Report on EC decisions over Deep Sea Stocks

The world’s fish stocks are in a sorry state. Global fish catches have declined steadily since the late 1980’s, in 2003 29% of open sea fisheries were in a state of collapse as a result of poor management practices and increased fishing pressure.

In European waters pelagic and demersal stocks of common species such as Cod, Sole and Hake have been exploited to the point of becoming uneconomical. Consequently, in the mid 1990’s fishermen turned their attention to deep water fishing, below 200 meters, which became economically viable through technological advances and market forces.

The biology of these species makes them more susceptible to over fishing; they are typically long lived, up to150 years, have a low reproductive capacity, late sexual maturity, and aggregate over sea mounts to spawn. They have been exploited as a result of ignorance and bad management. Fishing for Orange Roughy, a species that lives on underwater sea mountains off Scotland began in 1991. Initially 5,000 tonnes were caught per season, within 2 years this had fallen to 1,800 tonnes. The average catch between 1994 and 2000 was between 100 and 300 tonnes. Depletion of stocks is not the only concern when trawling on sea mounts. The unique coral ecosystems, even in the cold waters of the NE Atlantic, are completely obliterated by heavy fishing.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, the official scientific body which advises the EU on fish stocks, asked for fishing for deep sea species to be banned in some areas.

In a 2 day debate in Brussels the EU recently came together to discuss deep sea quotas for 2007/08 and to make decisions over fishing techniques, equipment and methods of monitoring fisheries Europe wide.

Deep Sea Quotas

The discussions on deep sea stocks split the 25 attending nations into 2 factions; Northern nations including Britain, Germany and Denmark argued hard to save Europe’s deep sea fish from extinction and wanted to follow scientific advice to ban catches of tusk, blue ling, orange roughy, and black scabbardfish in certain areas. They faced strong opposition from France, Portugal and Spain the countries with the most developed deep-sea fishing industries.

The EC diluted some of the ‘harsh quota cuts’ and quotas were allocated for orange roughy and blue ling despite calls from scientists that the fisheries should be closed.

Final Decisions:

• Quotas for 4 of 9 species under discussion – black scabbardfish, alfonsinos, red seabream and forkbeards - will remain at 2005 levels.
• Deep sea sharks and Orange Roughy, where the Commission had proposed 33 % quota cuts, were reduced to 25% over 4 years – effectively phasing the fishery out.
• Roundnose grenadier and blue ling have had quotas fixed this year for continued fishing. Up to 10,000 tonnes of the former and 3,841 tonnes of the latter can now be caught.

Commenting on the meeting, EU fisheries commissioner Joe Borg stated:

“The agreement reached on deep sea socks will lead to effective protection for vulnerable deep sea species while giving the fleet’s concerned time to adapt to the necessary constraints on their activities’

The WWF criticised the EU for adopting double standards; they supported the ban on deep water fishing in International waters but are not applying the precautionary principle to their own waters.

Other measures

• After 3 years of deadlock ministers agreed to increase net mesh sizes in Mediterranean fisheries, thereby strengthening the selectivity of trawled nets and reducing bycatch and catch of juvenile fish. However, a loophole could allow the reintroduction of 6km long driftnets banned since 2002, which France is already exempt from. The use of such nets illegally has decimated stocks of Mediterranean bluefin tuna.

• The use of satellite technology to track illegal fishing vessels and the substitution of traditional logbooks for electronic versions were voted for unanimously. These measures will make it easier to detect illegal fishing and quota violations contributing to sustainable fisheries management.

There is always a balance to be struck between conservation and livelihoods. Sustainable fisheries management guarantees long term returns from a fishery, compared to the short term pillage that has been observed over recent years. Southern states, whose economy is more dependent upon fisheries, are less accepting of a precautionary approach to fisheries management, it was upon this concept that much debate was focused. It is a result of the strong stance taken by Northern states that the quota levels remained at, or reduced from their present levels.

In Europe consumers are also being given a chance to contribute to sustainable fisheries management. The Marine Stewardship Council, based in the UK, certify fisheries as being sustainable and consequently produce from accredited fisheries carry a clearly identifiable eco label that assures customers the product is from a well managed fishery.