, members of AIPCE-CEP and the Food and Drink Federation, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and the Shellfish Association of Great Britain, presented Commissioner Damanaki with the following evaluation of the CFP and the required recipe for sustainable fisheries:
The CFP Is Not Working
Over the next two years Europe is reforming the Common Fisheries Policy – this is a huge opportunity to make this failing policy instrument work effectively for both the marine environment and fishing businesses. The WWF/Industry Alliance for CFP Reform is calling for ambitious CFP reform.
There is a consensus across Europe that the CFP has failed to deliver sustainable fisheries and coastal communities. Instead, it is an inescapable fact that EU fisheries are under severe strain and of those fisheries assessed, a majority of them are considered fully or over-exploited. In addition, discards are far too prevalent in many of Europe’s fisheries. In the North Sea alone, it has been estimated that over one million tonnes of fish are thrown back every year. This is a waste of valuable food which jeopardises the recovery of many fish stocks and can have a damaging impact on the marine ecosystem. The seafood industry and the wider public alike see the practice as senseless, a view that has been reinforced through the recent Channel 4 fish season and the fish fight campaign. Commissioner Damanaki has echoed the general condemnation of discards and promised that the CFP reform will address this unacceptable practice head on.
The Solution - Long Term Fishery Management Plans
The WWF/Industry Alliance for CFP Reform is calling for the wasteful practice of discarding to be addressed through the development and implementation of stakeholder led Long Term Fishery Management Plans (LTFMPs).
Across the world, studies are increasingly showing that fisheries managed through co-management are more likely to achieve a high level of sustainable performance. We are calling for the new CFP to identify central long term targets and to make LTFMPs the means by which to reach these goals. Plans would be mandatory for all fisheries across the EU and an environmental impact assessment of the fishery would form a key part of the plan. This would assess the level of discards associated with the fishery and where a problem is identified the plan would draw up a clear strategy for reducing discard levels.
The same would be true for other environmental impacts which were found to be unsustainable: clear strategies would need to be drawn up to mitigate the problem. The plans would be fishery based, which moves away from the single species management model enshrined in the current system. In addition, the rules established for a fishery would apply to all, ending the disparity between fishers from different Member States operating in a fishery, who participate in the same fishery. These ecosystem based plans will move Europe away from the politically driven and centralised annual quota negotiations and set fisheries on a more stable track towards rapid recovery, through a framework which allows those with an interest in the fishery to jointly decide how it is managed.
Regionalisation
For LTFMPs to work, the people with the expertise need to be at the table: Member States, control agencies, scientists, conservation organisations and the full supply chain including catchers, the processors and retailers. CFP reform should see stakeholders jointly agreeing targets and strategies as co-managers of their fishery. Co-management has been demonstrated time and again to be the most successful route to recovery of fisheries. With it comes improved compliance as a result of the stakeholders’ greater sense of ownership in the decision-making process and the management of the fishery at the appropriate level - moving away from the previous centralised, top down approach set out by Brussels.
Catch Less, Earn More
Catching less and earning more is a key element of an LTFMP. Taking less and earning more should be the goal of the fishery, by maximising the value of the resource across the supply chain and by minimising waste at all stages. With improved marketing and better liaison with processors and buyers, supply can better match demand and the returns from each catch can be maximised.
Now Is The Time
In essence a LTFMP is a comprehensive toolkit to manage a fishery through a co-management process. The WWF/Industry Alliance for CFP Reform is united in urging the European Institutions to deliver this policy change as a matter of urgency so that Europe’s fisheries can be rebuilt and become a global example of how sustainable fisheries management can be delivered both in Europe and around the world where its fleets operate.Read More ...
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