Category: Press

A new analysis of joint EU, Norwegian and UK fishing practices demonstrates how for the last 20 years, the EU, along with Norway and the UK, have consistently set annual fishing limits for shared stocks above scientific advice. This clear proof of overfishing, usually comes with well-worn excuses of how the other parties are to blame. Norway blames the EU and UK for uncontrolled discarding of fish at sea, while the EU blames Norway for pushing fishing limits above Maximum Sustainable Yield.

But the simple truth is that this merry-go-round of blame is simply a thin veneer to cover up the facts – the EU, the UK and Norway all continue to push fish populations, and our shared ocean beyond its limits, which is like a person pushing their body to burnout – it results in serious health problems, causing vulnerability to the increasing pressure of climate change.

Norway might be overfishing 25% less than the UK and the EU – but it only makes the country the “least bad” of the trio. The opaque process of negotiating these “shared stocks” allows the EU and Norway to blame each other, so while both talk themselves up as ocean and climate action leaders on the global stage, they are both guilty of driving ocean degradation.

“The nature and climate crisis will not be fixed with promises or high level speeches – ocean action means staying within nature’s boundaries by making tough decisions to end overfishing immediately”, said Rebecca Hubbard, Programme Director at Our Fish.

“Ahead of December’s AGRIFISH meeting in Brussels Our Fish is calling on the EU to deliver on its obligation to end overfishing, by setting fishing limits within scientific advice for EU fish populations. By ending overfishing, the EU can demonstrate to Norway and the UK that it is serious about being a global leader on ocean and climate action”.

ENDS

The briefing, Agreed TACs Compared to ICES Scientific Advice in the Norway Agreement, can be downloaded here:

https://our.fish/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Agreed-TACs-Compared-to-ICES-Scientific-Advice-in-the-Norway-Agreement-2020.docx.pdf

 

Contact:

Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, Our Fish dave@our.fish, +34 691 826 764

 

Q&A

 

• Who is responsible for all of this overfishing?

EU member states, along with Norway and the UK. On average, Total Allowable Catches (TACs) – catch limits, expressed in tonnes – as part of the EU-Norway Agreement exceed ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) scientific advice by an average of 11% (from 2001 to 2020). As each TAC has differing quota shares between the parties, and a different assessment compared to ICES scientific advice, it is possible to make this calculation for the EU, the United Kingdom, and Norway. This approach follows the methodology of the New Economics Foundation’s Landing the Blame report series for TACs agreed by the EU Council. The results reveal that whereas the EU and the United Kingdom are slightly above the 11% overfishing average for both the joint management and joint quotas in the EU-Norway Agreement, Norway is below the average, exceeding ICES advice by 9% for jointly managed TACs.

There are two notable exceptions where there is a large Norwegian share of a TAC that exceeds ICES advice by a large percentage: North Sea cod, which is jointly managed, and horse mackerel in area 4b,c (southern North Sea), which has joint quotas and an annual transfer of quota from the EU to Norway. In these two cases it can be questioned whether the voice of Norway in the quota negotiations had been calling for TACs in line with ICES scientific advice (although the TAC for horse mackerel has followed advice in recent years).

• Where is this overfishing taking place?

In the North East Atlantic and North Sea

• Is this really overfishing? 

Yes, data shows these TACs have been repeatedly set above scientific advice for 20 years. The scientific advice is for the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) and is intended as a bare minimum requirement for sustainable fisheries management; in fact if fishing pressure were set lower at Maximum Economic Yield for example, the populations, and in the long run the industry catches, could be even greater.

• Surely if overfishing has been going for 20 years wouldn’t stocks have crashed by now? If they’re still fishing then everything must be ok, right?

North Sea cod is a prime example of how setting TACs above scientific advice will result in fish population crashes.

A good example is fishing limits for the Skaggerak and Kattegat. They are agreed during these shared stock negotiations, where a number of fish such as herring, cod, whiting, hake and ling have been overfished, and populations of herring and cod have collapsed. This not only undermines ocean health but leads to constantly decreasing fishing opportunities and profits for the industry.

• Where are you getting your numbers? Our country doesn’t overfish!

Landing the Blame uses numbers published in the Agreement between the EU and Norway on shared stocks, and the final TAC and Quota regulation of the EU, and compares them with the scientific advice from ICES

• Why are you picking on Norway? Clearly Norway is not the villain here, the EU and UK are clearly overfishing more. 

Norway is, on average, overfishing less than the EU and UK, however in 2012 and 2019 they were significantly worse. In any case, being “less bad” than the worst doesn’t mean that Norway is the good guy here!

• Who is responsible for ending this overfishing?

The EU, Norway and the UK are all responsible for ending this overfishing because the negotiations require agreement between all parties.

• How do we fix this problem?

The easiest and most direct way to fix this problem is for the EU, Norway and the UK to set TACs in line with the ICES advice, and not exceed it. Making science the decider can take the political sting out of tough decisions.

• What should Norway do to end this joint overfishing?

Norway is a founding member of the 14-country Ocean Panel; in December 2020, Prime Minister Erna Solberg pledged to protect its collective waters, end overfishing and to follow scientific advice. Not only should Norway make good on this commitment, it would do well to demand that its partners, the EU and the UK follow its example.

• What should the UK do to end this joint overfishing?

The UK needs to commit to ending overfishing immediately and following scientific advice, which its new Fisheries Bill fails to do. No increase in “control of its own waters” will help its fishing industry if it does not stop overfishing, which undermines the very resource it depends on.

• What should the EU do to end this joint overfishing?

The EU should stick to its guns and implement the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) by never setting TACs above scientific advice. This is the basic fundamental principle of ending overfishing, which the EU has been fighting for decades, and it cannot hope to advance to ecosystem-based management or climate-smart fisheries if it can’t even set individual fishing limits at sustainable levels.

• If Norway, EU, and UK end overfishing, will there be negative consequences, won’t it mean poverty, loss of jobs etc.?

Ending overfishing will actually improve conditions for the fishing industry – we will have more fish, which will be able to support even more jobs, fishers will not have to go so far and fish for as long, and this will translate into profits and ultimately more seafood. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) estimates that if we ended overfishing of all EU stocks, we could have food for an additional 89 million EU citizens, an extra €1.6 billion in annual revenue, and generate over 20,000 new jobs.

• When will shared stock quotas for 2021 be set?

Normally these are negotiated during November and decided by early December, however the failure – so far – to reach an EU-UK agreement means that they have not been able to start these negotiations.

• Who makes these decisions? 

Previously, it was the Head of Delegations for the EU (provided by the European Commission) and Norway who would negotiate the outcome together – they will be joined by a Head of Delegations from the UK for 2021 quota negotiations. The delegations normally meet for 1 week at a time, 1-3 times until they agree. In recent years, the delegations from each state have included their scientific advisors, industry representatives and government representatives. The negotiations are (normally) held behind closed doors, with no access for the public, no publication of positions, and even less transparency than EU AGRIFISH Council meetings. NGOs have been refused entry to these delegations. Here’s something Our Fish wrote last year about this problem.

 

 

Brussels, 9 December 2020:- A heroic herring hero swims through the ocean, evading voracious cod, dolphins and massive industrial trawlers in “Ocean Uprising”, an online game released by the Our Fish campaign, ahead of next week’s EU AGRIFISH Council negotiations on North East Atlantic fish stocks.

“By inviting the public to follow the adventures of our caped herring crusader, we hope that Ocean Uprising can spread awareness of the connection between healthy fish stocks and a healthy ocean, as well as the destructive impact that overfishing is having on our ocean and climate”, said Our Fish Programme Director Rebecca Hubbard.

Game players are invited to sign a petition addressed to the European Commission, EU Council and EU Member states calling for an end to destructive overfishing in order to build ocean resilience in response to the climate and nature crisis, and to support a just transition to ecosystem-based fisheries management.

“Fish play a critical role in keeping the ocean healthy – simply by eating, swimming together, pooing and dying, they send carbon deep to the ocean floor, where it’s stored and can’t contribute to global heating”, said Hubbard.

“Their schooling also helps to push nutrients up, which feed plankton, microscopic floating plants responsible for producing around 70% of the world’s oxygen.”

“But when unsustainable numbers of fish are removed from the ocean through overfishing, excess carbon is released into the environment and the ocean ecosystem is catastrophically depleted”, continued Hubbard. “EU fisheries ministers must set fishing limits within the limits of nature, or its game over for EU fisheries, and all of us – who depend on a healthy ocean and safe climate”.

Play the game:

https://oceanuprising.net/

 

Also: Join AGRIFISH Press Briefing: How EU Decisions On Fishing Quotas Will Set Tone for 2021

What: Joint media briefing by NGOs ahead of setting of EU fishing quotas for 2021

Why: There’s risk of more “overfishing as usual” during EU AGRIFISH Council, 15-16 December – but also opportunities for the EU to set positive examples

Who: Lead campaigners from Our Fish, Oceana, ClientEarth, Seas At Risk, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Sciaena

When: 11:30 CET Monday 14 December

Where: Online – Register for the briefing on Zoom here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qdOyrrT0qHNQW0JWtTFrNf6HmDTYpiEbS

 

Contacts:

Dave Walsh, Our Fish Communications Advisor, +34 691 826 764, dave@our.fish

About Our Fish

Our Fish is working to end overfishing and restore a healthy ocean ecosystem. By collaborating with others, and deploying robust evidence, we are calling for an end to overfishing as a critical and significant action to address the biodiversity and climate crisis. https://our.fish

 

 

Media briefing, 17 November 2020: EU fisheries management system likely to implode

Brussels, 24 November 2020:- A new paper, The Unintended Impact Of The European Discard Ban, has found that an increase in annual EU fishing quotas of up to 50% was applied to ‘support’ the implementation of the Landing Obligation (LO) – the rule to reduce fish waste – in EU waters in 2020, despite widespread failure to enforce the rule and the continued discarding of fish. The paper, published by Dr Lisa Borges in the ICES Journal of Marine Science, finds that this discrepancy is likely to lead to an enormous unmeasured increase in fishing pressure, and therefore lead to an implosion of the EU fisheries management system.

“The landing obligation has the potential to be the most significant push for more selective fisheries in Europe in the last 20 years. Usually, when a significant change in law is made that could have a radical effect on fishers’ behaviour it comes with positive and negative incentives. In Europe however, fishers were given extra quota to account for the extra non-commercial catch. But not only are they not landing that extra catch, they are not being monitored or controlled,” said Dr Lisa Borges.

“These significant increases in EU fishing limits, the exemptions to the rules and the lack of monitoring and enforcement are now pushing the EU fisheries management system towards a tipping point. All stakeholders need to acknowledge the impact the Landing Obligation is having on the TAC system and try to minimise it, otherwise we will see our fisheries management system implode,” concluded Dr Borges.

“Dr Borges’ paper confirms what many scientists and conservation groups have been saying for years – without proper counting of catches and enforcement of fishing rules, the result could be massive levels of overfishing and the collapse of fish populations, which in turn breaks down marine ecosystems. This undermines scientific data and the fisheries management system, and ultimately threatens the security of the fishing industry,” said Rebecca Hubbard, Our Fish Programme Director.

“It’s a disgrace that an industry can get away with such broadscale illegal behaviour, which can devastate a public resource and impact ecosystems, without any repercussions. Instead, EU governments are rewarding these antics with even more fishing quotas. With a number of EU fish populations on the verge of collapse, such as cod and herring, it’s now urgent that the Commission and fisheries ministers start acknowledging unreported, illegal catches by setting more conservative fishing limits and enforcing the rules at sea with remote electronic monitoring,” concluded Ms Hubbard.

Download Briefing Paper: EU fisheries management system likely to implode: the unintended impact of not enforcing the ban on fish discards

https://our.fish/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Science-Briefing-EU-fisheries-management-system-likely-to-implode-the-unintended-impact-of-not-enforcing-the-ban-on-fish-discards-.pdf

Watch video of media briefing and download presentation by Dr Borges, 17 November 2020:

https://our.fish/publications/science-briefing-eu-fisheries-management-system-likely-to-implode-the-unintended-impact-of-not-enforcing-the-ban-on-fish-discards/

Read the original scientific article The Unintended Impact Of The European Discard Ban, or request it directly from the author: info@fishfix.eu

Note: ​The Unintended Impact Of The European Discard Ban ​was partly funded by Our Fish, and initially from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 633680 (DiscardLess Project).

ENDS

Contacts:

Dave Walsh, Our Fish Communications Advisor, +34 691 826 764, dave@our.fish

About Dr Lisa Borges

Dr Borges has been working in fisheries for over 20 years, including for the research institutes of Portugal, Ireland and Netherlands, and for the European Commission, on fish stock assessments and discard analyses. She is now the Director of FishFix, a consulting company. https://fishfix.eu/

About Our Fish

Our Fish is working to end overfishing and restore a healthy ocean ecosystem. By collaborating with others, and deploying robust evidence, we are calling for an end to overfishing as a critical and significant action to address the biodiversity and climate crisis. https://our.fish

 

Dublin 29 October, 2020:- In an unprecedented response to the recent decision by Ireland’s High Court to overturn the ban on fishing vessels larger than 18m from operating within six nautical miles of the coast, 15 fishing and environmental organisations, have come together for the first time to call on Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue to take the steps necessary for the ban’s reinstatement [1,2].

The letter, sent to the Minister this morning, jointly signed by National Inshore Fisherman’s Association (NIFA) and National Inshore Fishermen’s Organisation (NIFO), Birdwatch Ireland, An Taisce, Cork Environmental Forum, Cork Nature Network, Coomhola Salmon Trust, Environmental Pillar, Friends of the Irish Environment, Irish Seal Sanctuary, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Irish Wildlife Trust, Oceana, Seas at Risk, Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) and Our Fish, points out that the policy directive, introduced in 2018, “was one of the most important fisheries policy shifts in the history of the Irish state and was broadly welcomed as being the right decision from a social, economic, environmental and a social justice perspective”, and was backed by expert analysis by the Marine Institute and the Bord Iascaigh Mhara (see full text of letter below) [3].

“When Michael Creed TD announced his decision to launch a public consultation that ultimately led to the directive, he was very clear that he wanted to create opportunity for the inshore sector. The manner he planned and subsequently created that opportunity also had far reaching environmental and socio economic benefits for our marine environment and wider coastal communities and economies”, said Alex Crowley of the National Inshore Fisherman’s Association (NIFA) and National Inshore Fishermen’s Organisation (NIFO) [4]. “On that basis the proposal and the subsequent decision was broadly welcomed and supported by a broad spectrum of interests.”

“The fishing industry and environmental NGOs are often portrayed as opposing forces, however the reality is they have a common goal or vision for a healthy marine environment, therefore the issuing of this joint statement should come at no surprise”, continued Crowley. “Inshore fishers are acutely aware of the need for a healthy marine environment to support their businesses and way of life. As an economic sector and as a sector in society we are particularly exposed to negative environmental impacts.”

“Beneath the waves, a biodiversity crisis has been unfolding for many years”, said Fintan Kelly, Policy Officer at Birdwatch Ireland. “Overfishing has hollowed out marine ecosystems, and as fish stocks have collapsed, it is having a direct impact on the Irish fishing communities that depend on them. Ireland can and must do better. We are calling on Minister McConalogue to take decisive action to prioritise sustainable fisheries management in Ireland’s inshore waters on behalf of the vast majority of Irish fishers and coastal communities, instead of the demands of a privileged minority”

“The Minister must take steps to ensure that a ban on large trawlers within the 6 nautical mile  limit is brought into effect as soon as possible, while ensuring that all affected stakeholders are afforded the right to consultation as highlighted in the court ruling”, concluded Kelly.

“This is a classic case of a technicality tripping up a brilliant idea. The Irish government can realise the huge environmental and social benefits of protecting Ireland’s coastal waters from industrial fishing and deliver on their ambitions to halt the biodiversity and climate emergency, by taking the necessary legal steps to reinstate the ban as a matter of priority”, said Rebecca Hubbard, Program Director of Our Fish. “Reinstating the ban would actively help support hundreds of low-impact fishers and their coastal communities, deliver massive environmental benefits, and set an impressive example for other European countries to follow”.

The letter to Minister McConalogue can be viewed here 

ENDS

Contacts

Dave Walsh, Our Fish Communications Advisor, +34 691 826 764, dave@our.fish

Fintan Kelly, Birdwatch Ireland Policy Officer, +353 (85) 129 5849, fkelly@birdwatchireland.ie

Notes

[1] Below is the letter sent to Minister Charlie McConalogue:

Joint statement in relation to the High Court Judicial Review on restrictions on trawling activity inside the 6nm limit

Dear Minister McConalogue,

Responding to news that Ireland’s High Court has found that the ban on vessels larger than 18m from operating within the country’s six nautical mile inshore waters was void and of no legal effect, our organisations representing the interests of a healthy marine environment and a sustainable inshore fishing sector call on you to take the necessary steps to reinstate the ban.

The policy directive introduced in 2018 was one of the most important fisheries policy shifts in the history of the state and was broadly welcomed as being the right decision from a social, economic, environmental and social justice perspective. According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the majority of the over 900 stakeholder submissions made in response to the Minister’s review of fishing access inside the 6 nautical mile zone (6nm zone) supported restrictions on large trawlers based on environmental, economic and gear conflict issues.

The rationale behind the ban was supported by expert analysis by the Marine Institute and the Bord Iascaigh Mhara. These reports highlighted that restricting the access of larger vessels inside the 6nm zone would lead to improved protection of coastal environments and essential fish habitat, benefitting marine biodiversity and commercially exploited fish stocks. They highlighted the socio- economic benefits for the smaller inshore vessels, that constitute the vast majority of Ireland’s registered fishing vessels. The potential benefits included diversification opportunities, more jobs, and added value of landings. Improved management of inshore waters could be achieved by aligning fishing more closely with local ecological and environmental objectives and by reducing conflict between mobile and static gears. For coastal communities and consumers benefits could include a strengthening of the link between local fish resources and local economies with spin-off benefits for the sustainability of supply chains and local businesses.

All these potential benefits remain within reach. It is deeply disappointing and extremely worrying to us that the new dawn in the management of our inshore environment is under threat from what

appears to be a technicality. The Policy Directive created a huge opportunity for the inshore sector and if that opportunity is to be denied, then the sector in its current form faces a very uncertain future and possibly a complete collapse.

We call on you to take decisive action to prioritise sustainable fisheries management in Ireland’s inshore waters in the interest of the vast majority of Irish fishers, coastal communities and marine wildlife, instead of the demands of a privileged minority.

Signed by:

Shane McIntyre, Director, National Inshore Fisheries Organisation

Alex Crowley, General Secretary, National Inshore Fisheries Organisation &  National Inshore Fisheries Association

Kieran Healy, Director, National Inshore Fisheries Association

Gary Freemantle, Interim CEO, An Taisce

Nicolas P. Williams, CEO, Birdwatch Ireland

Derry O’Farrell, Director, Cork Environmental Forum

Gill Weyman, Chair, Cork Nature Network

Mark Boyden, Director, Coomhola Salmon Trust Ltd., Chair Sustainable Water Network

Karen Ciesielski, CEO, Environmental Pillar

Tony Lowes, Trustee and Director, Friends of the Irish Environment

Johnny Woodlock, Board Member, Irish Seal Sanctuary

Dr Simon Berrow, CEO, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group

Pádraig Fogarty, Campaign Officer, Irish Wildlife Trust

Pascale Moerhrle, Executive Director, Oceana in Europe

Rebecca Hubbard, Program Director, Our Fish

Monica Verbeek, Executive Director, Seas at Risk

Download the letter:

https://our.fish/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Letter-to-Min-McConalogue-Re-High-Court-JR-on-restrictions-on-trawling-activity-inside-the-6nm-limit.pdf

[2] “A High Court judgment from Justice Michael McGrath has found that the ban on over 18mtr vessels fishing inside the 6 mile limit is void and of no legal effect.”

“The judgement follows from an application for a judicial review taken by Tom Kennedy and Neil Minihane against the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine over Policy Directive 1 of 2019. The directive was introduced by Minister Michael Creed on 5th March 2019.”

The Skipper, October 7, 2020

https://theskipper.ie/high-court-overturns-6-mile-ban/

Our Fish and Birdwatch Ireland, October 13, 2020: Minister McConalogue Must Take Steps to Reinstate Ban on Trawlers in Coastal Waters to Ensure Ireland’s Sustainable Fisheries

https://our.fish/press/minister-mcconalogue-must-take-steps-to-reinstate-ban-on-trawlers-in-coastal-waters-to-ensure-irelands-sustainable-fisheries/

 

[3] These statistics and data are supported by the following reports:

BIM (2018) Economic analysis of trawl and seine fisheries within the Irish 6nm zone https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/customerservice/publicconsultation/review6nmzone/4EconomicAnalysisTrawl270418.pdf

Marine Institute (2018) Trawl Fishing in Waters Inside 6nm around Ireland, Fisheries Ecosystems Advisory Services Marine Institute

https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/seafood/sea-fisheriespolicymanagementdivision/publicconsultations/completedpublicconsultations/2TrawlFishinginWatersInside6nm171218.pdf

Marine Institute (2018) Fishing patterns and value of landings for vessels, greater than 15m in length, with higher than average fishing activity in waters inside 6nm, Fisheries Ecosystems Advisory Services https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/customerservice/publicconsultation/review6nmzone/3FishingPatterns270418.pdf

 

[4] Minister Creed provides increased protection to waters inside Ireland’s 6 mile limit – benefits for inshore sector, ecosystem and nursery areas, 21 December 2018

https://merrionstreet.ie/en/News-Room/Releases/Minister_Creed_provides_increased_protection_to_waters_inside_Irelands_6_mile_limit_%E2%80%93_benefits_for_inshore_sector_ecosystem_and_nursery_areas.html

 

About Our Fish

Our Fish is working to end overfishing and restore a healthy ocean ecosystem. By collaborating with others, and deploying robust evidence, we are calling for an end to overfishing as a critical and significant action to address the biodiversity and climate crisis. https://our.fish

 

About Birdwatch Ireland

BirdWatch Ireland is the largest independent conservation organisation in Ireland. We work with all stakeholders to improve marine conservation and sustainable fisheries policy in Ireland and Europe.

https://birdwatchireland.ie/

NGO Recommendations for deep-sea fishing limits 2021-2022 »

October 22, 2020: – Responding to the European Commission’s proposal for deep sea fishing limits for 2021-2022, published today [1], NGOs welcome the positive steps towards following scientific advice. However, the proposal does not go far enough to ensure protection and allow the recovery of these very sensitive and unique species, some of which are the most vulnerable known to humankind. NGOs urge European decision-makers to set fishing limits for deep sea fish populations in line with scientific advice, the precautionary approach and considering the negative impact of fishing for these species on fragile deep-sea ecosystems [2].

The proposal so far includes concrete figures only for the 3 deep sea stocks that are fished by the EU alone. The remaining 6 deep sea stocks shared with the UK will be discussed between the EU and the UK, who will have to work together to ensure sustainable management of deep-sea stocks in the Northeast Atlantic.

“We welcome the European Commission’s proposal, which seems to follow the scientific advice for black scabbardfish in the Bay of Biscay, Iberian waters and in Azores and for red seabream in Atlantic Iberian waters.”, said Gonçalo Carvalho, Executive Coordinator, Sciaena. “We expect the EU to similarly follow the science on all the other deep sea fishing limits, both internally, but also in the discussions with the UK, as this is the only way to ensure healthy deep sea fish populations and ecosystems.”

“We consider that the Commission should have followed scientific advice for roundnose grenadier in Skagerrak and Kattegat by proposing no catches of this stock” said Andrea Ripol, Fisheries Policy Officer of Seas At Risk. “In fact, it should be questioned if the EU should at all be requesting scientific advice on ‘sustainable’ catches and recommending licensing the legal hunt of a species classified as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN Red list [3]. Ignoring the endangered status of sensitive species runs counter to the EU Biodiversity Strategy key commitments for 2030 to restore marine biodiversity and ecosystems”, she added.

“We are highly concerned with the lack of management of deep-sea sharks” says Irene Kingma of the Dutch Elasmobranch Society. “The proposed removal of the exemption for shark catches in longlines is a positive step that should be followed up with the development of protective measures and enhanced data collection for these extremely vulnerable species. The Commission and member states committed to this in 2016 but to date no actions have been proposed.”

“Besides all the social and environmental outstanding challenges that member states must deal with, 2020 is also the Common Fisheries Policy’s legally binding deadline to follow the scientific advice and ensure proper management of public marine resources”, said Lydia Chaparro, Fisheries Policy Officer at Fundació ENT. “Restoring ocean health is feasible, but only if urgent action is taken. On the contrary, ignoring science and its precautionary advice will make it even more difficult, and costly, to face the challenges that continue to affect the health and the future of these fragile ecosystems.”

“Due to Brexit, as of this year more than 60% of the deep-sea fish stocks managed through catch limits will require an agreement between the UK and the EU. Therefore, the status of deep-sea stocks and the habitats in which they live will depend mostly on the cooperation between both parties” explained Javier López, Campaign Director for Sustainable Fisheries at Oceana in Europe. “A non-cooperation scenario in which both parties would unilaterally set catch limits can only result in widespread overfishing that would not only be destructive for the vulnerable deep-sea ecosystem but also for the fishing fleet. We urge the UK and the EU to find an agreement on catch limits based on environmental criteria and governed by the best scientific advice.”

Deep sea fish species tend to be slow-growing, late-maturing and long-lived [4], which makes them exceptionally vulnerable to overexploitation. Some of the commercially exploited deep sea species live up to 80 years, and some only reach reproductive maturity after many years. As a result of knowledge gaps and of serious deficiencies in their management, most deep‐sea stocks in Europe are severely depleted or in unknown condition, which also puts the viability of the fishing communities that depend on them at risk. That is why NGO also call for taking action to fill data gaps and to urgently adopt and fully implement recovery and management plans for some of the most threatened species, such as deep-sea sharks [5].

NGO Recommendations for deep-sea fishing limits 2021-2022 »
ENDS

 

Contacts:

Andrea Ripol, Fisheries Policy Officer at Seas At Risk, aripol@seas-at-risk.org, 0483 457 483

Emily Fairless, Communication officer, Oceana, efairless@oceana.org, +32 (0) 478 038 490

Gonçalo Carvalho, Executive Coordinator, Sciaena, gcarvalho@sciaena.org, +351 936 257 281

Irene Kingma, strategy and policy lead, Dutch Elasmobranch Society, kingma@elasmobranch.nl, +31 6 4826 3524

Lydia Chaparro, Fisheries Policy Officer at Fundació ENT, lchaparro@ent.cat, +34 657 361 673

Matthew Gianni, co-founder Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, matthewgianni@gmail.com, +31 646 16 88 99

 

 

Notes:

[1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2020:666:FIN

[2] In June 2020, ICES Advice for deep sea species confirmed that most deep sea fish populations remain in worrying condition and with insufficient data to properly assess them.

[3] https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15522149/45136880

[4] ICES, Working group on the biology and assessment of deep-sea fisheries resources (WGDEEP), Volume 2, Issue 38, 2020 page 1: “Deep-water stocks have overall lower biological productivity than continental shelf and coastal stocks.”

[5] NGO recommendations for deep-sea fishing limits 2021-2022.

 

Luxembourg, 20 October 2020:- Environmental NGOs this morning welcomed the decision of EU Fisheries Ministers to set Baltic fishing limits for 2021 in accordance with scientific advice for eight of ten fish stocks in the Baltic, but reflect that this result is largely due to the strong position of the European Commission, and warn that today’s result is still not enough to save the herring, cod or Baltic Sea ecosystem and communities that depend on them [1].

Even with no fishing on Eastern Baltic cod, the stock will not recover for years, unless more efforts are made to secure its habitats, food and breeding grounds. Ecosystem needs can only be met if these are fully taken into consideration; currently, the setting of fishing quotas plays only a small but crucial part. EU fisheries management must start incorporating ecosystem and climate impact assessments, and monitoring and control needs drastic improvement to ensure rules are being followed.

“We are disappointed to see how EU fisheries ministers ignored the progressive proposal from the European Commission on Baltic sprat fishing limit, which took into account wider ecosystem considerations and interactions between this species and the Eastern Baltic cod population – one of the founding objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy”, said Ottilia Thoreson, Director, WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme. “On the other hand WWF welcomes the science-based decision ministers took last night to set eight out of the ten stocks within scientific recommendations.”

“Baltic member states have made a satisfactory compromise regarding scientific recommendations on catch limits for many of the fish stocks. However, decisions on iconic species like Western Baltic herring and Eastern Baltic cod have not met the necessary ambition to adopt catch limits and additional measures that will contribute to firmly curbing their dire status, which is undermining the credibility of the member states.” said Javier López, Campaign Director for Sustainable Fisheries at Oceana in Europe “The poor status of the marine ecosystem in the Baltic makes fisheries management challenging, which is why it is particularly relevant to set catch limits for fish populations in line with scientific advice and reflecting wider ecosystem considerations”.

Andrea Ripol, Fisheries Policy Officer at Seas At Risk said: “We are supportive of the progress and ambition shown by Fisheries Ministers to recover the good status of many Baltic fish populations. However, we cannot miss the fact that Fisheries Ministers allowed the population of Western Baltic Herring to be overfished again in 2021, ignoring for the third year in a row scientific recommendations to close its fisheries due to the critical state of this fish population. Allowing overfishing of European fish stocks is illegal since January 2020. This is thus an irresponsible, illegal and unacceptable decision that overshadows the good progress made on other fish populations.”

“It’s hopeful to see the Council acting along the lines of the recently signed Our Baltic Ministerial Declaration by staying the path drawn up by last year’s Council. We must applaud the Commission for their original proposal. The agreed fishing levels are not perfect, but do signal that fisheries ministers share our sense of urgency. Unfortunately this is not enough and more measures and hard decisions are needed to face the fact that the fishery of the past is gone, and the fact that the fish are worth more alive than on the deck of a trawler”, said Nils Hoglund, Fisheries Policy Officer, Coalition Clean Baltic [2].

“Instead of wasting valuable time haggling during all night circuses, EU fisheries ministers should set fishing limits in light of the ecological crisis faced by the Baltic, and the ocean and climate worldwide, and in line with the commitments they’ve made through the European Green Deal and the UN Biodiversity Summit. By continuing to push fish populations to their very limits and beyond, we fail to change the future for Baltic Sea health, and cause continued pain and suffering for its coastal communities. It’s clear fisheries ministers are not up for the job – EU Prime Ministers must step in, in order to get the situation under control,” said Rebecca Hubbard, Programme Director of Our Fish.

The decisions taken during this week’s AGRIFISH meeting in Luxembourg prove that the EU still has a long way to go to match it’s fisheries management decisions with its commitments and ambitions, namely the ecosystem based management and biodiversity restoration expressed in European Green Deal and Biodiversity Strategy 2030. Fisheries Council decisions on deep-sea and North-East Atlantic fishing limits can be meaningful actions to address the climate and nature crisis, but need to be much more ambitious and based on science, to do so.

ENDS

Contacts: 

Dave Walsh, Our Fish Communications Advisor, +34 691 826 764, dave@our.fish

Ottilia Thoreson, Director WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme +46 8 624 74 15, ottilia.thoreson@wwf.se

Emily Fairless, Oceana Communication Officer, +32 478 038 490, efairless@oceana.org

Nils Höglund, Fisheries Policy Officer, Coalition Clean Baltic, +46 708 679 249, nils.hoglund@ccb.se

Sara Tironi, Seas At Risk Communications Officer, +32 483 457 483, stironi@seas-at-risk.org

 

Notes:

[1] Agriculture and Fisheries Council, 19-20/10/2019

Baltic Sea fishing: Council agrees on 2021 catch limits

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/10/20/baltic-sea-fishing-council-agrees-on-2021-catch-limits/

Joint NGO recommendations on EU Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2021

https://our.fish/publications/joint-ngo-recommendations-on-eu-baltic-sea-fishing-opportunities-for-2021/

European Commission, Fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2021: improving long-term sustainability of stocks, 28 August 2020

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_1522

[2] Ministerial Declaration. ‘Our Baltic’ Conference, 28th September 2020 https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/ministerial_declaration_our_baltic_conference.pdf