Le 26 mai 2020, la flottille de thoniers senneurs de Méditerranée débutera sa campagne de pêche du thon rouge. La Plateforme pour la Petite Pêche Française invite tous les pêcheurs artisans, en Atlantique ou en Méditerranée de communiquer aussi largement que possible sur la répartition inéquitable des quotas de pêche en France.
Bruselas, 14 febrero 2017
El pasado 7 de febrero de 2017 del Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, publicó un comunicado anunciando que el Gobierno español ha presentado los “Planes de Capacidad, Pesca e Inspección de atún rojo” y ha fijado los criterios de reparto del fondo de maniobra para 2017.
Este documento no corrige ningún error del pasado y seguirá beneficiando al “Status quo”: incrementando las posibilidades de pesca de las propias flotas industriales y ignorando -un año más- al sector pesquero de pequeña escala español, especialmente en el Mediterráneo.
LIFE lamenta que el Gobierno no tomase esta oportunidad de empezar a corregir estos errores históricos, reconocer al sector artesanal y empezar a fomentar un equilibrio necesario y justo que garantizase la supervivencia y prosperidad de las flotas de pequeña escala que proporcionan tantos beneficios sociales, económicos y ambientales a las comunidades costeras.
Acceda a la nota de prensa oficial haciendo clic en este enlace
Acceda al documento de alegaciones enviado de LIFE al Mapama haciendo clic en este enlace
Brussels, 23rd November 2016
Brian O’Riordan
Following the conclusion of the ICAAT meeting that took place in Vilamoura, Portugal, from the 14th to the 21st November 2016, LIFE publishes an article on its outcome and next steps.
Access the full article in English by clicking on this link
Bruselas, 23 noviembre 2016
Brian O’Riordan
Tras la conclusión de la reunión de ICCAT que tuvo lugar en Vilamoura, Portugal, del 14 al 21 de noviembre de 2016, LIFE publica un artículo sobre sus resultados y los próximos pasos que va a tomar.
Acceda al artículo completo en Español haciendo clic en este enlace
Bruxelles, 23 novembre 2016
Brian O’Riordan
Suite à la conclusion de la réunion ICCAT qui a eu lieu à Vilamoura, Portugal, du 14 au 21 novembre 2016, LIFE publie un article sur les résultats et les prochaines étapes.
Accédez à l’article complet en Français en cliquant sur ce lien
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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