European fisheries policy failure

The failure of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy

The EU Court of Auditors judged in 2007 that the CFP had failed to achieve its central objective:  the sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources. This failure to address overfishing is in essence due to a lack of political will. In particular, it has failed to adequately meet the challenges of:

Overcapacity

It is estimated that some fleet segments in the EU are two to three times the size required to catch the available fishing quotas - we can fish more fish than there are fish. Newer boats with better and better technology are exhausting the stocks we have.

Catch limits set too high

Overcapacity creates political pressure to set higher and higher fishing quotas to keep all the boats working. In the last years, the catch limits agreed were on average 48 percent  higher than scientific advice. In 2007, the quota for one population of Scottish haddock was set at eight times the recommended level.

Paying for fish twice

The EU continues to provide subsidies to modernise fleets rather than focussing on mitigating overcapacity or investing in technologies that could support more sustainable fisheries. Furthermore, exemption from fuel tax, the cost of national administration, fisheries research and control measures could also be considered a subsidy to the fishing sector. “In several Member States, it has been estimated that the cost of fishing to the public budgets exceeds the total value of the catches.”  As a result, we are currently paying for our fish twice, through subsidies and in the shop.

The EU's Global Reach

The EU has enormous influence on global fisheries management and with it considerable responsibility. Its fleet is the third biggest and operates in every ocean of the world. It is the largest importer of fisheries products, importing almost 70 percent of its fish.

The EU has a seat in almost every regional fisheries management organisation, and therefore an opportunity to exert influence on international fisheries management, including the high seas.

The EU could be championing sustainable practice at home and abroad. Instead, the level of imports and fishing activities outside EU waters mean that the effects of overfishing are being exported, frequently to distant coastal communities who rely on fish for food and income.