common fisheries policy

Fishing in the waters around the UK (and other EU countries) is managed under the ‘Common Fisheries Policy’ (CFP).

Created in 1983, the CFP sets out quotas for which Member States are allowed to catch what amounts of each type of fish and provides common rules for fishermen using other Member States waters. This piece highlights how CFP is being reformed to stop catches being wasted, with the proposals due to take effect from 2013.

The article highlights numerous incidences of over-fishing – according to the new economics foundation coastal waters are so overfished that they can supply the nation’s chip shops, restaurants and kitchens for little more than six months of every year  –  and ‘discards’ (the practice whereby up to 50% of a catch is thrown into the sea to avoid going above a quota).

The UK Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon described the proposals as “a vital first step…to deliver the radical reforms the marine environment and our fishermen need and the public now expects. Because our fisheries are so varied, I don’t believe that a one size fits all approach, from the Mediterranean to the sub-arctic region, will work effectively.  There has to be the flexibility to work with the industry to introduce a range of tailored measures to tackle discards that are genuinely effective without simply turning a problem that happens at sea to a problem on land”.

For me, the proposals illuminate two issues. Firstly, the spatial scale at which fisheries management should operate. The CFP has to deal with some of the most complex fisheries in the world – technically (e.g. stocks) and politically (e.g. all Member States). If a policy is established at EU level it has to be implemented across all Member States but how can we move away from a one size fits all approach?

Secondly, there is often a disjuncture between people who depend on fishing for their living and scientists who are concerned that if fish populations are to be sustainable then some fisheries must be reduced, closed or their management altered in some way. How is ecological data being used to make decisions about fisheries management and how much consultation and monitoring takes place?