Europe committed to sustainable fishing

RNW, 15 July 2011, by Willemien Groot

(Photo: Clipart)

  

Unless action is taken, the last fish in the Mediterranean could be on our plate within a matter of years. Europe's fishermen now have to make a real shift towards sustainability insists the European Commission. A new package of sustainable fishing measures is now on the table. And these measures will also apply outside European waters, so that Africa and Latin America will also reap the benefits.

Overfishing is a global problem, but the situation in European waters is especially serious. According to European Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki, 83 percent of all species in the Mediterranean Sea are overfished, as are 63 percent of stocks in the Atlantic Ocean.

Brussels is setting its sights high: it wants the fishing grounds to have recovered to such an extent in 2015 that responsible fishing is once again possible. A survival plan for all fish species will be developed to guarantee their long-term future.

Recovery plan

For proof that the recovery of heavily exploited species is possible, we need look no further than the increase of plaice, herring and mackerel in the North Sea. Dutch fishermen, conservation groups and the Ministry worked together on a recovery plan. And the Netherlands should be doing more to advertise the success of the plan says Irene Kingma of Ocean2012, a platform for around 100 NGOs that advocate sustainable fishing.

We should be demonstrating how it can be done. That's one of our main appeals to the Minister: do your best to promote this in Europe. Because you know that the Spanish minister will present a very different story, with a starring role for the poor fisherman who can't earn a crust anymore.

European trawlers’ association PFA is also advocating the widespread acknowledgement of Dutch practices. PFA trawlers catch shoal fish such as herring and mackerel and freeze them on board. The association works closely with environmental groups. “It would be good to draw on the experiences of the people who actually do the work when developing a management plan,” says PFA chairman Gerard van Balsfoort.

Illegal fishing

Now that fish stocks in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic are under threat, fishermen are casting their nets wider and heading for the West African coast. There, Spanish and Asian factory ships in particular form a growing threat to the livelihood of local fishermen.

In 2009, Greenpeace discovered that half the vessels fishing in these waters were there illegally. Most of the offenders were Chinese and Korean. The environmental group says the illegally caught fish is routed via the Canary Islands and ends up on the European market.

Guarantees

The members of the PFA came up with solutions that can profit both the fishing industry and the local authorities. One such solution is in Mauritania, where freezer trawlers catch herring and mackerel off the coast, species that are of little or no interest to local fishermen. In exchange for these fishing rights, Mr Van Balsfoort explains, Mauritania receives payment that accounts for “between ten and twenty percent of GNP”.

Mauritania channels part of this revenue into developing its local fisheries. “We fish in Mauritania under an EU agreement which contains so many guarantees that the fishing can be described as well controlled, and even includes scientific practices. Our fishing in Mauritania is sustainable.”

International allure

If the European Commission gets its way and the individual member states impose sustainable measures on their fishermen, Irene Kingma of Ocean2012 believes that this will have major repercussions. The Union also communicates its internal stance to the wider world, within the United Nations for example. “The EU is actively exerting pressure on Asian countries to adapt their fishing practices. And that’s having a favourable effect on West Africa’s coastal states.”

Irene Kingma hopes that the EU will keep a close eye on its agreements with third countries. This is particularly important for the Latin American region, regarded as a growth market by European fishermen. Spanish trawlers have been sighted there with increasing frequency and the Netherlands is also keen to explore the possibility of fishing there. But everything must be done to ensure that the decimation of Mediterranean fish stocks is not repeated in other parts of the world.