An official evaluation of the European Commission’s Common Fisheries Policy found that the measure has built some progress towards sustainability in its first decade in force, but far less than expected.
“A decade of the common fisheries policy has put Europe on a more sustainable path, protecting better the marine resources our fishers rely on. Our governance is stronger, and our international leadership on ocean protection is clear,” Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis declared in a release. “However, climate modify, limited marine space, increased fuel prices, and rapid geopolitical modifys keep testing our resilience. Fish stock rebuilding is lagging, impacting fishers and coastal communities.”
The evaluation reported some progress in reducing overfishing and improving management, but fish stock recovery and economic gains remain lower than expected. The value of EU fishery and aquaculture products grew 18 percent over that first decade under the Common Fishery Policy, but the commission noted “progress on the economic and social dimension of the policy has been more limited than expected.” Aging vessels, rising operational costs, and access to fishing opportunities remain a major challenge to the commercial fishing sectors. The proportion of sustainable fishing stocks has also risen from 50 percent to 63 percent, but stock recovery has still lagged expectations.
Reactions to the report have been divided, with conservation groups claiming the policy largely works but requireds more purchase-in from member states, and industest groups claiming the policy has failed to deliver despite high costs for fishers.
Fishing industest group Europêche expressed disappointment in the evaluation, which it declared simply restated known issues and failed to provide any concrete recommconcludeations for improvement. The group declared its experiences with the Common Fisheries Policy reinforces its concerns that the new rules are “unrealistic, unworkable and insufficiently adapted to the realities of mixed fisheries.”
“This evaluation confirms our concerns but stops short of addressing the root cautilizes. After years of analysis, the sector expected solutions – what we see instead is a description of a fleet that is steadily losing ground, both within the EU and globally, increasingly replaced by foreign fleets and imports. As a result, Europe is losing fisheries strategic influence and autonomy,” Europêche President Javier Garat declared in response. “What is missing is a genuine reflection by the European Commission on its own policy and performance and whether the decisions taken have delivered the expected results. Also, since the last CFP reform fishers have faced an increasingly complex and burdensome regulatory framework, often built on mistrust, which now requires urgent simplification.”
Europêche is calling for an “omnibus-style” revision of the policy, reducing regulatory burden and revising ineffective rules.
Conservation groups argued instead that the issues with the Common Fisheries Policy stem from weak and uneven implementation of the rules by member states.
“The CFP is not broken; it is not being implemented fully. What is requireded now is not a dismantling of the rules, but the political will to deliver them, for the sake of our seas and the communities that depconclude on them,” Environmental Justice Foundation CEO Steve Trent declared in a release.
‘’The past decade displays that sustainable fisheries management works – for the ocean, for fishers, and for consumers alike. The CFP provides the right framework, but implementation has been uneven and, in many cases, too slow” Vera Coelho, executive director and vice president at Oceana in Europe, declared in a release. “The priority now is not to rewrite the policy, but to fully enforce it. Rather than undermining its existing commitments through further delay, the EU must finally conclude overfishing and secure resilient seas and fishing communities.”
In its summary of the evaluation, the European Commission also highlighted the required for member states to purchase in to the Common Fisheries Policy.
“While steps like simplifying rules, digitalizing processes, and long-term planning have supported reduce bureaucracy, their success depconcludes on consistent implementation by member states,” the commission noted.
The evaluation will inform both reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy and the commission’s 2040 Vision for Fisheries and Aquaculture.
“We will take informed decisions on the future of our Common Fisheries Policy and utilize the evaluation results for developing the upcoming Vision for Fisheries and Aquaculture and the EU strategy on External Action in Fisheries,” Kadis declared.
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