Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Member States’ efforts during 2011 to achieve a sustainable balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities

Member States are responsible for a stable and enduring balance between their fleets and the fishing opportunities allocated to them. Sustainable management of fisheries implies an economically viable fleet exploiting natural resources below maximum sustainable yield (MSY) levels. This is one of the key principles of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy proposed by the European Commission.

This report provides an overview of the EU fishing fleets. The information used is that sent by Member States in their 2011 annual reports, in the EU Fleet Register, or as data collected under the Data Collection Framework. An assessment of these data was made by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF).

The main finding is that significant improvement is needed over the next years in the way Member States evaluate the balance and manage their fleets. As fisheries management develops to include the MSY objective, it is no longer satisfactory to rely on ceilings expressed in static parameters. Economic viability and broader sustainability indicators are needed to manage the EU fleets to attain an economically viable fleet exploiting a resource at its full biological potential. Improvements in stock assessment are crucial, as well as in data collection and provision, analysis and methodology.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)85: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:085:FIN

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