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LIFE calls to the PECH Committee for historic wrongs to be put right

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The CFP has Created a Distorted Sea

Brussels, 28th of november 2019

Brian O’Riordan

For more than 3 decades successive Common Fisheries Policies have discriminated against and marginalised small-scale low impact fishers and their communities, favouring industrialised overfishing.

In a letter addressed to the Chair of the Fisheries (Pech) Committee of the European Parliament, LIFE has called for these historic wrongs to be put right, and for the Pech Committee to provide the necessary leadership to address glaring policy failures.

Five years after the adoption of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and its implementation, the intended improvement in sustainability outcomes for the small-scale low impact fleets across the EU are not being delivered, and the opportunity to harness their potential to achieve wider social, environmental and economic sustainability goals is being squandered.

Small-scale coastal fishers tend to fish in the least environmentally damaging ways to provide the greatest benefits to society.

The reformed CFP is being poorly implemented by Member States, leading to a distortion of the seas. As a result, small-scale fishers are being starved of quota and have to rely on non-quota species. They are also being effectively excluded from the benefits of access to the Producer Organisation (PO) model. This means that the inshore fishing zones are subject to potentially more destructive larger scale intensive fishing operations using trawls, dredges and other towed gears, and with the lion’s share of fishing subsidies supporting larger scale fishing operations.

Small-scale fish producers should be enabled to form their own Producer Organizations – which are described as “the key to achieving the objectives of the CFP” – to facilitate their access to resources, to markets and to decision making processes. The reality however is that Member State recognised POs have almost exclusively become monopolised by larger scale fishing interests who erect barriers of entry to the markets for fishing opportunities,  create obstacles to the development of small scale fishing fleet members, and restrict the flow of the benefits of the PO model.

The new EMFAF (2021-2027), if properly directed, could help to turn the situation around. In particular, and as proposed by the European Parliament, funding for Member States national plans should be conditional on preparing an action plan for the development of sustainable and profitable small-scale fishing.

LIFE is convinced that if small scale fishers were provided with the enabling policy environment intended by the CFP and the political will to promote it, small scale low impact fisheries could make all the difference between success and failure in the implementation of the 2014 CFP and in achieving the targets set by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive for Good Environmental Status by 2020.

Next Tuesday 3 December the Pech Committee will debate “a fair deal for small-scale, artisanal and coastal fishermen in the allocation of fishing  opportunities” https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PECH-OJ-2019-12-02-1_EN.html. This provides an ideal opportunity to bring small scale fisheries from the periphery to the centre of European fisheries policy.

Access the letter in English here

Access the letter in French here

Access the letter in Spanish here

Access the letter in Italian here

Access the letter in German here

Call to the EC for an inclusive Ocean Strategy

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Small scale fisheries organisations and NGOs  join forces for an inclusive Oceans Strategy that takes into account the rights of fishing communities

Brussels, 21st of november 2019

On World Fisheries Day, LIFE and an international network of organizations call to the European Commissioner-designate for Environment and Oceans, Mr. Virginijus Sinkevičius, for an inclusive oceans strategy that recognises the central role of fisheries, with a balanced approach to securing social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Access full information on the website of the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements by clicking here

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Stop to harmful subsidies

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Fisheries Subsidies:  public funds for public good, not individual gain.

Not to help us fish more, but to help us fish better.

Brussels, 4th of October 2019

Brian O’Riordan

The Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) advocates that public funds should be used for public good, not individual gain. Fisheries and the marine environment are a public resource that need conserving within sustainable limits if fishing is to have a future. This requires giving attention to the three pillars of sustainability – the environmental as well as the social and economic dimensions. LIFE therefore urges that under the new European funding scheme for the maritime sector, that priority be given to protecting the environment and conserving fish stocks, and to supporting collective projects that contribute to social and economic sustainability of fishing communities.

In this light, LIFE agreed to be a co-signatory on a letter drafted together with environmental NGOs (available here) on fisheries subsidies and addressed to Members of the European Parliament. The European Parliament will play a determining role as co-deciders in the forthcoming “trilogue” process to adopt a new regulation for a European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) for the period 2021 to 2027.

At the last meeting of the Fisheries (Pech) Committee of the European Parliament on October 2, the Deputies reviewed the subsidies being provided to the European fisheries sector through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). They also discussed the issues arising from the proposal approved under the last Parliament for subsidizing Europe’s maritime, fisheries and aquaculture sectors over the next period, 2021 to 2027, under what is to be called the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Find (EMFA). The debate comes just ahead of the next round of trilogue negotiations, through which the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers must arrive at an agreed “co-decision” on the new legislation, with the facilitation of the European Commission.

A contentious issue in the debate is the provision of subsidies for actions that contribute to overcapacity, overfishing or Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. Since 2005 the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been mandated to negotiate the ending of certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing. Following the Rio + 20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, and the subsequent development of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the WTO is now focussed on delivering SDG 14.6. This commits States to: “by 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that contribute to IUU fishing, and refrain from introducing new such subsidies.”

For this reason, in its 2018 proposal on the EMFF (now EMFAF) post 2020, the European Commission listed as ineligible, subsidies for “operations that increase the fishing capacity of a fishing vessel or support the acquisition of equipment that increases the ability of a fishing vessel to find fish” and for “the construction and acquisition of fishing vessels or the importation of fishing vessels, unless otherwise provided for in this Regulation”.

In the European Parliament’s proposal, subsidies may be used for “the purpose of improving the safety or the working or living conditions of the crew which includes corrections to vessel stability, or the quality of the product,” provided that any increase in capacity “is within the limit allocated to the Member State concerned, without jeopardising the balance between fishing capacity and available fishing opportunities and without increasing the ability of the fishing vessel concerned to catch fish.”

Such a proposal is very much in line with the ILO Work in Fishing Convention, C.188, and as such supported by both vessel owners and trade unions. Thanks to their efforts, key provisions of ILO C.188 became EU law in December 2016 through Council Directive 2017/159. Member States must comply with this by November 15 2019. Subsidizing safety and decent conditions is also in line with efforts to make the fishing sector more attractive to the younger generation. But there is a fine line between increasing fishing capacity on the one hand and improving safety and working and living conditions on board on the other. Should public money be used for improving safety and working conditions if this also increases fishing capacity? Would such a provision undermine the EU’s credibility at the WTO negotiations to prohibit harmful subsidies contributing to overcapacity, overfishing and illegal fishing by 2020, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 14.6?

Also of contention is whether or not fishers should be compensated for the temporary closure of fisheries which force them to tie up their vessels. Such forced closures mean that their livelihoods are curtailed, and if closures are protracted this can mean the demise and death of their businesses. Once such small enterprises fail, there is no bringing them back.

However, small-scale fishers, as self-employed entrepreneurs are not eligible for unemployment benefit during such closures. Neither are they eligible nor have they asked for subsidies to compensate them for their loss of earnings during such closures. They would much prefer to be working at sea than to be unemployed ashore. They therefore agree with NGOs that loss of earnings should not be compensated for by European subsidies. They are open to suggestions and assistance to enable them to pursue viable alternatives, and to diversify. LIFE advocates that such closures, and any short-term alternatives to fishing, need to part and parcel of National level action plans for small-scale low impact coastal fishing, outlined in the Commission’s proposal.

Such action plans would provide the basis for investing in the sustainability of the sector and to improve its profitability. In 2017 the small-scale fleets of five Member States suffered gross losses and in nine Member States net losses, as reported by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee (STECF 2019 AER Report). This compares to 3 and 5 respectively for larger scale fishing activities. The STECF also notes that the viability of small-scale fishery enterprises is far more dependent of value addition, making market access a key factor for profitability. Small-scale fishers have to sell their fish on the same markets used large scale fishing activities, where the quality, especially freshness, may be very different. All too often, the bulk landings of the larger scale-scale sector drag down prices on the market, making it difficult for small scale operations to make a living.

LIFE therefore advocates that support be provided to small scale fishers to organize themselves and to establish Producer Organizations (POs). Such POs would both secure their access to resources through quota reallocation schemes supported by the EMFF, and to markets. Small-scale fishers see no point in investing in new vessels or in improving their vessels if their lack of access to resources and markets undermines the viability of their businesses. Rather they would like to see investments in actions that secure their future; actions which secure sustainable access to resources and access to markets. Small-scale fishers don’t want to fish more, they want to fish better, prioritizing quality over quantity.

Reporting on the current implementation of the EMFF, the European Commission noted that overall the larger scale fleet segment had received around 70% of the subsidies, with 18% going to the smaller scale sector (under 12 metres using non-towed gears). This has created a distortion on the seas that needs to be redressed. The Commission representative also commented that there was no economic justification in investing public funds in vessels and engines given the strong economic performance of the larger scale fleet. Rather, such investment should come from the private sector.

Summing up, the Chair of the Fisheries Committee, Chris Davies noted that no Parliamentarians were in favour of harmful subsidies. By the WTO SDG 14.6 yardstick, upgrading vessel security to ensure the safety of the fishers could not be bad. However, we can’t be sure, he said, that our actions will not lead to unintended consequences.

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LIFE meets the new Commissioner

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LIFE Meets with Commissioner-designate for the Environment and Oceans, Virginijus Sinkevičius

Fisheries are, and will continue to be, an integral part of the EU’s blue economy – with an essential role to play in decarbonizing the food sector and in food security, LIFE was informed. Small-scale low impact fisheries could play an important role in this regard, and fishers are ready to play their part, LIFE informed the Commissioner-designate.

Brussels, 2nd of October 2019

Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) were very happy to kick off the month of October with a meeting with the Commissioner-designate for the Environment and Oceans, Virginijus Sinkevičius.

Our wide-ranging discussion covered several issues of concern to the small scale sector, including quota redistribution, the landing obligation, marine spatial planning and inshore fisheries, access to markets, Producer Organisations for small-scale fish producers, fisheries subsidies, the integration of fisheries into the wider blue economy, and last but not least the key role of women all along the value chain.

LIFE emphasised that successive Common Fisheries Policies had failed to grasp the importance of small-scale low impact fisheries and to capitalise on their potential to contribute to sustaining food supplies, livelihoods and the cultural heritage of coastal communities. If treated fairly and supported by effective policies, the latent potential of small-scale low impact fisheries could be mobilized to provide solutions to the problems besetting European fisheries.

The widening focus of the Directorate dealing with Maritime Affairs and Fisheries to Oceans governance and the blue economy potentially has huge implications for fisheries. Not the least of which is rise of aquaculture as the future source of food from the sea.

LIFE and its members are at the disposal of the new European administration to support the three pillars of sustainability – the social, economic and environmental dimensions.

Further information:

Mission letter of the European Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/mission-letter-virginijus-sinkevicius_en.pdf

Answers to the European Parliament: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/resources/library/media/20190927RES62446/20190927RES62446.pdf

Proposed priorities for the EC Directorates (For DG Mare see page 114 – A Blue Economy Initiative to Combat Climate Change): https://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/clean_definite2.pdf

 

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Regional Plan of Action for SSFs

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Mediterranean fisheries

RPOA-SSF monitoring framework and priority actions

 

Download it here

 

This document provides a common framework to guide the implementation of the Regional plan of action for small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (RPOA-SSF). For each main section within the RPOA-SSF the document identifies:

–          General indicators to measure progress in implementing the RPOA-SSF over the course of its duration (2018-2028).

–          Topics which are short-termpriorities (2019-2021) for RPOA-SSF implementation. For identified priority topics, a short-term objective has been proposed, as well as specific actions to be undertaken through GFCM bodies (i.e. work plan).

Relevant work that is being/will be carried out by partner organizations (particularly in the context of the Friends of SSF platform, which includes LIFE’s work) has been noted.

This document will be finally approved (with potential slightly modifications from the CPCs) within the framework of the next GFCM Commission to be held in Athens from 4-8th November 2019.

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Cetaceans-Fisheries Interactions in the Med

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LIFE Launches Initiative to Study Cetaceans- Fisheries Interactions

The initiative involves the close collaboration between scientists and fishers,

combining fishers local and experiential knowledge with scientific information in the quest for solutions.

 

Brussels, 9th of September 2019

The month of August saw LIFE and its partners launching an initiative in 3 areas of the Western Mediterranean to document the interaction between small-scale fisheries and cetaceans – in Andalusia, Spain; Sicily, Italy; and in Malta. The project aims to tap into the rich local and experiential knowledge of the fishers to document the extent and severity of interactions with cetaceans, to understand the intensity of the problem, and to propose solutions.

The project is supported by the MAVA Foundation. MAVA has a keen interest in protecting threatened, endangered and sensitive species (TES) and is seeking solutions through engaging with small-scale fishers and promoting exchanges on best practice between them.

The initiative builds on existing collaboration between fishers and scientists in the region, and a successful outcome depends on close cooperation between them. In Sicily, fishing operations will become “floating laboratories” where the interactions will be observed, documented, and analysed by scientists. The initiative also seeks to combine the local and experiential knowledge and data generated by the fishers with the data gathered by the scientists to provide joint solutions reached both parties. This is in line with one of LIFE’s core objectives, which is to document the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of small-scale fishers, and to promote its use by scientists and fishery managers in decision taking processes.

A prosperous livelihood from fishing requires safe and secure access to productive fishing grounds and to resources. Meeting these requirements is proving ever more difficult for small-scale fishers, and nowhere more so than in the Mediterranean. Increasingly small-scale fishers must contend with such problems as overfishing, climate change, pollution and invasion of exotic species. They must also compete with predatory marine mammals and birds, which may often be threatened, endangered and sensitive species (TES).

Interactions between birds, mammals and fishers may be as old as fishing itself. However, today such interactions are the cause of critical economic losses to the fishers. These losses include damage caused to their nets, damage caused to their catch, and a potential danger to life and limb.

The study will record incidences of entanglement of cetaceans as by-catch in fishing gears as this may be life threatening, and cause suffering. The results of the study should provide insights into how these and other harmful impacts can be reduced.

The study will produce a better understanding of the problem, and aims to provide information on possible mitigation measures to be used, hopefully moving beyond the use of “pingers”, and to raise awareness among the administrations and decision-makers on the issue and to favour common practical solutions to common problems.

LIFE is also developing a voluntary on-line questionnaire for fishers to complete, to provide details of interactions with cetaceans and of any damage caused, to be posted soon.

The initiative is being   implemented in partnership with the following organizations in the different subareas: Asociación Herpetológica Española (AHE,  https://herpiberica2018.usal.es/sponsor/ahe/) in Spain, the MareCamp Association in Italy ( https://www.marecamp.com/it/) and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) in Malta (https://www.mcast.edu.mt/about-mcast/ )

For more information: download the Concept note of the Interaction between cetaceans and small-scale fishers in the Mediterranean (in English, Spanish, Italian and Maltese).

Concept note in English

Concept note in Spanish

Concept note in Italian

Concept note in Maltese

Looking for cod in the Baltic

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Whither Cod: where have all the codfish gone?

 

Brussels, 28 September 2019

Brian O’Riordan

 

What are the future prospects for fisheries in the Baltic Sea following the collapse of this keystone stock?

 

The time to act is past. LIFE said this in March. We say it again.

We now live effectively in a post-cod era as far as the Eastern Baltic cod stock is concerned. The very survival of cod in the Baltic, the cornerstone for the livelihoods of thousands of fishers for centuries, is under threat.

In October last year LIFE spelled out the essential elements of an Action Plan which went unheeded (https://lifeplatform.eu/action-plan-for-eastern-baltic-cod/). In March this year LIFE called for establishing a biological rest period for the cod pre-spawning and peak spawning time, with a complete closure for all the fisheries targeting cod and pelagic species, the main food for cod, as well as all other fisheries known for significant cod by-catch risk, in subdivisions 25 and 26, between 1 May and 30 September (https://lifeplatform.eu/final-call-for-eastern-baltic-cod/). This also went unheeded.

The stark advice from ICES in May 2019 that there should be zero catch in 2020 of the Eastern Baltic cod stock was quickly followed by the imposition of emergency measures from the European Commission. These measures prohibit European fishing vessels “to fish for cod in ICES subdivisions 24, 25 and 26, and to retain on board, transfer, tranship, process on board or land cod and fisheries products from cod caught in that area” up to December 31 2019. LIFE fully supports these emergency measures.

The preamble to the emergency measures justifies them in grim fashion: “the biomass of eastern Baltic cod is at such a dangerously low level that the stock is no longer able to replenish itself and is hence threatened with collapse, secondly, any continued fishing on that stock increases the risk of its collapse, and, thirdly, the peak spawning season is ongoing.”

Meanwhile, for the Western Baltic cod stock, ICES recommended commercial catches in the range of 3 to 5 tonnes for 2020. With the exception of 2017, recruitment has been low since 1999, with 2018 and 2019 the lowest in the time series. The entire fishery depends on a single year class – 2016 – the estimated abundance of which ICES has significantly revised downwards – by 54%. This year class is the most important year class contributing to the catch and the revised estimate is largely responsible “for the 52% decrease in the 2020 catch”, says ICES.

So, what happened to all the cod that ICES reckoned were there last year, when they did their survey?

Wherever they went to, the future prospects for fisheries are not good, given that, according to ICES, the low growth, poor condition, and high natural mortality of cod are related to changes in the ecosystem. These include

  • Poor oxygen conditions that can affect cod directly by altering metabolism and indirectly from a shortage of benthic prey, while also affecting the survival of offspring;
  • Low availability of fish prey in the main distribution area of cod; and
  • High levels of parasite infestations; this is related to an increased abundance of grey seals.

In short, nothing short of an effective ecosystems approach, a fundamental pillar of the CFP, will help the cod. Closing the fishery is a drop in the ocean. In any case, the fish simply aren’t out there for anyone to catch in economic quantities or quality.

In light of this critical situation, Wolfgang Albrecht, a small scale fisherman who is also a founding Director of LIFE, Member of the BSAC /EXCOM , First Chairman Fischereischutzverband Schleswig-Holstein, provided this response on the reform of the CFP. This is one of the inputs informing a theme discussion on the future of the CFP at the ExCom of the Baltic Sea Advisory Council next Tuesday 3 September in Helsinki, at the HELCOM headquarters.

Albrecht calls for significant fleet reductions to be made, for fishing intensity to be reduced, and for the use of non-selective gears like trawling to be substantially reduced. In framing fisheries for the future a new regional policy for the Baltic based on inshore fisheries should be developed, with resource allocation prioritised for those operations that comply with criteria of an environmental, social and economic nature, that go beyond catch history.

Public money for public good, not individual gain!

He calls for a halt to any new finance for new builds from public sources, and a cessation of ongoing subsidies for three consecutive years.

He advocates the following measures:

  1. Restriction of industrial scale fishing of sand eel and sprat.
  2. Displacement of these fishing activities to fishing areas which lie further North.
  3. Reintroduction of seasonal and area-specific Spawning Time Closure (STC) for trawlers
  4. Exception from the STC for small scale fishing activities with vessels up to 12m in length, which deploy only passive gears in water depths of up to 20m.
  5. 50% reduction in the length of nets (passive gear) permitted during the STC to contribute to stock protection.
  6. Scientific involvement and evaluation of these measures.
  7. Abolition of rock hopper fishing to protect rocky grounds and reefs.
  8. Limitation of engine power in trawler fishing to 221KW in the exclusive economic zones of the member states (minimum 12 nautical miles from the coastline).
  9. Same data recording standards for all member states.
  10. Halt all fishing methods which produce more than 2% by-catch.
  11. Replacement / access for bottom-set net fisheries only after tasking existing operations with passive catch equipment 1:1.
  12. Hardship compensation by means of temporary financial support of affected vessels by means of he EMFF.
  13. Research into the damaging effects of trawl fishing during the cod’s spawning season on reproduction levels including the results of studies which are already available.
  14. When imposing any restrictions “the polluter pays principle” should be the guiding principle applied.

MORE INFORMATION:

Proposal for a reform of the CFP by Wolfgang Albrecht (German)

Proposal for a reform of the CFP by Wolfgang Albrecht (English)

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Expulsion of Beam Trawlers from the Skagerrak (DK).

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Danish Low Impact Small-scale Fishers

Call for the Expulsion of Destructive Beam Trawlers from the Skagerrak.

 

 Protestors occupy Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen over the invasion of the destructive Dutch beam trawl fleet. 

 

Copenhagen, August 28, 2019: This morning a group of small-scale coastal fishermen from Hanstholm, Thorupstrand, Løkken, Hirtshals and Skagen in northern Jutland occupied the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen, the national authority responsible for fisheries. Their goal is to draw attention to an environmental disaster taking place in the Skagerrak, and to demand the expulsion of the destructive Dutch beam trawl fleet that is causing it.

Normally the Dutch beam trawl fleet fishes in the Southern North Sea, but they started to invade the 3 years ago. This year their numbers have been increasing due to poor catches of sole further South along with the banning of electric pulse fishing.  Some pulse vessel owners decided convert to twin rig beam trawling and relocate to the Skaggerak in search of better fishing. The status of plaice and sole stocks in the southern North Sea is a cause for concern, with Dutch pulse vessels and beam trawlers only able to catch between 60% and 70% of their quotas.

The Danish fishermen are calling for an immediate halt to the destruction of the marine environment and their fishing grounds; they demand that the Skagerrak is closed to beam trawling.

Having depleted resources in the Southern North Sea, Dutch beam trawlers have now shifted their attention to the Skagerrak. The twin rigged trawls may measure up to 12 metres wide and weigh up to 9 tonnes. These trawlers are systematically ravaging the seabed in the Skagerrak, making it impossible for local small scale fishermen to fish and transforming the fishing grounds into a desert.

“We simply can’t make a living any more. The seabed is being destroyed and the fish are gone. Now the responsible authorities must act, “ says Jesper Olsen, fisherman from Thorupstrand and spokesperson for the fishermen.

“Beam trawlers must leave Skagerrak for good. Neither the fish and the marine environment nor the small scale fishermen will survive if they stays”, says Henry Fjord, fisherman from Hanstholm. CONTACT:

Jesper Olsen, 0045 3092 3656

Thomas Højrup, chairman of the Co-operative Thorupstrand Costal Fishing Guild: 0045 5129 9049

Notes:

Beam trawling is one of the least selective and most destructive fishing methods. Using heavy chains to dig through the seafloor to force the fish into the net. After prolonged dragging only starfish and small dabs are left alive, leaving the fishing grounds covered with wounded and dead fish, and causing a major loss of biodiversity. The Dutch government, backed by EU subsidies, encouraged the beam trawl fleet to convert to electric pulse fishing without any prior impact assessment. In January 2018, the European Parliament voted to ban pulse fishing, and this should have been phased out.

A ban on the use of electric pulse gear and overfishing on plaice and sole in the southern North Sea has prompted these vessels to convert to twin rig beam trawling and relocate to Skagerrak.

The fishermen also suspect the beam trawlers of fishing above their quota. Therefore, they demand that a checkpoint is set up in Hanstholm so that authorities can check whether the trawlers’ catches are within the allowable quotas. Danish small-scale fishermen also believe that the quota for plaice in Skagerrak should be reduced.

The coastal fishermen plan to remain in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until they have been promised that a checkpoint will be set up in Hanstholm. They have a meeting with the Minister of Food, Fisheries and Gender Equality Mogens Jensen (S) at. 15.00 today, and have also invited the Minister of the Environment Lea Wermelin (S), other members of parliament, the press and NGOs to visit the delegation of fishermen.

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Hands Across the Water

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EU and North African small scale fishers join hands with EU Ministers to address common problems in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Marrakech, Morocco

12 June 2019

Brian O’Riordan

 

Today in Marrakech, Morocco, representatives of small-scale fishers from the European Union and North Africa committed themselves to working together to enable Mediterranean small-scale fishers, men and women, to fulfil their roles as guardians of the sea through engagement in the implementation in the Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) on Small-scale Fisheries for the Mediterranean and Black Sea[1].

Within the framework of a formal Memorandum of Understanding the Maghrebian Platform for Small scale Fisheries (PMPA) and the Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) undertake to:

  • Cooperate and promote good governance and best sustainable fishery practices;
  • Participate in policy making and decision taking processes in order to reach consensus on management needs and support measures for small scale fisheries;
  • Create the necessary policy space to enable small-scale low impact fisheries to flourish, and provide viable livelihoods and decent work for all fishery sector workers and future generations; and
  • Develop and implement common projects and initiatives both in support of small-scale low impact fishing and the diversification of activities, supporting both men and women all along the value chain from hook to plate.

With appropriate capacity building, financial and infrastructure support, organizational structures, policies tailored to the needs of the sector, the possibility to share their knowledge, and a dedicated voice in the decisions that affect them, small-scale fishers and fishery workers could make a world of difference in a sea of trouble. The small-scale sector comprises the vast majority of fisheries in the region, with 80% of the vessels by number, employing 60% of the workers, and landing 24% of the catch by value.

Small-scale Fisheries Centre Stage at the High Level Conference

The LIFE and the PMPA have been taking part in the High-level Conference on the MedFish4Ever initiative, organized by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (GFCM), and hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco[2]. The event comes 2 years after Fisheries Ministers from Mediterranean coastal states met in Malta and took a joint pledge to save the Mediterranean fish stocks and protect the region’s ecological and economic wealth under the MedFish4Ever initiative[3].

In opening the conference, and under the shadow of the international day marking the scourge of illegal, undeclared and unreported (IUU) fishing, Madame Zakia Driouich, Secretary General, Maritime Fisheries Department of Morocco, described the Mediterranean as reaching the point of no return – unless joint action is taken now. Small scale fishers are ready to take up the challenge.

In the MedFish4Ever declaration, signed in 2017 in Malta, Ministers made small-scale fisheries a policy priority. They committed themselves to supporting sustainable small-scale fisheries by targeting support to local projects such as fleet upgrade with low-impact techniques and fishing gear, social inclusion and the contribution of fishermen to environmental protection. One year later, again in Malta, these ministers signed a Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) for Small scale Fisheries. The 10-point RPOA establishes objectives, principles and concrete actions that should be applied to ensure the long-term environmental, economic and social sustainability of small-scale fisheries. The RPOA recognizes the important cultural heritage and status of small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It takes into account their regional specificities, experience, knowledge and contribution to the cultural heritage of local communities.

The MedFish4Ever Declaration and RPOA highlight the need for states and civil society across the Mediterranean and Black Sea region to work together to solve joint problems. The shared nature of the Mediterranean Sea and its resources mean that the problems besetting it can only be resolved through joint commitment and joint action.

Both Fish and Fishers need Protection from the Scourge of IUU

Addressing a session on Social Development and Decent Work at the High Level MedFish4Ever Conference, Yassine Skandrani, General Secretary of the PMPA, highlighted that, “to fulfil their role as Guardians of the Sea, small scale fishers need to be well organized. This requires support for the formation and development of effective professional organizations, social protection, and modernization, including dedicated infrastructure.” The session highlighted that the often-informal nature of the activity, especially the lack of decent working conditions and social protection are the lifeblood of IUU fishing.

According to Marta Cavalle, LIFE’s Coordinator for the Mediterranean and Black Sea, “despite the wealth of knowledge, historical and current, within the sector on the marine environment and the status of fish stocks, the exclusion of small-scale fisheries at the decision making table has led to many misconceptions about the sector. With our North African and other partners, LIFE wants to bring small-scale fishers from the periphery to the centre stage, to build their capacity as agents of positive change, and to join with authorities in the co-management of their fishing grounds and resources”.

The two platforms represent small scale fishers from European Union and North African Countries. Member countries of the PMPA include Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Mauritania. As an organization of organizations, LIFE represents organizations from 15 EU Member States, with members in the Mediterranean countries of Italy, Cyprus, Croatia, France, Spain and Malta.

Small-scale Solutions in Context

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the world’s busiest waterways, accounting for 15 % of global shipping activity, with significant impacts on the environment. The region that borders the Mediterranean is the world’s most popular tourist destination, attracting approximately one third of the world’s international tourists, with tourist arrivals over 4 times the local populations and growing, putting pressure on resources and generating significant pollution. There is also an ever-increasing level of cruise tourism, with unquantified economic, social, environmental, cultural and political effects. These and other impacts, such as from climate change, marine litter, invasive species and petroleum extraction, must also be taken into account when trying to tackle overfishing and related ecosystem impacts.

[1] http://www.fao.org/gfcm/news/detail/en/c/1154586/ ; https://lifeplatform.eu/expectations_med_blacksea/

[2] http://www.fao.org/gfcm/meetings/MedFish4Ever/objectives/en/ ; http://www.fao.org/gfcm/news/detail/en/c/1197298/

[3] https://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/inseparable/en/medfish4ever#quicktabs-medfish4ever=0

 

 

Balticletter

Final call for Eastern Baltic cod

,

FINAL CALL

for Eastern Baltic cod

 

Protest of Polish small-scale fishers. Warsaw, 27 February 2019 (photo: M. Ruciński)

 

Warsaw, 15th of March 2019

Marcin Ruciński

 

Sustaining the Eastern Baltic cod stock has been priority a for LIFE, given the historical importance of this stock as the very basis for livelihoods of many of our Members in the Baltic Sea…

Well, that is now history as far as the fishers’ livelihoods are concerned!

LIFE’s call for action[1] by the decision-makers in the last Baltic fisheries Council in October 2018, based on thorough analysis of different drivers of the stock situation, largely went unheeded. Things have gone from bad to worse since that time. Already last November, a drastic deterioration in the situation of the stock was visible thorough increasingly empty cod nets of many fishers. This was confirmed by the annual series of research cruises organized by the national scientific institutes.

Thanks to the timely initiative by the Baltic Sea Advisory Council[2], there was an opportunity to hear about the preliminary results of the latest scientific work already in late January; perhaps a discussion about the virtues of spawning protection could have been added. The mood at this hearing was as grim as the deterioration of the cod situation the participants witnessed. BSAC has unanimously agreed that Eastern Baltic cod is in acute critical state and that all possible measures must be explored in establishing an emergency plan for this stock.

A week later, the key scientific experts and their most renowned benchmarking counterparts met for an ICES benchmark workshop on Baltic cod. They have, at long last, made decisive progress towards establishing an assessment model for the Eastern Baltic cod stock – at least that’s what the author was given to understand as a non-scientific observer to this workshop. In terms of the stock status, the mood in the room was as grim as at the BSAC meeting, summed up by one scientist who speculated that the best we can do is “leave the biomass in the water and hope for the best”.

Some three weeks on, many of the Polish small-scale fishers protesting in Warsaw[3] declared that they have not yet caught any cod this year – or just a few. They urgently called that the decision-makers be informed of their grim situation, so that they act without delay.

Well, dear decision-makers, LIFE is informing you! It is time to act.

Given the very serious situation described above, which is at last seen by others (see the attached European Commission letter to BALTFISH and BSAC Chairs), the time for pondering how the stock got into this state or in pointing the finger to defend one’s own interests, is over. The time for decision has come.

LIFE’s proposal is straightforward and based on the wise words of the scientist cited above, coupled with the fundamental need for recruitment success to guarantee sustainability for any commercial fish stock.

LIFE advocates establishing, already for this year 2019, for the cod pre-spawning and peak spawning time, a biological rest period for the Baltic: a complete closure for all the fisheries targeting cod and pelagic species, the main food for cod, as well as all other fisheries known for significant cod by-catch risk, in subdivisions 25 and 26, between 1 May and 30 September. The affected fishers may be compensated for this harsh measure with temporary cessation monies from the EMFF.

We must avoid the Newfoundland cod scenario from the 1990s happening in the Baltic!

♦ ♦ ♦

 

[1]https://lifeplatform.eu/action-plan-for-eastern-baltic-cod/

[2]http://www.bsac.dk/getattachment/Meetings/BSAC-meetings/BSAC-Executive-Committee-meeting-(4)/BSACExComThememeeting29012019REPORTandSTATEMENTFINALOK.pdf.aspx?lang=en-GB, „theme meeting” part

[3]https://lifeplatform.eu/poland-ssfs-protest-against-the-situation-in-the-baltic-sea/

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