The May 2016 newsletter includes:
Follow this link to download News From The Deck – May 2016
Barcelona, 31st May 2016
LIFE Platform
DG Mare recently announced the opening of the blue fin tuna fishing season (http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/mare/itemdetail.cfm?type=880&typeName=Press%20Release&item_id=31694). But behind this good news story lies a dark tale of social injustice and of missed opportunity. Hundreds of polyvalent small-scale fishers in the Mediterranean who traditionally targeted Bluefin tuna during a two- to three-month season using handlines, and with each fisher catching a single fish on average, are effectively excluded from the fishery.
Case after case is coming to light of smaller scale fishers being discriminated against by unfair quota allocation systems across the EU that fly in the face of sustainability and social justice. Nowhere is this more so than in the case of Bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean.
Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy – CFP Reg. (EU) No 1380/2013 – requires that states use “transparent and objective criteria, including those of an environmental, social, and economic nature” when allocating fishing opportunities. However, of all the possible criteria listed in the article, Member States continue to use historic track records almost exclusively to allocate quotas. Historically, in most cases, small scale fishers have not been required to maintain catch records, and so are unfairly discriminated against by this system.
Article 17 also encourages Member States to provide incentives to “fishing vessels deploying selective fishing gear or using fishing techniques with reduced environmental impact, such as reduced energy consumption or habitat damage” within the fishing opportunities allocated to them. Such a provision could be used to reward small-scale, environmentally sound and socially important fishery activities, but it remains dormant.
Implementation of the potentially revolutionary provisions of Article 17 does, however, require the political will to change from a “business as usual” approach. Historically the CFP has been blind to small scale fisheries. This has meant that its focus has been on regulating larger scale mobile gear fisheries. So, time after time, smaller scale low impact fishery operations have been unfairly discriminated against, despite their inherent social, economic and environmental advantages.
Tuna: a shining example in a gloomy Mediterranean.
In the Mediterranean, the recovery of Bluefin tuna stocks shines out brightly against a gloomy background of overfishing that has got out of control. Generally, Mediterranean fish stocks are in a seriously depleted state, with 93% of those stocks assessed being overfished.
In 2006, Bluefin tuna were thought to be on the verge of extinction. Although it is too early to say that Atlantic Bluefin tuna stocks have now reached sustainable levels, signs of their recovery auger well for the dozens of commercial fish stocks in the Mediterranean that are in the doldrums.
Scientific advice indicates that Atlantic Bluefin tuna stocks are recovering, and this has encouraged the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) – the international body responsible for regulating the fishery for Atlantic (including in the Mediterranean) tuna to set a 60% increase in the overall TAC for bluefin tuna over the three-year period 2015 to 2017. Thanks to this, in 2016 the European TAC for bluefin tuna is 11,203 tonnes.
The ICCAT decision is also based on improvements made to controlling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing thanks to the use of new technologies and international cooperation, as well as to a range of management measures adopted since 2006 as part of a Bluefin tuna recovery plan for the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.
The dark side to this good news story is that those fishing operations that have had, and continue to have the biggest impact on the resource are being rewarded with additional quota – just the opposite of what Article 17 should be all about. Meanwhile, the smaller-scale low impact fishers of the Mediterranean, who have fished for tuna since ancestral times, with notable exceptions, are being left out of this big quota give-away. These smaller scale operations have a minimum impact on the resource, yet have potentially significant social and economic benefits for communities that depend on fishing.
Those reaping the benefits are essentially the larger scale purse seiners that catch tuna alive for fattening, a relatively recent commercial activity that relies on the use of small pelagic species for their feed. Many of these small pelagic species are being overfished, notably in the Mediterranean.
There is also a worrying sign that this gifting of quota to large scale fishing companies is transforming a public resource into a privately owned commodity through individual (or vessel) transferable quotas (ITQs). For example, Spanish laws now permit the temporary or permanent transfer of tuna quota between vessels with access to the tuna fishery, which could lead to the concentration of the quota allocated to large and medium sized vessels in the hands of a few companies, as well as leading to a speculative investment and trade in tuna quota.
LIFE rejects such a model for allocating fishing rights, whether in the Mediterranean or elsewhere. Fisheries are a global heritage, and it is national governments not private companies are responsible for governing who has access and use of these naturally renewable resources. Commodifying fish stocks through ITQs and similar market based fishery management tools is neither a fair nor sustainable.
LIFE calls on Member State Governments to apply Article 17 of the CFP, both in letter and in spirit of the law. This means applying Article 17 so as to encourage the promotion of responsible and socially beneficial fishing. Giving away fishing rights for free, to a small number of increasingly prosperous and powerful fishing companies has disenfranchised the majority of the fleet, and is turning a public resource into a privately owned commodity.
Meeting with stakeholders of the Northern Seas in Denmark
LIFE and representatives of two member organizations, FSK. Foreningen for Skånsomt Kystfiskeri and NUTFA, attended the two days event “Slow Fish of the Northern Seas” that took place in Denmark from the 8th to 10th of April. The meeting, organized by Slow Fish and hosted by the fishing community of Thorupstrand, has been the occasion to visit their landing site and processing facilities, to exchange best practices and to carry out a multi-disciplinary reflection among fishermen, producers, researchers and not-for profits on several topics of particular relevance for the Northern Seas, including aquaculture, community-led initiatives, market space and resource management.
The gathering has been the starting point for a broader collective work of networking and engagement that will be developed in the months to come with fishing communities and stakeholders in the framework of the event Terra Madre which will be held in Turin in September 2016.
LIFE becomes member of the Mediterranean Advisory Council
LIFE’s application to become an official member of the MedAC. The MedAC is the committee bringing together European and national organizations representing the fisheries and NGO sectors, providing the Commission and EU countries with recommendations on fisheries management matters. With this seat the low impact fishers of the Med countries will be better able to get their voice heard at the decision-making process level and to influence the policies that define the management of the sector in the Region.
LIFE invited by the European Commission at the launch of the new Mediterranean Strategy
On the 27th LIFE attended the launch of the new Mediterranean strategy by Commissioner Karmenu Vella at Europe’s biggest industry event, the Seafood Global Expo in Brussels. The Mediterranean Sea still laments declining fisheries despite the conservation efforts of both regulators and fishermen. For this reason, the European Commission, concerned with what this could mean for thousands of fishermen, has decided to focus its next political campaign on the Region.
Christian Decugis, LIFE Director for the Med, was interviewed by the official journalists of the event and recalled the vital role played by SSCFs, their historical commitment to sustainable fishing practices and the need for a more inclusive decision-making process !
The organization of Dutch and Belgian small scale coastal and inland fishers NetVISwerk has chosen a new chairperson: Albert Jan Maat. He has been chairman of the National Farmers Union and served in the European Parliament as rapporteur for the Eel Management Plan. With Albert Jan on board, NetVISwerk will increase its National and European network and will work closely with the Dutch Farmers Union in Brussels. The two Dutch organisations are already cooperating on the issue of listing European Invasive Alien Species and the Farmers Union is very much willing to team-up with LIFE in supporting small scale fishers in Europe.
On the 12th of April the French Platform PPPAF (Plateforme de la Petite Pêche Artisanale Française) issued a press release to voice their concerns about how fisheries are managed in France. The article, published on the specialist French newspaper Le Marin ( http://goo.gl/G3nsWm ) , highlights the administrative burden to practice the profession and the opaque allocation of quota and management mechanisms of POs. The PPPAF is not asking for a total exemption of small-scale fishing, just for appropriate management measures.
In addition to the members who joined since the beginning of 2016, the following organisations officially became part of LIFE this month:
Union des Communautés des Prud’hommes Pêcheurs Méditerranéens (UCPPM – France)
Fishing Prud’homies are communities of artisanal fishers who were born on the Mediterranean Coast of France back in the Middle Ages and that in time developed autonomous systems of regulation and management of local fisheries. UCPPM, created in 2015, is the official association representing the voice of 300 Prud’hommes fishers (for 250 under 10 meters’ boats) and among its objectives are the promotion sustainable fishing practices and developing policies which are more appropriate for the local fleet and coastal environment. Welcome to LIFE!
Asociación para la defensa de la pesca artesanal del Mediterráneo (ADPAM – Spain)
ADPAM is an association created in 2008 to represent the artisanal fishing communities of Spain, with a special focus on the Province of Castellὸn and Catalunya, on the Mediterranean Coast. Today it represents 40 fishers (for 40 boats) and has among its priorities the development of European policies that can ensure a sustainable management of Mediterranean stocks. LIFE is delighted to welcome ADPAM as an active member from the Med Region!
This newsletter is a simple snapshot of our external activities. In addition, the LIFE staff in the UK, Brussels and Spain respond to a vast range of queries related to our sector and continuously develop and promulgate policies related to small scale, low impact fishing and fisheries.
Our Regional Directors, all working small scale fishers also promote the values and benefits of coastal fishing.
Would you like some additional information on a specific event, project or initiative? Don’t hesitate to contact us at communications@lifeplatform.eu , or follow us on Facebook ( Low Impact Fishers of Europe ) or on Twitter (@LIFEplatformEU )
Brussels, 10th of May 2016
LIFE Platform
Brian O’Riordan
This article is adapted from an article that appeared in Le Marin “Forum” 22.04.2016 http://www.lemarin.fr/secteurs-activites/peche/25102-critique-dun-systeme-de-gestion-inadapte-la-petite-peche?_=1461345037035, written by three co-Chairs of the Platforme, Anne Marie Vergez, a Basque fisher, Gwen Pennarun, a Brittany fisher, and Frédéric Reste, a fisher from the Mediterranean.
For more details see http://www.plateforme-petite-peche.fr/
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France, like many EU Member States, has administrative and management systems that are ill suited to the needs of the small scale fisheries sector. Despite much promise, two years on, the implementation of the CFP has so far failed to deliver tangible benefits for fishers who have chosen to fish ways that limit their impacts on the environment, who want to combine traditional small scale fishing ways with modern technology and decent working conditions, and who want to support the local communities in which they are rooted.
Despite the lack of delivery to date, LIFE is optimistic that Article 17 does provide the possibility to reward those who fish sustainably, so long as the political will is there to apply its provisions in the spirit as well as in the letter of the law.
The authors of the article below speak not only for themselves and for the French Platform for Small Scale Artisanal Fisheries, but for small scale fishers across Europe who share their worries and frustrations. Their concerns are very much our concerns.
The French Platform of Small Scale Artisanal Fisheries, a founder member of LIFE, represents fishermen from the French Atlantic facing coasts and from the Mediterranean. The Platform was launched in June 2012 by a group of associations representing 500 fishers.
The Platform was set up to defend the under 12 metre fleet segment that uses predominantly passive fishing methods. Despite the importance of this fleet segment, it is often marginalised, treated unfairly, not given proper consideration by the authorities, and not given sufficient space within professional organizations.
The aim of the Platform is not to fight against vessels over 12 meters. The complementarity of small scale and large scale activities is recognized and respected by the Platform, which considers that fleet diversity is important for the economic and social wellbeing of both fishing harbours and the sector as a whole.
Of course there are points of contention, and we may disagree on a number of issues. However, like the Platform, LIFE contends that the management of small scale fisheries require a differentiated approach, and that measures are needed to ensure that a balance is maintained between small-scale fishing and other fleet segments, and the small scale low impact segment can thrive.
LIFE identifies with, and wholeheartedly embraces these objectives and views.
In France, as in other European countries, there are many hurdles to setting up as a small scale owner operator. First of all, it is necessary to obtain the PME (Fishing Vessel License). Then a plethora of permits must be obtained, including AEP (European Fishing License), licenses for gears, and licenses for different species like bass, shellfish, sole etc. For bass, no more licenses are available for fishers using hooks, despite this being the most responsible fishing method as far as the resource and the marine environment are concerned, and on which hundreds of fishers depend. Their contribution to the overexploitation of the species is minute compared to the pelagic trawl fleet, where the number of licenses has remained unchanged.
And then there’s the painful question of quotas; a management tool much feared – and with reason – by small scale fishers. It is applied through a mechanism – based on catch history – that is deeply unfair. It rewards those who fish the most, whilst overlooking those who practice low impact fishing.
LIFE and the French Platform both denounce the current distribution system of quotas and its many perverse effects. Last December in France, the Competition Authority raised concerns on how quota is distributed among fishermen, the anti-competitive nature of the practices, the opaque allocation and management mechanisms, particularly in the POs (Producer Organizations).
The quota allocation system for Bluefin tuna graphically illustrates these concerns, with almost all the quota allowances reserved for purse seiners, pelagic trawlers or large longliners. This system should be fully reviewed in order to establish a distribution system based on environmental, social and economic criteria, as set out in Article 17 of the reformed CFP.
Some EU regulations include special provisions that favour small boats, by exempting them from certain fishing authorizations. However, in the case of access to cod in some areas, the exemption for vessels under 10 metres has been overturned by the professional organizations. Instead they have imposed a European Vessel Licence (AEP) on vessels under 10 meters, which penalizes them heavily. The French Platform also strongly objects to the unequal charges levied on small boats compared to large boats. Our sector is the main contributor, but not the primary beneficiary.
Then there is the administrative straitjacket, where bureaucratic requirements are not at all adapted to the constraints of small-scale fisheries. These include safety requirements, the need for life-rafts, the system for weighing the landings, manning levels, direct sales, and so on. It’s a real burden for small scale owner operators.
We are not asking for the exemption of small fishing from all management measures. However, we denounce a management system that is inappropriate. We depend on the areas where we fish – our fishing territories. We need to target the species found in our immediate vicinity, distributing our effort, based on a logic that is not to maximize profit.
It’s a philosophy and a socioeconomic model that the current system constantly undermines. There is nothing more absurd for us than having to avoid catching bluefin tuna that abounds all around us, or to discard it dead, and then having to travel great distances to find fish that we are allowed to catch.
Our critics contend that “if we followed your demands, then the coastal zone would simply fill up with vessels”. But we already find large ships on the coast, notably supertrawlers, other trawlers and 24 metre longliners, which thanks to derogations can operate within the 3-mile zone. All we are asking is that the maritime space be shared amongst vessels according to their size, and for the rules applied to be respected and strictly controlled. Our small vessels will never go far out enough to compete with vessels of 20 or 25 meters.
Similarly, we continually hear officials congratulating themselves on the sound state of stocks. But which stocks they talking about? Bass? Red seabream? Black bream? All these species are far from well managed. Many fishers will tell you how red seabream was decimated by high opening trawls, and how black bream has virtually disappeared in some places because of pelagic trawling. We call for a comprehensive scientific assessment, but are under no illusions that this will happen any time soon.
In the Mediterranean, too, there is an urgent need for progress to be made to improve the state of resources. But when addressing the problem, sports fishing (which is totally unregulated), pollution and coastal urbanization must also be factored in. Better recognition of the roles of prudhommies, ancient secular management bodies, should also be included in the equation. It is by strengthening theses indispensable institutions that we can make progress in fisheries management in the Mediterranean.
We had placed certain hopes in the new CFP, particularly concerning the provisions of Article 17. This article requires Member States to allocate quota using transparent and objective criteria, and to favour fishing vessels “deploying selective fishing gear or using fishing techniques with reduced environmental impact, such as reduced energy consumption or habitat damage.”
But where are these famous criteria that each state is supposed to define and implement? We fear that Danish seines and electric trawls may be the ones to eventually benefit from the misapplication of these environmental and social criteria.
Brussels, 26 April 2016
Brian O’Riordan
LIFE Platform
Blue Growth is the new snake oil of the world economy. It is being promoted as the miracle cure for stagnant growth, overexploited and dwindling resources, and insufficient food on dry land in the context of ever increasing needs of a rapidly growing world population. In the absence of a “Planet B”, Blue Growth provides a glimmer of hope.
The idea of the Blue Economy came out of the 2012 Rio + 20 process under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development – building on the 1992 Earth Summit. Advocated for principally by Small Island Development States (SIDS), it is rooted in the Green Economy, which in turn is seen as vital for “achieving sustainable development, to contribute to eradicating poverty as well as sustained economic growth, enhancing social inclusion, improving human welfare and creating opportunities for employment and decent work for all, while maintaining the healthy functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems” (from Para 56. The future we want. UNCSD 2012 http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/rio20_outcome_document_complete.pdf).
The potential of the seas and oceans – the Blue Economy – to meet sustainable development needs is enormous; but only if they can be maintained in and/or restored to a healthy, and productive state.
However, LIFE is concerned that amid all the hype and razzmatazz, sight is being lost of the fact that Blue Growth has huge implications for fisheries, be they small or large in scale. Blue Growth only takes an interest in those sectors which exhibit growth potential – and it sees the fishery sector as one in decline. At the same time, the economic sectors targeted by Blue Growth include many that will encroach on the spaces traditionally occupied by fisheries, and which will undoubtedly have an impact on the resources on which fishery activities depend. These include industrial scale aquaculture, ocean energy, and seabed mining.
Although maritime spatial planning is included as an “essential component”, more attention is needed to ensure that the European Blue Growth strategy seeks coherence and complementarity with the CFP. If not the CFP will be overwhelmed by the tsunami of Blue Growth.
LIFE also asserts that Blue Growth should not be a license for business as usual and more of the same “brown” development. Up to now oceans have been treated as a means of free resource extraction and waste dumping, and environmental and social costs have been externalised from economic calculations. Blue Growth is a call for fundamental change; ongoing trends in the exploitation and degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems show that endeavours to date have been insufficient and that more needs to be and must be done quickly. The huge amounts of marine debris building up in the oceans, especially plastics, demands urgent action. This was highlighted in a speech last year by Commissioner Vella, delivered to the Microplastics conference in Brussels on 12 May, 2015 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-2019/vella/announcements/eliminating-plastic-and-microplastic-pollution-urgent-need_en. Addressing the problem must go beyond paying fishermen to become litter collectors at sea.
Along with Blue Growth razzmatazz, LIFE is also concerned that large, private and non-governmental organizations are investing in the Blue Economy, and taking on the roles traditionally occupied by States.
Increasingly States are ceding land and marine concessions to large environmental NGOs, which are often set up as “Trusts”. These NGOs then manage the environmental reserves ceded to them on behalf of the States. These NGOs, whose activities are often financed by transnational corporations, then decide by themselves – without any democratic control – environmental actions to be undertaken. Local communities and citizens are often uninformed about these projects or kept out of managing these environmental reserves. Whilst the fight to combat climate change has in large part been entrusted by States to large environmental NGOs, and for various reasons transnational corporations finance these NGOs, the question now arises as to how what is often referred to as the “environmental industry” is regulated.
At the same time, international banks, private equity funds and other financial players seeking new areas for investment, are speculating on the oceans through carbon trading, debt for nature swaps and other such schemes.
The need to reign in this environmental industry, and to make it accountable and transparent was recently highlighted by Professor Gilles Lhuilier in “Le Marin” http://www.lemarin.fr/secteurs-activites/environnement/24995-initiative-pour-la-transparence-dans-les-ong.
Blue Growth and small scale fisheries was also one of the main themes of the recent Regional Conference on “Building a future for sustainable small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea” organized by the GFCM and the FAO in collaboration with the Algerian Government – http://www.fao.org/gfcm/meetings/ssfconference2016/en/.
The Consultant presenting the case for Blue Growth highlighted that in order to be included in the rush for Blue Growth, fisheries would need to demonstrate how they can maximize their contribution to the economy and to growth, and to “reposition” themselves accordingly. This would require he said a) applying a “use right” system to achieve economic efficiency, and b) generating an “investible surplus” that could be invested in growth.
The CFP reform process brought to the fore the way the traditional use rights of the fishery sector and of fishing communities, and their access to fisheries has been eroded over time. Such traditional rights and access in Europe, as in many other areas of the world, have been replaced by private and tradable rights. This has transformed resources that were previously public into privately owned quotas, concentrated into fewer and fewer hands.
By contrast, the FAO’s approach through its Blue Growth Initiative (BGI) offers some hope. The BGI aims at building the resilience of coastal communities and restoring the productive potential of fisheries and aquaculture, in order to support food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable management of living aquatic resources.
Blue Growth and small scale fisheries, far from being incompatible, are entirely complimentary. But for such complementarity to be effectively transformed into a “win-win” situation, greater attention needs to be paid to safeguarding the fishing rights of small scale fisheries, and providing them with secure and priority access to their traditional fishing areas.
Implementing Article 17 of the CFP could go a long way in this regard.
Brussels, 20 april 2016
By Brian O’Riordan, Deputy Director
Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE)
“Our patient is ill, but still breathing. The diagnosis is serious, but there is still hope.” From Commissioner Vella’s Opening Speech in Catania 9 February 2016, High level seminar on the Status of the Stocks in the Mediterranean and on the CFP Approach.
“Concerted effort needed to ensure that best practice become standard practices in small scale fisheries” – conclusion of GFCM Regional Conference on Small Scale Fisheries.
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The Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) contend that if Mediterranean fisheries are to recover from their current crisis, small scale fisheries have to be included as a central part of the remedy.
Any solution to the crisis in the Mediterranean must be built around small scale fisheries, as this sector provides the social and economic backbone of fishing communities.
The oversight of the Spanish Government to include representatives from the small scale sector in their recent consultation with the fisheries sector, environmentalists, scientists and regional authorities must be remedied. Meeting in Madrid on April 7 to lay out details of its draft plan for the recovery of Mediterranean fisheries, the Fisheries Secretariat of the Ministry for Agriculture, Food and the Environment failed either to acknowledge the strategic importance of small scale fisheries to the success of such a plan, they also failed to invite representatives from the sector.
The Spanish plan is in preparation for a Ministerial conference in Brussels, hosted by DG Mare, on April 27, to coincide with the European Seafood Show (now called Seafood Expo Global). The meeting is spurred by the fishery crisis in the Mediterranean, and is the next step following the two day “high level seminar” on the state of stocks in the Mediterranean that took place in Catania, Sicily earlier this year. It will include Fisheries Ministers from all the countries bordering the Mediterranean, with the aim of agreeing on the actions necessary to address the crisis in the Mediterranean. Proposals from this conference will be taken to the 40th Session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), the Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) for the Mediterranean and Black Sea, on 30 May.
The importance of small scale coastal fisheries (SSCF) in the Mediterranean is highlighted by the 2014 Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet by the Scientific and Technical Committee on Fisheries (STEFC). This finds that, according to the available data, for the Mediterranean & Black Sea fleet, the small scale fleet (SSF) possessed 69% of the fleet in number and accounted for 67% of the effort but provided jobs for only 51% of the total employed. In terms of production, the SSF landed only 13% in weight but 23% in value; overall generating 27% of the revenue.
Whilst emphasising the important social and economic weight of the sector, these figures also highlight the huge gap in the available data on landings. Any visitor to a Mediterranean fishing port will be impressed by the quantity of small boats, the quantities of fish they collectively land, and the availability of fresh locally caught fish in the nearby restaurants and retail outlets. Clearly their contribution to landings is higher than available data shows.
Mediterranean wide, according to the General Commission for Fisheries in the Mediterranean – the GFCM – SSCF “constitute over 80 percent of the fishing fleet, employ at least 60 percent of total on-vessel fishing labour and account for approximately 25 percent of the total landing value from capture fisheries in the region. At their best, small-scale fisheries exemplify sustainable resource use: exploiting living marine resources in a way that minimizes environmental degradation while maximizing economic and social benefits. Concerted effort is needed to ensure that best practices become standard practice.”
Small scale low impact activities using passive gears applied in a non-intensive and seasonally polyvalent manner also provide a ready-made solution to the problems of overfishing and environmental degradation caused by larger scale intensive, industrial fishery activities. Of course, considerable environmental impact is also being caused by the unrestricted use of small-meshed monofilament gillnets, and the associated effects of ghost fishing. Such irresponsible practices must be halted, in the same way that irresponsible industrial practices must be halted.
LIFE also contends that Article 17 of the CFP (“Basic Regulation” (EU) No 1380/2013) has an important role to play in favouring more sustainable ways of fishing, based on smaller scale, low impact fishing methods. Article 17, designed to promote responsible and socially beneficial fishing, obliges States to use transparent and objective criteria including those of an environmental, social and economic nature when allocating the fishing opportunities available to them. It also encourages States to provide incentives to fishing vessels deploying selective fishing gear or using fishing techniques with reduced environmental impact, such as reduced energy consumption or habitat damage.
At a meeting organized by LIFE in Athens on 28 November 2015, smaller scale fishers and their representative organisations from Greece, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, France and Spain demanded a greater voice in the development of fisheries policy at national and European levels. The meeting highlighted the need for the creation of long term plans as an integral element of the more dynamic and effective management of Mediterranean fisheries. Fishers also highlighted the need to reduce and then eventually eliminate pollution in the Mediterranean due to its a very significant adverse effect on coastal fisheries and the wider marine environment
However, although fishery activities undoubtedly have a significant impact on fish stocks and on the marine habitats essential for fishery production, it would be incorrect to lay the entire blame for the fishery crisis in the Mediterranean on fishing alone. The Mediterranean is a semi-enclosed sea, and highly vulnerable to the impacts of human activities. Including Gibraltar and Monaco there are 23 countries bordering the Mediterranean, and the impacts of industrial and domestic sources of pollution are considerable, as are the impacts of port, shipping, and offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction, and the actual and potential impacts of climate change (including acidification, increases in extreme weather, sea level rise, warming of the sea etc.).
The Mediterranean also has a notorious reputation for illegal (IUU) fishing. Sometimes this is carried out under the guise of “sports fishing”, the impact of which is considerable. In addition, due to the complex nature of national maritime boundaries and inadequate monitoring, control and enforcement, much illegal, unregulated and unreported fishery activity takes place beyond national boundaries. In many cases these extend out to only 12 miles. There is also a lack of harmonized policies between EU Member States and other Mediterranean countries, hence the need for action at the RFMO level, in the GFCM.
The question also arises as to what extent fishery specific measures can be used to restore fish stocks and the marine environment, and to what extent a raft of much wider measures is needed. For example, MSY is unlikely to be achieved solely by applying such fishery specific measures as closed seasons, fleet capacity reductions, technical measures to reduce the impact of fishing gears, etc. Unless environmental degradation caused by pollutants, marine debris (including plastics), by acidification from increasing CO2 levels etc. is addressed, fish stocks will not be able to rebuild themselves to pre-crisis levels.
Except for professional fisheries, all traditional sectors of Mediterranean maritime economy such as tourism, shipping, aquaculture and offshore oil and gas are expected to keep growing during the coming 15 years. Comparatively new or emerging sectors such as renewable energy, seabed mining and biotechnology are expected to grow even faster, although there is greater uncertainty concerning these developments and their expected impacts on marine ecosystem.
For sure, the road to recovery will be paved with a complex array of difficulties. However, unless policy makers include small scale fisheries and the stakeholders from the sector in their plans and consultations, it will be a rocky road to nowhere.
Brussels, 18 April 2016
LIFE Platform
On Tuesday 12 April, at their plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on “innovation and diversification of small-scale coastal fishing in fisheries-dependent regions (2015/2090(INI))”. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2016-0109+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
The Rapporteur, Croatian Euro-deputy Ruža Tomašić, highlighted that a new regionalized framework was needed for small scale coastal fisheries in order to take account of the specificities of different fisheries regions. Citing the example of the Mediterranean, Tomašić emphasised the need to abandon the one size fits all approach that has characterized the CFP to date.
LIFE completely agrees with, and has been calling for such an approach since it was founded in 2012. Such a differentiated approach is the only way to halt the erosion of fishing rights and the demise of small scale fisheries. We take on board Mr Vella’s comment that a “regionalised approach to the definition could have some merit but would also risk creating an uneven playing field.”
However, a regionalised approach to defining small scale fisheries need not alter the EMFF definition. Rather, for example, Regional MAPs and the technical measures adopted by them would take greater account of different craft gear combinations in the smaller scale non-towed gear categories. This could be in the form of derogations, or specific technical measures to be applied to the passive gear fleet segments.
In LIFE’s view the implementation of Tomasic’s report would go a long way to righting many of the wrongs dealt out to the small scale fisheries sector, and create a fairer and more level playing field.
Responding to the initiative, Commissioner Vella observed that “it is a fact that small-scale coastal fishing vessels are fundamental for the viability and resilience of coastal communities dependent on them, and I fully agree with that view.”
The Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) congratulates Madame Tomašić for her report, and the European Parliament for adopting it. The report endorses LIFE’s contention that the specificities of small scale coastal fisheries require a differentiated approach, and that such fisheries are best defined at local level, within a regional framework.
Commissioner Vella rightly highlighted that in the European Union at least 3 out of 4 vessels (75%) are characterized as being small in scale, i.e. under 12 metres using non towed gears.
Unlike larger scale, more industrial kinds of fishing operations, these small-scale activities generally have a low impact on the environment, whilst having a high social and economic value providing fresh fish, jobs, and supporting economic and cultural activities locally.
However, LIFE fully agrees with Commissioner Vella that the fleet needs regulating, and that further relaxing regulatory requirements on small-scale coastal fishing risks encouraging fishing by additional vessels and could worsen crowding in the coastal band, especially in areas where there is already a lot of pressure on regulated and unregulated stocks.
LIFE notes with concern that there are significant regulatory loopholes through which illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing passes in the guise of sports fishing. These loopholes need closing.
Since the Common Fisheries Policy was launched in 1983, the small scale sector has been neglected, marginalised and treated unfairly. For this reason, this fleet segment of often referred to as Europe’s “Forgotten Fleet”. Over the last 20 years, this segment of the fleet has declined the most, in some instances by as much as 40 to 50% since 1995.
Successive CFPs dating back to 1983 have tended to focus on larger scale fisheries, leaving national authorities to deal with smaller scale fisheries. With notable exceptions, national authorities have also tended to neglect smaller scale fisheries, and this has resulted in unfair treatment compared to larger scale fisheries (in terms of fishing access rights, access to markets, access to decision taking etc.).
Until the most recent review and reform of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the management of small scale fisheries was considered to be a national issue. The “Green Paper” consultation initiated in 2009 questioned whether or not the CFP should adopt a differentiated approach to the management of fisheries: one approach for small scale fleets in coastal communities with a focus on social objectives, and another for large-scale fleets, with capacity adjustment and economic efficiency at the core.
Although this suggestion was not incorporated into the new CFP, it was endorsed by the European Parliament, which proposed a comprehensive range of measures to defend and promote the small-scale sector.
LIFE welcomes the fact that the financial instrument for implementing the CFP, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF – (EU) No 508/2014), as well as the Market Regulation ((EU) No 1379/2013 ), and the Regulation for the Advisory Councils (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/242) all contain provisions which positively discriminate in favour of small scale fisheries.
However, as noted by Commissioner Vella, the implementation of these measures depends on Member States; that it is their responsibility to decide, under the respective operational programmes approved in late 2015, how to translate their strategic preferences into concrete support to their small-scale coastal fishing fleet.
LIFE calls on Member States to recognize the importance of small scale coastal fleets through specific plans for the modernization of the fleet. LIFE also fully endorses the call of the European Parliament for the quotas allocated to non-industrial fisheries to be increased, in order to boost this socially and ecologically sustainable form of fishing.
In our view the implementation of Article 17 is vital in this regard. Article 17 calls on Member States to “use transparent and objective criteria including those of an environmental, social and economic nature”, when allocating the fishing opportunities available to them. “The criteria to be used may include, inter alia, the impact of fishing on the environment, the history of compliance, the contribution to the local economy and historic catch levels. Within the fishing opportunities allocated to them, Member States shall endeavour to provide incentives to fishing vessels deploying selective fishing gear or using fishing techniques with reduced environmental impact, such as reduced energy consumption or habitat damage.”
Such measures, if applied in the spirit of the Article, would undoubtedly go a long way to providing the affirmative action necessary for small scale fisheries to regain their prominence in European fisheries.
Although many of Mrs Tomasic’s proposals are already contained in the new CFP, her report highlights the inertia in Member States to take the affirmative actions on small scale fisheries proposed, and the need for its full implementation.
By Mike Warner,
By my reckoning, it’s 34 years since I last crunched my way down the little shingle beach, beyond the boatyard at Felixstowe Ferry, in my trusty “Bullseye” thigh boots and clambered aboard the dinghy which was tender to Dougie Goodall’s fishing boat “Swallow II”. Little did I realise, as we rowed to the mooring, that this glorious, early summer’s morning back in 1982, would be my last trip made for many, many, years. The closing scene of a boyhood that had borne witness to the travails of our local inshore fishermen and that had come to forge and represent the passion for the industry and its participants, that I now feel so keenly.
During the summers I spent potting for crab and lobster and the winters longlining for cod and skate, I would willingly while away the precious hours of my holidays and weekends at sea in an open clinker-built motorboat, with no VHF, no life jacket, EPIRB, GPS, mobile phone, or indeed quota, meaning we fished for what we wanted where we wanted. For me, a perfectly idyllic (albeit often impoverished) existence that only the demise of my school days marked the end of, having instilled an innate love of seafood in me and moreover, a profound and deep-seated respect for those who endure not only the daily vagaries of weather, tide and season, but also the complex and often errant doings of the Common Fisheries Policy, etched out by officialdom with rigorous and determined enforcement.
But I’m here again, oilskin-donned and with the biggest of grins across my face as I’m rowed to the Valerie Ann (IH322) at the invitation of Under 10m skipper Ed Butters, to steam once more from this diminutive but much-loved, weatherboarded and weatherbeaten gem of Suffolk’s heritage coast, on the hunt for the first of the new season’s lobsters.
A southerly and sometimes overlooked cousin to the much vaunted holiday destinations of Aldeburgh and Southwold, Felixstowe Ferry with its rich maritime history, exudes an eclectic and individual charm that beckons thousands of visitors in a year-round pilgrimage from both sea and land. Situated two miles North of its expansive and dominating commercial neighbour, the Port of Felixstowe, that currently boasts one of the largest container terminals in the world, its underlying allure, undoubtedly stems from its timeless and unadulterated simplicity and the fact that development over the years has been tempered. An individual and indeed very autonomous community exists here with the inhabitants benefiting from a church, (St Nicholas) a pub (The Ferry Boat) and two cafés.
John White, fisherman, boat-builder and now Harbourmaster tells me exactly what 70 years as a Ferry resident and fisherman has meant to him and how times have changed. “My parents moved here after the war when my father left the Merchant Navy,” he recalls. “He started fishing here and I’ve always been part of that scene”
A mainstay of the community, the fishing fleet back then, numbered many more skippers and crew, but still a significant number operate from the mouth of the Deben today, with currently nine full-time registered craft. “Of course”, continues John, “nowadays we actually have more boats fishing out of here commercially than Lowestoft.” A galling fact, when you consider the historical status and importance of the East coast’s most famous trademark, but now erstwhile fishing port.
Yachting and the services it demands, plays an increasingly important part too in the economy here. Visiting UK sailors and from nearby Belgium (only 80 miles), Holland and France, drop in regularly for supplies and fuel or just to appreciate the stunning scenery of the surrounding Suffolk coastline and countryside with views up river to further moorings at Ramsholt, Waldringfield and Woodbridge. Centrepiece is the well-known and much photographed jetty, where the Ferry has run for generations, latterly skippered by John and before that, his father in law and well-respected local figure Charlie Brinkley, providing travellers with a crucial, time-saving crossing to Bawdsey on the northerly bank and still hugely popular with walkers and cyclists.
“We get hundreds of vessels visit over the course of a year” enthuses John. Being Harbourmaster he also acts as a pilot for those visitors requiring assistance in bringing their vessels safely into the Deben. Facilities abound here too, for boating enthusiasts under either motor or sail. The sailing club is well established with a thriving membership and the Ferry Boatyard affords repairs, haul-outs, chandlery and moorings, as well as still building a number of boats from basic shell-like dinghies to the beautiful lines of modern 26ft fishing boats, one of which currently resides in the workshop, for completion this year and destined to remain fishing here, carrying on a worthy tradition of manufacturing quality sea boats, of which Andrew Moore and his team at the Felixstowe Ferry yard are justifiably proud.
As we leave the mooring and motor steadily against the young flood tide out to the lobster grounds, where Ed’s pots lie fishing, I notice the shingle bars and spits that mark the river entrance have shifted considerably since my days afloat here. Ed points out the depth of water we have to negotiate, on the sounder and indicates the position of the channel buoys which John monitors constantly to ensure they always mark the most safely navigable route.
“At High Water we can still nip over the bar with our draft,” Ed explains, “but you don’t want to be caught short coming home with a boat full of fish and not much freeboard, so it pays to be careful.”
Earlier, John reminded me that in summer, the submerged shingle bar with its confused waters, harbours schools of wily bass, eager to swallow tempting lures, although now recreationally restricted since the enforcement of their new catch regulations in January.
Steaming now into the northerly inshore sea area, locally known as East Lane, the familiar landmark of Bawdsey Manor looms up to port, it’s turrets and wings once playing host to the team headed by Robert Watson-Watt and his critical wartime invention of radar, which seems oddly symbolic as we cruise past, toward the first dahn (marker buoy).
With lobsters our main quarry, Ed is anxious to know what his pots might yield, having not hauled since Easter – a constant blow keeping him ashore since then. “We may find some of them have moved” he tuts. “I shoot them in lines and each end pot is a heavier one to act as a marker.” The dahns hove into view and I’m reminded that with a strong tide running now, quite often the gear will “run under” only popping back into sight as it slackens towards High Water.
Lobsters have been plentiful, in recent years, although not in such numbers as John White and his father saw immediately after World War II, when a lack of fishing meant massive recruitment and low mortality for that species. Now the pressure is back on though, as restricted areas for the nearby wind farm developments and associated cabling work, have meant that fishermen have been forced into ever decreasing spots, with individual gear often shot in close proximity on the more productive patches. As Ed hauls the first pot, I’m told that at present the gear is being fished as “singles” whereas later in the season with more fish on the ground then they’re made up into “shanks” and fished eight pots in line, as a string.
Nothing on the first haul but the second pot yields a keeper, just exceeding the gauge on its carapace, another one on the third and a selection of cock and hen crabs appear too as we haul, mainly on the muddier ground, with the lobsters dominating the cleaner rock.
With several lobsters in the box, I set to work banding the claws as Ed hauls, making sure I at least contribute something to the morning. I’m encouraged to see the number of smaller, undersized fish (or “Nancies” as my father used to call them) that we return unharmed to the water. One more “shed” or moult for those specimens and they themselves will be going ashore.
Ed and his brother Rob (out too this morning, fishing for cod and skate over the horizon) sell most of their catch locally. Dave Hicks of SpringTide Fish, right by the jetty, buys as much local fish and shellfish as he can from the Butters’ and the other Ferry fishermen with most of the residue travelling the 50 miles by road to the auctions at Lowestoft. Dave’s business at the Ferry is another rung on the sustainability ladder of this vibrant little community, as customers flock year round to his hut to purchase a range of fresh, top quality seafood, keeping money and value within the locality.
The wind freshens now as the sun gets up and Ed skilfully re-shoots all the pots back in their correct rows rebaiting each one with the standard salted herring, caught in the same waters months before. The inshore seas of this coast are alive with herring at present, although they currently attract little premium, being now “spent” after spawning, sustaining only hungry cod and bass before they once more, move off to deeper water.
The final pot disappears over the gunwales and we make for home on the last of the flood. An exciting morning with a fascinating and hugely nostalgic insight into low-impact and selective fishing carried out in time-honoured fashion using techniques which the years have failed to erode.
As we tie up and decant the catch into the “keep pot” on the mooring, I reflect on the emotions and feelings that have drawn me back here after so long. Saltwater is definitely in my blood and it runs stronger with each trip I make to harbours, markets, auctions and of course to sea. Fishing out of Felixstowe Ferry again, has crystallised this for me. I feel such a strong affinity for the place and its inhabitants and it has only further cemented my feelings and passion to be involved in supporting this bastion of the last wild hunters, as much as I can.
Sitting later with a coffee in hand, on the decking of the “Winkle” cafe overlooking the jetty, whilst waiting for Rob to come ashore and watching the different elements of this community at work and play, it’s easy to see why Felixstowe Ferry still thrives. It is sustainable. Fishing and its support services, manufacturing, retail, food service, tourism and recreation all combine beautifully here in a microcosm, on a relatively small but critically defined scale.
It’s truly amazing to both witness and experience and now even more so for me – I’ve just applied for a mooring.
Brussels, 12 April 2016
There is much in the new Technical Measures Regulation proposal, published by DG Mare on March 11, that is to be welcomed (see http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52016PC0134&from=EN).
For example, there are provisions for regional implementation through Multi-Annual Plans (MAPs); for incentives to be provided to fishing vessels that use gears that are more selective and with less impact on the marine environment (in line with Article 17); and towards a balanced representation of stakeholders on the Advisory Councils.
It is also to be welcomed that the need for technical measures to be applied to recreational fisheries is taken account of.
The rationale for a new regulation are spelt out in the Executive Summary of the impact assessment, available on the link http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52016SC0056&from=EN.
However, overall, like previous technical measures, the proposal fails to differentiate sufficiently between small and large scale, and mobile and fixed gear operations.
In the preamble, the proposal notes that “the catching sector comprising around 82,000 vessels and employing 98,500 Full-time equivalents (FTE) is the most affected by potential changes to the technical measures regulations. Of these approximate 82,000 fishing vessels, almost 98% of them would be classified as micro-enterprises employing fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed €2 million. With such a high proportion of the sector being micro-enterprises exempting them from this proposal would undermine the conservation objectives of the CFP as few fishing enterprises would be governed by the general rules.”
However, not once in the proposal is reference made to the small scale fleet segment (under 12 metres and using non-towed gear) which comprises 80% of the 82,000 vessels mentioned above. That said, some exemptions can be found in the Annexes to rules applied to vessels in the Baltic Sea under 8 metres and under 12 metres, such as permissible length of passive nets, and access to closed areas.
LIFE agrees that the majority sector (80% of the fleet), which is small in scale should not be exempted. However, the measures should take more account of the specificities and different levels of impact of the two distinct – small and large – fleet segments. The proposal does not go far enough in this regard.
It must be recalled that whilst the Green Paper on the CFP reform had floated the idea of adopting a differentiated approach to managing small and large scale fishery activities, and this was endorsed by the European Parliament, such an approach was not adopted in the new CFP. However, despite this, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Regulation ((EU) No 508/2014) does include many provisions designed to defend and support small scale fisheries, as does the Commission Delegated Regulation ((EU) 2015/242) laying down detailed rules on the functioning of the Advisory Councils under the Common Fisheries Policy.
On regionalisation, the preamble notes that the framework for the regulation of technical measures “should establish general rules to apply across all Union waters and provide for the creation of technical measures that take account of the regional specificities of fisheries through the process of regionalisation introduced by the CFP”, and “where no technical measures are in place at regional level then defined baseline standards should apply.” It notes that “Member States in conjunction with stakeholders can develop joint recommendations for appropriate technical measures that deviate from the baselines in accordance with the regionalisation process set out in the CFP”.
It is therefore vital that small scale fishers become more active at the regional level, especially through engagement with the Advisory Councils (ACs). The new CFP contains specific provisions to promote a balanced representation of stakeholders in the ACs, bolstered by this new proposal, including reserving spaces in the ACs (at Executive Committee level) for the participation of small scale fishers and their representatives.
Rightly, the focus of the new DG Mare proposal is on the taking and landing of fishery resources, on the operation of fishing gears, and the interaction of fishing activities with marine ecosystems. Its specific objectives are to provide protection for juveniles and spawning aggregations; to minimize and where possible eliminate discards; minimize the environmental impact of fishing on marine habitats; and to promote compliance with the Habitats, Wild Birds, Marine Strategy Framework and Water Framework Directives. All good stuff.
The proposal sets out measures and conditions to be applied for the use of towed and static gears, which are detailed in the Annexes according to regional sea basins and sensitive habitats.
However, in the case of towed gears (Article 9), no account is taken of the effects of engine power and gear design on selectivity (mesh size opening), or of the environmental impact of ground ropes, trawl doors, twin rigging “clumps”, or of the shoes and beams of otter and beam trawls on marine fauna and habitats. Some provisions should be included on parameters relating to the size and weight of ground gear and net design generally, including engine power. Such provisions may not be easy to apply, but a balance is needed between giving fishers the scope and responsibility for reducing their impacts, whilst ensuring that regulations are not flouted.
It must also be noted that originally the landings obligation came into being as an incentive to fishers to design and use fishing gears that would avoid aggregations of juveniles, spawning adults, prohibited species, and other species that may choke the fishery. With the ongoing uncertainties as to the final shape of the landings obligation, the Technical Measures Regulation is needed mainly as a back up to limit the negative impacts of fishing. At the same time, it is important to avoid over specifying rules on technical measures that would rob fishers of the flexibility needed to comply with the landing obligation and make a living.
LIFE Members from the Western Baltic Sea also point out that reported levels of by-catch of undersize cod from trawl fisheries is much higher than the 2% reported. In practice this can be as high as 40%.
LIFE is also concerned that previous measures restricting the use of pulse beam trawling to “no more than 5% of the beam trawler fleets of Member States” appears to have been lifted. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) observed that as of November 2015 “84 licences had been issued to use pulse trawl in the Netherlands for scientific research and data collection purposes. This is well in excess of the 5% limit included in the original legislation. The increases in the number of licences issued were agreed at EU level in 2010 and 2014” and “it would seem (that these increases) are over and above levels that would normally be associated with scientific research.”
Given the significant lack of scientific evidence regarding the impacts of this type of fishing on both target and non-target species and on the wider marine environment, though clear damage caused to some species of fish by electric pulses has been found, LIFE questions why DG Mare’s new proposal has removed this limitation? And, if there is no longer such a limitation, how does the Commission propose to monitor and regulate the use and the impacts of this gear? The above comments from ICES indicate that the beam trawl fleet finds this fishing method to be commercially advantageous, and the increasing numbers of vessels using this potentially destructive method has no scientific rationale, and flies in the face of the precautionary approach.
LIFE also questions whether the measures and the capacity for monitoring, control and surveillance at Member State level are sufficient to ensure that the fleet of pelagic super trawlers fishing in coastal waters off Ireland, UK, France and other Member States comply with quota regulations and regulations concerning discards and by-catch. Recent anecdotal reports indicate that little or no control can be applied to the operation of these vessels to prevent unwanted catches of prohibited species, and catches of species that are over quota and undersize. Due the methods used to catch and retain the catches on board, the crew are often not aware of what is in the catch till it is pumped ashore into processing facilities.
But the devil is in the detail, and to get to grips with the implications of this new proposal, some immersion in the 11 Annexes to the proposal is required. These set out the baseline measures that will apply in the absence of measures being put in place regionally. They include baseline mesh sizes, minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS), closed or restricted areas to protect juveniles and spawning fish and other regionally specific measures.
Annex I lists the prohibited species that if caught as bycatch must be returned immediately to the sea; Annex II provides a list of areas closed to fishing established for the protection of sensitive habitats (referred to in Article 13), with details of the restrictions to be applied on the carrying and use of fishing gears, use of VMS, reporting, vessel registration, etc.; and Annex III provides a list of species that are prohibited for capture with driftnets.
Annexes IV to XI contain baseline measures by sea basin (i.e. North Sea, Baltic, Northwestern waters, Southwestern waters, Mediterranean, Black Sea and the outermost regions).
It is therefore at the regional level that most effort will be required to ensure that small scale low impact activities are not tarred with the same broad brush as larger scale high impact activities.
Small scale needs to get its act together; it needs to get to the decision taking table, be it in the ACs, with their national authorities, or with parliamentarians at national and European level. Tomorrow is not soon enough to ensure that issues affecting small scale coastal fishery activities are not overlooked or marginalised in the implementation of the CFP.
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