Ourfish

Category: Press Releases

  • EU Holds Key To Just Transition to Low-Carbon, Low-Impact Fishing Industry – Report

    EU Holds Key To Just Transition to Low-Carbon, Low-Impact Fishing Industry – Report

    EU Holds Key To Just Transition to Low-Carbon, Low-Impact Fishing Industry - Report

     

    EU Holds Key To Just Transition to Low-Carbon, Low-Impact Fishing Industry – Report 

    Brussels, 26 October 2021:- The EU and its member states must transition to a more ecologically, socially and economically sustainable fishing industry – and already have the means to do so, according to a new report published today. 

    The report, How the EU can Transition to Low Environmental Impact, Low Carbon, Socially Just Fishing, published by the Our Fish Campaign and Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) finds that by activating Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and allocating fishing quotas based on transparent and objective criteria of an environmental, social and economic nature, the EU can achieve a just transition to a low-carbon, low-impact fishing fleet. 

    The report proposes criteria and processes which the European Commission and EU member states could harness in order to achieve this goal, such as the reallocation of an increasing share of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) over a period of eight years, which should include prescribed minimum allocations of fishing opportunities to the small-scale low-impact fishing fleet, indicators such as use of selective fishing gear, marine seabed impact, carbon cycle impact and history of fisheries and environmental compliance. 

    “For many years, the systems used by Member States to allocate their fishing quotas have led to the concentration of fishing opportunities in the hands of a few big players, to the detriment of small-scale low impact fishers and the marine environment,” said Brian O’Riordan, Executive Secretary, Low Impact Fishers of Europe. “The current system is not fit for purpose, rewarding as it does those who fish the most. Rather we need a system that rewards those who fish the most sustainably and provide the greatest benefits to society.” 

    “The EU has several tools and processes at its disposal to right this historic wrong. Next year the European Commission must report on the implementation of the CFP, and this provides a once in a decade opportunity to reset European fisheries policy on a correct course, beginning with a just reallocation of quota”, continued O’Riordan. 

    “Ensuring a healthy ocean is a crucial component of humanity’s response to the climate and biodiversity crisis”, said Rebecca Hubbard, Programme Director with Our Fish. “The EU’s Common Fisheries Policy has the ingredients needed to realise a transformation of EU fishing to one that minimises impacts on protected species and marine ecosystems, increases carbon sequestration and maximises social benefits for coastal communities.”

    “We just need to accelerate this transformation by incentivising good practice with priority access to quota and fish”, said Hubbard. “The European Commission can, and considering the current climate and biodiversity crisis, should, urgently help to accelerate this transition, while EU member states need to demonstrate political will and commitment to doing the necessary work to secure a healthy future for our fish populations and coastal communities”.

    “Considering its numerous small scale fleet, with a significant part operating with low impact methods and with great social and economic importance, Portugal must be a leader member-state in the implementation of the Article 17”, said Gonçalo Carvalho, Executive Coordinator of Sciaena. “This will be a key element in enabling a transition to fisheries that contribute to safeguarding marine ecosystems and strengthening coastal communities.”

    “France Nature Environnement supports the use of Article 17 of the CFP in order to move towards more sustainable fishing”, said Michel Morin, member of France Nature Environment’s expert fisheries working group. “The follow-up of scientific advice and the improvement of transparency in the allocation of quotas should be a priority, especially for small-scale fisheries.”

    “There is a huge discrepancy between the current situation of fishing in France and the declarations of the European regulations in favor of fishermen such as ourselves who fish exclusively by line, and who meet all the criteria laid down in Article 17: contribution to the local economy, selective fishing gear, reduced impact on the environment, low energy consumption,” says Ken Kawahara, secretary of the Association des Ligneurs de la Pointe de Bretagne, “The situation regarding the allocation of fishing rights has not changed at all since 2013, and many small-scale fishing vessels still have to be content with fishing the few species that are allowed to them while some industrial trawlers have thousands of tons of quotas.”

    According to the report, Spain has used some environmental and social criteria beyond the historical catches to allocate its quotas. “However, these are just exceptions,” explained Cecilia del Castillo, Fisheries Campaigner at Ecologistas en Acción. “Since Spain is currently drafting its new law on fisheries, it must do its best to include a more ambitious language and suitable criteria to ensure the implementation of article 17 of the CFP. Spain has now the opportunity to bet for a fair transition towards less harmful fisheries. This opportunity must not be wasted”. 

    “At the moment there is a lack of political will and clear procedures in the European Union to implement the common fisheries policy,” says Sascha Müller-Kraenner, executive director of the Deutsche Umwelthilfe in Germany. “The Common Fisheries Policy’s Article 17 gives fishermen who use environmentally friendly and sustainable fishing methods the first access to fisheries resources, instead of environmentally harmful fishing methods such as bottom trawling. The current biodiversity and climate crisis makes it imperative to act quickly: some fish populations are in such a poor condition that they can no longer be fished. Therefore we call on Germany’s incoming fisheries minister to finally implement Article 17 and to take ecological criteria into account when allocating fishing quotas.”

    ENDS

    Download the report:

    Download Presentation:

    Presentation: EU Holds Key To Just Transition to Low-Carbon, Low-Impact Fishing Industry

     

    Contact: 

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

    Sarah Namann, Marketing and Communications Officer, Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) communications@lifeplatform.eu

    Cecilia del Castillo, fisheries campaigner at Ecologistas en Acción, Spain, +34 625 295 796, pesca@ecologistasenaccion.org

     

    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 LIFE

    The Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) is a European wide organization of organizations uniting European small-scale fishers to achieve fair fisheries, healthy seas and vibrant communities. 5% of the EU fish catch is produced by small-scale low impact fishing, supporting 70% of the fleet and providing 50% of the jobs at sea. 

    https://lifeplatform.eu/

    Media Briefing, October 26, 2021:

  • EU, UK and Norway Take Hesitant Steps Towards Ending Overfishing but Nothing to Celebrate

    EU, UK and Norway Take Hesitant Steps Towards Ending Overfishing but Nothing to Celebrate

    Our Fish and ClientEarth

    More Robust Response Urgently Needed for Long Term Problems Facing Ocean Health, say NGOs 

    Brussels, 17 March 2021:- The conclusion of the first post-Brexit trilateral negotiations over shared fish stocks in the North Sea between the EU, Norway and the UK has demonstrated some progress to end overfishing, but gives little cause to celebrate said Our Fish and ClientEarth today. The three Parties missed opportunities for joint rebuilding of North Sea cod, establishment of effective controls and monitoring of catches, and greater transparency.

    The NGOs welcomed the setting of fishing limits at, or below the maximum advised by scientists for four out of six fish species. But they warned that a failure by all parties to stop overfishing in the North Sea overall, or to take action to prevent illegal discarding, continues to undermine the urgently needed progress to restore ocean health.

    Our Fish and ClientEarth strongly recommend that fisheries management by all three parties must become more precautionary [1], especially where data are limited and compliance low, and more effectively safeguard healthy, resilient marine ecosystems [2], in order to minimise the dangers of biodiversity loss and climate chaos.

    “While we welcome the agreement made by the EU, UK and Norway to follow the scientific advice for the majority of fishing limits for shared fish stocks in 2021, we remain perplexed as to why the UK did not more strongly advocate for a rapid rebuilding of the North Sea cod population, which is suffering from persistent overfishing, especially because its recovery could support a thriving coastal UK fishing community,” said Rebecca Hubbard, Our Fish Program Director.

    “Setting fishing limits in line with scientific advice is crucial – but not enough unless everybody plays by the rules. In reality, while throwing dead fish back into the ocean is now largely illegal in the EU, it’s still happening at sea. To ensure actual catches are sustainable, the EU, Norway and the UK also need proper fisheries control and monitoring [3],” said Jenni Grossmann, Science and Policy Advisor at ClientEarth. “Turning a blind eye to illegal discards will lead to unsustainable catches at sea, even if fishing limits seem to follow the science on paper. Tools such as remote electronic monitoring can help fill the compliance gap.”

    The EU, UK and Norway agreed to 2021 fishing limits for six jointly-managed North Sea species – cod, haddock, saithe, whiting, plaice and herring [4]. Total Annual Catches (TAC) for saithe, whiting, plaice and haddock were set at or below the maximum advice from scientists. However, Our Fish and ClientEarth called the setting of the limit for North Sea cod 8% above scientific advice “deeply concerning”, due to the long-term overfishing of this population and the three parties’ acknowledgement that illegal discarding poses an ongoing risk to the health of all fish populations. In addition, some of the herring TACs jeopardise the vulnerable Western Baltic Spring Spawning herring for which scientists advised zero catches.

     

    Behind Closed Doors

    Transparency of, and privileged industry influence to, the negotiations between the EU and third countries remain an issue of concern for NGOs. As in previous years, the EU Commission rejected NGO applications to officially join the EU delegation for the negotiations, suggesting that NGOs instead ask Member States to include them. However, while members of the fishing industry retain exclusive access to all Member State delegations, no Member State agreed to include civil society organisations. NGOs instead receive separate briefings from the Commission and UK delegation.

    “The failure of the EU to grant NGOs equal access to these negotiations, while allowing the fishing industry carte-blanche involvement, is a blight on the otherwise improving EU reputation for fisheries management. We cannot have true transparency and accountability for setting fishing quotas if industry has an unquestioned place at the negotiating table, while civil society can only gain access at the whim of individual Member States. While Commissioner Sinkevičius has signalled support for equal stakeholder access going forward, Member States continue to refuse, and the issue remains unresolved,” said Ms Hubbard.

    “The reality is that small-step improvements will not rebuild fisheries overnight – chronic overfishing and increasing impacts from climate change mean that the EU, Norway and the UK must all make extraordinary efforts to urgently transition to ecosystem-based management, if we are to restore ocean health and ensure sustainable fisheries help protect us from worsening climate change,” Hubbard concluded.

    ENDS

    Contacts:

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

    Diane Vandesmet, ClientEarth Communications officer, dvandesmet@clientearth.org ; +32 493 41 22 89

    Background:

    In previous years, the EU and Norway normally agreed the annual fishing limits (Total Allowable Catches) for 17 shared stocks based on a long-term agreement. With the UK leaving the EU, these negotiations have become trilateral negotiations, and a new agreement has been formed to address the changes in access by the three parties. Six species are now shared between the EU, UK and Norway.

    Bilateral negotiations are still taking place between the EU and UK to decide 2021 fishing limits for approximately 80 shared fish stocks. It is expected that these negotiations will continue for some weeks, and will be finalised in March.

    A recent analysis of joint EU, Norwegian and UK fishing practices, published by Our Fish, demonstrates how for the last 20 years, Norway and the EU, including the UK, have consistently set annual fishing limits for shared stocks above scientific advice. On average, Total Allowable Catches (TACs) as part of the EU-Norway Agreement exceed scientific advice by an average of 11% between 2001 and 2020.

    Ending the Blame Game Carousel: 20 Years of EU, Norway and UK Overfishing

    https://our.fish/publications/ending-the-blame-game-carousel-20-years-of-eu-norway-and-uk-overfishing/

     

    Notes:

    [1] ClientEarth (2020). Caution! A TAC-Setter’s Guide to the ‘Precautionary Approach’. December 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/caution-a-tac-setter-s-guide-to-the-precautionary-approach/

    ClientEarth (2020). How (not) to implement the ecosystem-based approach when setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs). December 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/how-not-to-implement-the-ecosystem-based-approach-when-setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs/

    “Fisheries management under the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has to follow the ‘precautionary approach’. This means that uncertainty or a lack of knowledge or data cannot justify delaying or failing to take action to conserve fish stocks and the ecosystems they depend on. Decision-makers need to be more, not less, cautious when information is more limited.”

    [2] ClientEarth (2020). How (not) to implement the ecosystem-based approach when setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs). December 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/how-not-to-implement-the-ecosystem-based-approach-when-setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs/

    [3] ClientEarth (2020). Setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the context of the Landing Obligation. July 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/setting-total-allowable-catches-tacs-in-the-context-of-the-landing-obligation/

    ClientEarth (2020). (Lack of) catch documentation under the landing obligation and how exemptions may defeat rather than prove the rule. December 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/documents/lack-of-catch-documentation-under-the-landing-obligation-and-how-exemptions-may-defeat-rather-than-prove-the-rule/

    AGRIFISH Press Briefing: How EU Decisions On Fishing Quotas Will Set Tone for 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw783NtRdCg&feature=youtu.be This short 5 min presentation (starting at 15:35) visualises the risk that catch-based TACs pose in combination with illegal discards.

    [4] AGREED RECORD OF FISHERIES CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION, NORWAY AND THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR 2021, 16 MARCH 2021,

    https://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/international/agreements/norway