The Commission has launched a wide-ranging debate on the way that EU fisheries are managed.

Their aim is to gather views from all those with an interest in the future of Europe’s fisheries: fishermen, fish processors, retailers, environmentalists, consumers, taxpayers – in fact, every EU citizen.

That includes you.

They would like you to give them your vision for the future of Europe’s fisheries and tell them how that vision can become reality. You are invited to comment on any aspect of fisheries policy – there is no such thing as a no-go area in this reform. They are confident that the diversity of views will pave the way for a substantial overhaul of their management of EU fisheries.

The Commission’s Green Paper on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy [107 KB] (or simplified summary [23 KB] ) outlines the state of Europe’s fisheries today and whilst they say important initiatives have been taken to make EU fisheries more sustainable, important problems remain :

• Europe’s fish stocks have been overfished for decades.
• Overfished stocks have resulted in consumers being dependent on imports .
• Fishing fleets remain too large and as they have fewer fish to catch,
• they remain unprofitable, despite being heavily subsidised.

It could be argued that consumers pay for their fish twice – once at the shop counter, and again through their taxes.

The Commission has signalled its desire for this reform to bring about lasting and positive change and give the European Union a Common Fisheries Policy fit to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Full details of how to make your views known may be found here.

Some (unsurprising) quotes within the report from one of our members who has read it :

• ……   " Europe’s fish stocks have been overfished for decades.
  Overfished stocks have resulted in European consumers now being
  dependent on imports for their seafood. Fishing fleets remain too large
  and, as they have fewer fish to catch, they remain unprofitable,
  despite being heavily subsidised. It could be argued that European
  citizens pay for their fish twice – once at the shop counter, and again
  through their tax invoices "……….
• ……  " Fisheries control has generally been weak, penalties are not
  dissuasive and inspections not frequent enough to encourage compliance"
  …….
• ……   "the European fleets remain far too large for the resources
  available and this imbalance is at the root of all problems related to
  low economic performance, weak enforcement and overexploited resources"
  ……….
• …….. "discarding has prevented several stocks from recovering in
  spite of low quotas"  ………
• …….  "Economic and social sustainability require productive fish
  stocks and healthy marine ecosystems. The economic and social viability
  of fisheries can only result from restoring the productivity of fish
  stocks.  ….
• … However, these objectives can and do clash in the
  short term, especially when fishing opportunities have to be
  temporarily reduced in order to rebuild overexploited fish stocks.
  Social objectives such as employment have often been invoked to
  advocate more generous short-term fishing opportunities: the result has
  always been to further jeopardise the state of the stocks and the
  future of the fishermen who make a living out of them" …..

So much understanding of the problems, yet such little effective action in addressing them and not one mention of global warming, explosion in seal populations, left-handed white witches with stammers or any of the other assorted excuses which are typically trotted out.

Related posts:

1. EC Fisheries reform
2. UK Government response to CFP reform
3. Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) Reform
4. Holyrood response to CFP Reform
5. Fishing decisions to be de-centralised