Fisheries Committee votes on measures to hasten cod recovery

MEPs say that all cod caught ought to be landed, rather than discarded, so as to enable proper scientific evaluation of stocks, stress that new mechanisms must be introduced to encourage fishermen and Member States to engage in cod-avoidance programmes and agree with the inclusion of the Celtic Sea in the recovery plan.

The cod recovery plan, established in 2004, is aimed at ensuring the reconstitution of cod stocks within a 10-year period to precautionary levels advised by scientists. The cod stocks covered by this plan were those in the North Sea, Kattegat and Skaggerak, the Eastern Channel, the Irish Sea, and West of Scotland.

Recent scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has indicated that the reductions in cod catches arising from the collective effect of total allowable landings (TACs), technical measures and complementary effort management measures have been far from sufficient to reduce fishing mortalities to levels required to allow the cod stocks to rebuild. None of the four cod stocks covered by the recovery plan show clear signs of recovery, although stocks in the North and Celtic Seas are showing some signs of improvement.

Last April, the Commission submitted a proposal to improve several aspects of the plan, given that cod stocks remain under severe pressure. The main proposed changes are:

• Revision of the plan's long-term objectives, so as to take account of the effects of global warming on ocean conditions

• Inclusion of an objective on fishing mortality

• Simplified and more efficient implementation of a management system to regulate fishing effort

• A modulated approach for the adjustment of fishing opportunities where recovery is already achieved for a given stock

• Measures to reduce cod discards and to encourage fishermen to engage in cod-avoidance programmes;

• Inclusion of the Celtic Sea in the recovery plan, as this stock has also proved to be equally overexploited as the other cod stocks in Community waters

"The success of the recovery plan is also dependent on not landing fish caught through illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Monitoring and control are, therefore, important instruments to ensure the enforcement of fishing regulations", says Fisheries Committee rapporteur Niels Busk.

"Owing to the importance of cod fisheries, its impact on fishing for other species and the major economic and social interests at stake, the recovery plan for cod stocks must be successfully implemented", he adds.

In adopting, under consultation, several amendments to the Commission's proposal, the Fisheries Committee stresses that:

• All cod caught ought to be landed, rather than discarded, so as to enable proper scientific evaluation of stocks

• Member States (not only fishermen) should be encouraged to introduce measures to reduce fishing mortality and discards

• Member States should exercise their power to allocate access to fishing for cod stocks so as to encourage their fishermen to fish in ways that result in more selective fishing and are less harmful to the environment

• As is the case in other management plans, the margin of +/- 15% of the TAC established in the previous year should be generally applicable

• To ensure that the data used are of high quality and reliability, 2004-2006 should be used as the reference years, instead of 2005-2007

• Account should be taken of the fact that the fishing effort can also be increased provided fishing mortality is less than the target (cod mortality rate of 0.4)

• MEPs delete a provision which, according to them, impedes restructuring of the fleet in relation to 2007 - for example, it would not be possible to replace beam trawl vessels with gill net vessels, which consume less fuel compared with the fleet structure in 2007

• MEPs specify, as "other relevant sources of cod mortality", cod being killed by seals and the impact of climate change on cod recovery

• When cod stocks have substantially improved, the Commission should review the system of regulating the fishing effort

The report was adopted with 18 votes in favour, 2 against and 3 abstentions.