Fleet cuts ahead of schedule

Date: 19/10/1995

Planned reductions in EU fishing capacity are running ahead of schedule, according to a new report prepared by the Commission.

But despite considerable progress over the first three years of the Commission's Multi-Annual Guidance Programme, some countries are failing to meet their targets and over-capacity remains a problem.

The report concludes that fishing capacity fell by 10.5&percent; in tonnage terms and 7.4&percent; in power terms between 1992 and 1994. However, some countries remain well behind their targets and others have actually increased fishing activity.

The principal sinners are the Dutch, who have “failed to meet the objectives of the programme by a substantial margin” and the UK, which cut capacity by only 5&percent; by the end of 1994, compared with the target of 17&percent;. Irish capacity was found to have actually increased. Decommissioning schemes in the UK and Ireland should improve the situation, the Commission concludes.

Bizarrely - and perhaps a good representation of the limitations of the scheme - Spain was found to have reached its targets by the end of 1993.