Towards sustainable fisheries subsidies: Entering a new round of reform under the Common Fisheries Policy

On 22 April 2009 the European Commission published its ‘Green Paper on the Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy’. The Green Paper points out a contradiction in policy, noting on one hand that public financial support to the Community's fisheries sector is substantial, but on the other hand such support is often incompatible with other Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) objectives, particularly the need to reduce overcapacities. Providing an analytical framework to better understand the effects of subsidies as well as an overview of existing funding schemes under the CFP, this article aims at answering some of the questions posed by the European Commission within its Green Paper. Answers are based on two ideas: the exploitation of marine capture resources ultimately depends on the level of available fish stocks and that a large share of subsidies fuels the race to fish by inducing investment incentives for the fisheries sector. Policies that have ignored this tend to encourage inefficient and unsustainable fishing as well as the misallocation of public funds. Although support schemes under the CFP have changed in recent years, some problematic support schemes persist. A future reform will have to continue the course taken towards sustainable and efficient approaches to supporting the fisheries industry.     

Daily variations in the occurrences of pelagic fishes and zooplankton within a coastal fishing ground of the southwestern Japan Sea

This paper analyzes daily variations in the occurrences of pelagic fishes and zooplankters on a small regional scale. The data used are based on daily observations repeated at 24h intervals during 6 days from 16 to 21, September, 1971, in coastal waters close to Esaki, a fishing port in the southwestern part of the Japan Sea (Yamaguchi Prefecture). The observations comprised acoustic surveys of the fish population, zooplankton sampling with a net, and Secchi disc readings, for evaluating relationships between the abundances of pelagic fishes and their food, as well as alternations in water masses. No clear correlation between pelagic fishes and their food, copepods, within a short time period was observed; fish population continued to decrease with eastward movements of fish schools although the abundances of copepods remained at almost the same level during the observations. Patterns of changes in both settled volumes of plankton and transparencies evidently suggested the occurrence of alternations in water masses. Pelagic fish schools proved to move in company with the transition of water masses.     

Monitoring fishing mortality: Compliance in Norwegian offshore fisheries

Sustainable management of wild fish stocks by means of catch quotas requires reliable data on fishing mortality. Norwegian authorities have attempted to ensure the reliability of this data through catch report procedures and a ban on dumping. The reliability of data on fishing mortality depends on the fishers’ compliance with these regulations. This article outlines the main factors that govern compliance and non-compliance in the Norwegian pelagic fisheries. Data was generated during fieldwork in the offshore pelagic fishing fleet.     

Evaluating impacts of pulse fishing on the effectiveness of seasonal closure

Seasonal fishing closures are often used in fisheries management to conserve overfished stocks.As one of the unintended consequences,fishermen often contend for maximizing catches immediately after reopening fisheries.The resultant large catch landings in a short time period(i.e.,pulse fishing)may undermine the benefit of closure.We implemented an end-to-end model OSMOSE-JZB(Object-oriented Simulator of Marine ec OSystem Exploitation OSMOSE)modelling ecosystem in the Jiaozhou Bay located in China to evaluate the impact of pulse fishing on the effectiveness of seasonal closure at levels of fish community,population,and individual.Our study demonstrated that the three-month closure was successful in conserving fish stocks.There were small variations on ecological indicators(i.e.,total biomass of the community,mean trophic level of the community,mean trophic level of the catch,and Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index)when pulse fishing occurred.Pulse fishing seemed not to result in a great shift in community structure.Compared to other species,the biomass of two large predatory fishes were more susceptible to pulse fishing.Pulse fishing could change the pressure of predators to fish stocks via food webs,especially for young individuals.Our simulations indicate that we can improve the effectiveness of seasonal closure by managing pulse fishing.Although the results derived in this study may be specific to the target ecosystem,the general approach is applicable to other ecosystems when evaluating fishing impacts.     

Tuna longline catch rates in the Indian Ocean: Did industrial fishing result in a 90% rapid decline in the abundance of large predatory species?

Myers and Worm claim that their analyses of catch rates following the commencement of industrial longline fishing for tuna and billfishes show that these longline fisheries rapidly depleted the abundance of these large oceanic predators by 90% (Myers RA, Worm B. Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities. Nature 2003;423:280–3). Their analyses were published in a high profile science journal along with an accompanying press release, which then attracted substantial international media focus and public attention. This media focus in turn has been used as a base for advocating major marine policy changes for pelagic tuna fisheries (e.g. a minimum of a 50% reduction in catches and establishment of extensive marine reserves). However, among numerous scientific experts involved in tuna and pelagic fishery research substantial concerns exist that Myers and Worm's analyses provide a misleading picture of the status of large predatory pelagic fishes. These concerns are reviewed using data from the Indian Ocean for illustrative purposes and indicate that the initial longline catches were not responsible for a rapid depletion of the main tuna and billfish stocks nor were they threatening the overall sustainability of these stocks. However, the status of a number of theses stocks is of concern as a result of large increases in catches in more recent years. The debate sparked by Myers and Worm's paper should not distract from the critical problem of developing and implementing effective international management policies. In addition to implications for fishery management, the publication, peer-review, scientific response and publicity process associated with the publication of Myers and Worm's paper are discussed. Concerns are raised that if these become standard practices for articles in high profile science journals that this would undermine the trust placed in such journal to provide an accurate and well-balanced representation of the most important new scientific findings and in their role to inform policy decisions based on these findings.     

From RACs to Advisory Councils: Lessons from North Sea discourse for the 2014 reform of the European Common Fisheries Policy

From RACs to Advisory Councils analyses the discourse of stakeholders engaged in Europe׳s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in a tier of governance known as RACs (Regional Advisory Councils) from 2004 to 2008. The analysis demonstrates a shift towards discursive sharing by participating stakeholders. This fostered inclusion but did not effect a redistribution of the power held by Europe׳s inter-governmental institutions. This more substantive change would require more, and more consistent, discursive consensus from stakeholders. With a reformed CFP for 2014, this paper considers the possibility of a future in which regional stakeholder-based fisheries governance becomes a reality.     

The hesitant emergence of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in fisheries policies in Europe

The dismal record of fisheries management worldwide is often blamed on managers' and scientists' bigoted pursuit of the flawed Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) objective. This paper aims at clarifying that MSY has never been a key element in the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and has not been for several decades the basis of scientific advice provided in support of that policy. The recent emergence of MSY in debates about the CFP might be a rhetoric response to international pressure rather than a willing change in policy. The major danger of assigning the notorious failure of the CFP to a wrong culprit, MSY, is to distract research efforts away from investigating the real causes that likely lay in the institutional set-up. Many objections against the reference points associated with MSY, as targets or limits, are well-founded but controversies among experts, when left unbridled, just provide the opportune climate for politicians to delay actions in the direction of reduced fishing impacts on fish stocks and marine ecosystems.     

捕捞和气候变化在南海北部湾口鱼类长期种类演替和种群动态的作用

捕捞压力在改变南海鱼类种类演替和生物量波动方面所起的作用大于气候和环境因素是一个普遍的、有争议的假设。根据1959~2010年南海北部北部湾口底拖网的调查数据，报告了该海域鱼类种类组成、优势类群的丰度比例、生物量的季节和年际变化。建立了鱼类生物量与捕捞压力和气候变化外部因素之间的广义加性模型。结果表明，捕捞压力驱动底层渔业资源急剧下降的主要因素，并随着时间的推移，高值鱼类被低值鱼类所取代。1993年和1998年期间鱼类生物量的突然减少与同期厄尔尼诺事件相对应，气候变化可能是渔业拖网捕捞中中上层鱼类比例变化的主要驱动因素。为了更好地了解鱼类群落动态，需要区分捕捞压力和环境驱动因素对不同生活史策略鱼类物种的影响。     

The changing environment of fisheries policy in Europe

This paper presents how environmental concerns emanating outside the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) are increasingly setting the stage for EU fisheries management. This is illustrated via what is termed the exogenous entrance of environmental concerns through the implementation of directives in EU policy. More endogenous entrance of environmental concerns occurs via stakeholder participation in Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) as well as market mechanisms, such as ecolabelling and traceability. This study discusses how these latter channels of environmental concern may have become a more potent and efficient way of reaching environmental goals, outside of the primacy of the CFP.     

Long-term changes in the fish community structure from the Tsushima warm current region of the Japan/East Sea with an emphasis on the impacts of fishing and climate regime shift over the last four decades

Japanese fisheries production in the Japan/East Sea between 1958 and 2003 increased to their peak (1.76 million tons) in the late 1980s and decreased abruptly with the collapse of Japanese sardine. Catch results for 58 fisheries and various environmental time-series data sets and community indices, including mean trophic level (MTL) and Simpson’s diversity index (DI), were used to investigate the impacts of fishing and climate changes on the structure of the fish community in the Tsushima warm current (TWC) region of the Japan/East Sea. The long-term trend in fisheries production was largely dependent on the Japanese sardine that, as a single species, contributed up to 60% of the total production in the Japanese waters of the Japan/East Sea during the late 1980s. Excluding Japanese sardine, production of the small pelagic species was higher during 1960s and 1990s but lower during 1970s and 1980s. This variation pattern generally corresponds with the trend in water temperature, warmer before early 1960s and after 1990s but colder during 1970s and 1980s. The warm-water, large predatory fishes and cold water demersal species show opposite responses to the water temperature in the TWC region, indicating the significant impact of oceanic conditions on fisheries production of the Japan/East Sea. Declines in demersal fishes and invertebrates during 1970s and 1980s suggested some impact of fishing. MTL and DI show a similar variation pattern: higher during 1960s and 1990s but lower during 1970s and 1980s. In particular, the sharp decline during the 1980s resulted from the abundant sardine catches, suggesting that dominant species have a large effect on the structure of the fish community in the Japan/East Sea. Principal component analysis for 58 time-series data sets of fisheries catches suggested that the fish community varied on inter-annual to inter-decadal scales; the abrupt changes that occurred in the mid-1970s and late 1980s seemed to correspond closely with the climatic regime shifts in the North Pacific. These results strongly suggest that the structure of the fish community in the Japan/East Sea was largely affected by climatic and oceanic regime shifts rather than by fishing. There is no evidence showing “fishing down food webs” in the Japan/East Sea. However, in addition to the impacts of abrupt shifts that occurred in the late 1980s, the large predatory and demersal fishes seem to be facing stronger fishing pressure with the collapse of the Japanese sardine.     

Sustainable use of flatfish resources: Addressing the credibility crisis in mixed fisheries management

Many flatfish species are caught in mixed demersal trawl fisheries and managed by Total Allowable Catch (TAC). Despite decades of fisheries management, several major stocks are severely depleted. Using the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) as an example, the failure of mixed-fisheries management is analysed by focussing on: the management system; the role of science; the role of managers and politicians; the response of fisheries to management. Failure of the CFP management could be ascribed to: incorrect management advice owing to bias in stock assessments; the tendency of politicians to set the TAC well above the recommended level; and non-compliance of the fisheries with the management regulations. We conclude that TAC management, although apparently successful in some single-species fisheries, inevitably leads to unsustainable exploitation of stocks caught in mixed demersal fisheries as it promotes discarding of over-quota catch and misreporting of catches, thereby corrupting the basis of the scientific advice and increasing the risk of stock collapse. This failure in mixed demersal fisheries has resulted in the loss of credibility of both scientists and managers, and has undermined the support of fishermen for management regulations. An approach is developed to convert the TAC system into a system that controls the total allowable effort (TAE). The approach takes account of the differences in catch efficiency between fleets as well as seasonal changes in the distribution of the target species and can also be applied in the recovery plans for rebuilding specific components of the demersal fish community, such as plaice, cod and hake.     

Designed for failure: A critique of the Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) of the European Union has neither lived up to its aim of enhancing the sustainability of fish stocks nor that of improving the economic competitiveness of the fishing industry. This paper discusses the failure of the CFP from a biological, economical, legal and political perspective.     

A communicative turnaround: Shifting the burden of proof in European fisheries governance

Current and prospective changes in European fisheries governance suggest not only a “communicative turn” but a complete turnaround in the relationships between government, science, and the fishing industry. At the heart of these changes are the so-called Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) and the idea of partially replacing the burden of proof on the resource users (fishing industry). This change entails new forms of interaction between fishers’ representatives, other stakeholders (e.g. NGOs), policy-makers and scientists. By drawing on experiences from the Baltic Sea RAC, the analysis focuses on two aspects of fisheries governance: institutional design and the process of negotiation and decision-making. It is concluded that to allow for a partial shift in the burden of proof, stakeholder organisations such as RACs need to adapt both institutionally as well as process-wise to enable a more constructive and responsible fisheries governance system.     

Strictly for the birds?: On ecosystem services of forage fish

Small pelagic fish like sardine, anchovy and herring feed on zooplankton and are in turn prey for fish higher up in the food chain. They are therefore expected to play a vital role in transfer of energy between levels in the food chain. Some stocks of small pelagics are extremely large and subject to very substantial fluctuations caused by environmental factors. They are also very vulnerable to exploitation due to schooling behavior and highly efficient fishing technology. Several such stocks crashed in the 20th century as a result of heavy exploitation and/or adverse environmental changes. The effect of four such stock crashes on other fisheries are reviewed and found to be limited or nonexistent. This puts into perspective a recent report from the Lenfest Foundation, which examines small pelagics and their role in the ecosystem and finds that certain sea bird populations have been severely affected by exploitation of small pelagics. The report recommends more conservative management of small pelagics to limit the effects on predators, but makes no effort to weigh this against the contribution of forage fish to food production.     

Flexible management of fishing rights and a sustainable fisheries industry in Europe

Although overexploitation of commercial fish stocks in European waters has been in the public debate now for more than 20 years, the European Union has so far failed to implement sustainable fisheries management. Millions in subsidies paid to the fishing industry have led to significant excess capacity in the fishing fleet. Various feeble attempts to stop overexploitation of marine resources have failed. The cause is that fishing policy is highly dominated by short-term socioeconomic interests. There is an urgent need for a new fisheries management system in Europe that supports reductions in the fishing fleet, increases responsibility among fishers and guarantees long-term conservation of natural marine resources.Transferable rights to fish have proved a reliable and effective means of creating incentives to conserve marine resources. By strengthening individual fishing rights under flexible quota management systems, the EU Member States could, within the Common Fisheries Policy, make a significant contribution to conserving fish stocks, to reducing excess capacity and to raising the profitability of the fisheries industry. A closer look at existing reservations against a flexible management system shows most of the objections to be overstated or capable of resolution.     

Rio+20 and the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy in Europe

At the Rio+20 meeting in June 2012, governments of the world committed to rebuilding fish stock sizes by 2015 at least to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), even if that would require the temporary closure of fisheries. This study explores the outcomes of such action for European stocks. In 2012, only 8 of 48 stocks (17%) were abundant enough to produce MSY and with a business as usual scenario, this number would not increase by 2015. In contrast, if fishing was reduced to levels consistent with rebuilding and if some fisheries were temporarily closed, 50–70% of the examined stocks would be able to reach the Rio+20 target by the end of 2015. In this scenario, after three years with reduced catches, fish supply from European stocks would reach and exceed the levels of 2011 already in 2016. The implications for fish, fishers and fish consumers are discussed.     

Complementary roles of European and national institutions under the Common Fisheries Policy and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Exploited fish and shellfish stocks in European marine waters underlie the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The next round of reform of the CFP is due for completion in 2012. The exploitation at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) may be confirmed as the common environmental objective for good environment status (GES) of exploited fish and shellfish stocks of the reformed CFP and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The foreseen time horizon to achieve or maintain GES by 2020 appears inconsistent with the World Summit on Sustainable Development UN agreement in 2002, which stipulates that maintenance or restoring of stocks to produce MSY be realized by 2015. The MSFD requires instead that by 2015 the national programmes of measures be designed in order to become operational the following year (2016).     

Ecological risk assessment of the Marshall Islands longline tuna fishery

To support implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries management, ecological risk assessment (ERA) methods have recently been developed for the continuum of data-deficient to data-rich fisheries. A semi-quantitative ERA was conducted for the Marshall Islands longline bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) fishery. The study used information from analyses of observer data, surveys of captains and crew and inventories of gear and equipment. Relative risks were evaluated through a consideration of phylogenetic uniqueness, risk of population extirpation, risk of species extinction and importance in ecosystem regulation. The fishery presents a highest relative risk to leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), green (Chelonia mydas) and olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtle Regional Management Units that overlap with the fishery, in that order. The next highest relative risk is to affected stocks of oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus), blue (Prionace glauca), and silky (Carcharhinus falciformis) sharks, in that sequence. Seabird bycatch is likely not problematic. There was inadequate information to assess risks to cetacean populations. Risks to stocks of market and non-market species of marine fishes with r-selected life history characteristics were not assessed. This is because estimates of critical threshold levels of local and absolute abundance and current biomass are not known for many of these stocks. Several best practice gear technology methods to mitigate problematic catch of vulnerable species groups are currently employed: monofilament leaders, whole fish for bait, single-hooking fish bait, no lightsticks, and no fishing at shallow submerged features. Setting terminal tackle below 100 m and carrying and using best practice handling and release equipment were methods identified to reduce fishing mortality and injury of vulnerable species. More information is needed to determine if weaker hooks should be prescribed to mitigate cetacean bycatch. The large benefit to sea turtles of replacing remaining J-shaped hooks with circle hooks might outweigh a possible small increase in elasmobranch catch rates. The consumption of 2024 l of fuel per tonne of landed catch, which is within the range of available estimated rates from similar fisheries, could be reduced, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, through more frequent maintenance and upgrading vessel equipment and materials. Observer data quality may be adequate to support a quantitative Level 3 ERA to determine the significance of the effect of various factors on standardized catch rates and to estimate population-level effects from fishing mortality.     

Good luck or good governance? The recovery of Celtic Sea herring

The herring stock in the Celtic Sea collapsed in 2004. The stock is managed under the European Union's (EU) Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), but with a large measure of local stakeholder involvement through the Pelagic Advisory Council and a local Irish stakeholder committee. An iterative process, initiated by the local committee culminated in a formal rebuilding plan, which ran until 2012, by which time, the stock had fully recovered. Subsequent analyses of stock development over this period suggest that the stock was already recovering by the time the final plan was implemented. Did the stock rebuild by good fortune or did the governance measures put in place achieve their aims? This question is answered by way of examination of stock trends over time, analyses of the main elements of the rebuilding measures, including a management strategy evaluation (MSE) along with analyses of the legal and institutional arrangements in Ireland and in the EU CFP, including the development of the Pelagic Advisory Council. Important innovations in the CFP are revealed as having been crucial for the rebuilding process.     

The Estonian fisheries: from the Soviet system to ITQs and quota auctions

The development of the Estonian fisheries and fishing rights during the post-Soviet period is discussed. In order to deal with excessive fishing capacity, a part of the fishing rights, both volume quotas and gear-use rights, in all Estonian fisheries will be allocated each year through auctions while the remainder will be allocated on the basis of the history of the use of recent fishing rights. This was done for the first time in 2001. All fishing rights depreciate from year to year in a geometric fashion, by 10% yearly. The results of the first auctions discussed in the paper suggest that auctioning is a suitable method to manage common-pool resources such as fish stocks.