Catch quotas advice set to be discarded

Date: 07/12/1995

By Michael Mann

DOMESTIC political considerations will force EU fisheries ministers to water down proposals for large cuts in key Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for 1996, despite evidence of a deepening crisis in the stock situation for several vital fisheries.

Faced once again with scientific data calling for sharp reductions in fishing, the European Commission has called on ministers to exercise restraint in their negotiations later this month.

Ongoing talks with Norway over TACs for shared North Sea stocks broke down last week, when it became apparent that the EU was not prepared to follow Norway's lead in calling for immediate cuts in fishing effort recommended by scientists.

Most controversy at this month's meeting of fisheries ministers is certain to be caused by Commission proposals for catches of common sole in the North Sea to be halved, for considerable reductions in catches of saithe in western waters and certain herring stocks, and a general reduction in the TAC for hake, a particularly important stock for the Spanish.

Some member states are unhappy about proposed reductions in TACs for fisheries which are not specifically under threat themselves, but which make up 'mixed fisheries' with threatened stocks. “The Commission says A should be cut because B is being cut,” explained one official.

Seasoned observers of the annual Fisheries Council ritual are expecting ministers to emerge bleary-eyed from a night of negotiation on 21 December having considerably watered down proposals and, in doing so, further endangered fish stocks already under threat from long years of over-exploitation.

Last year, ministers raised TACs for hake in western waters and megrim off the Iberian coast to close to the previous year's levels, marking the fourth year in succession that a proposed reduction of at least 40&percent; had been overturned due to pressure from Spain.

Eager to stave off any charges of complicity in the worsening stock situation, the Commission stressed this week that “drastic measures will be required to prevent further deterioration” in key roundfish stocks. It added pointedly that, in the past, its proposals “have not been entirely followed by the Council on the basis of immediate socio-economic needs”.

But although the Commission claims to have closely followed the advice it has received, recommendations from the advisory committee on fishery management of the International Council of the Sea called for 80&percent; cuts for both mackerel in western waters and North Sea plaice merely to restore stocks to biologically safe levels.

The probable outcome of ministers' negotiations will once again highlight the difficulty of reaching sustainable solutions when several ministers are locked together around the table in an all-night negotiation under the watchful eyes of domestic fishing lobbies.

This is brought into sharper focus by the very different approach of the Norwegians, which last week led to the breakdown in discussions on the shared North Sea TACs.

As one member state official explained: “The scientists say there should be a sharp reduction in plaice, mackerel and herring TACs in the North Sea. Norway wants to follow that advice through for 1996, while the EU wants to make staged reductions.”

Famed for its more progressive approach to fisheries management, Norway rejected EU membership last year at least in part because of concern within its vital fisheries sector about the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.

Norwegian officials accept that their task is rendered a lot easier by the fact that they only have one government to answer to, rather than 15 ministers often pulling in different directions.

For some, concern at the level of TACs will be particularly pertinent because of the imminent arrival of Spanish vessels in parts of the so-called 'Irish Box' from which they were previously excluded.

Member state officials are keen to play down the significance of this, stressing that “all the Spanish achieved last December was access to new waters, not new resources”.

Although officials are confident that the new control system for western waters and the abiding principle of “relative stability” - whereby each member state always receives the same percentage of each TAC - will be sufficient to keep fishing effort in check, others are not so sure.

“It's still very difficult politically, because there's still a feeling that a lot of activities by the Spanish are illegal. Control in Spain is not that great,” said one member state official.

Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino warned ministers in October that the control measures on which they had agreed were not tough enough, and hinted that there might be trouble ahead.

Coreper (the Committee of Permanent Representatives) will discuss the TAC proposals next week, but the final decisions will remain a political question for ministers to hammer out.