Issues
The oceans and their resources are under enormous pressure. The latest report from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicates that 28 percent of the world’s fisheries stocks are currently being overexploited and 52 percent are fully collapsed. Many other marine species, such as whales, dolphins, turtles, skates and rays, are hovering on the brink of extinction. In the Northeast Atlantic the situation is even worse. According to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), only 18 per cent of the 113 commercial fish stocks assessed were within safe biological limits in 2001.
One of the main reasons for the global decline in fish stocks and the deterioration of the wider marine environment is fishing, but pollution, eutrophication and climate change are also taking their toll.
To protect our oceans and secure healthy fish stocks as well as a healthy marine environment, united efforts in all sectors that affect the seas are necessary.
The biological and environmental effects of fishing
Fishing is a widespread and pervasive form of maritime activity, which has expanded very rapidly over the last 70 years. With the help of new and ever more effective technology, very few places are out of reach.
Destructive fishing practices
Fishing activities also affect the wider marine environment, mainly by accidentally catching other species (bycatch), discards and disturbing the seabottom and its communities.
Policies and legislations
The oceans are vast, covering 140 million square miles or some 70 per cent of the earth's surface. Attempts have been made through the years to regulate the use of the oceans in a single convention that is acceptable to all nations. This effort finally culminated with the adoption of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which has gained nearly universal acceptance since its entry into force on 16 November 1994.
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
- UN Fish Stocks Agreement
- FAO Code of Conduct
- FAOs International Plans of Action (IPOAs)
- EU consolidated core regs (2371/2002)
- The Common Organisation of Markets (COM)
- EU Biodiversity Strategy
Stakeholder involvement in the Common Fisheries Policy CFP - ACFA and RACs
There are two formal ways of which stakeholders can give advice to the policymakers in the EU. The two stakeholder fora are ACFA and RACs.
Billions to the fisheries sector annually
The fisheries sector annually receives huge amounts of money in the form of subsidies. Some of the subsidies are directly harmful since they contribute to the overcapacity of the global fishing fleet. This problem has received a lot of attention lately, at the European- as well as the global level.
Effort Management
The current fisheries management systems are predominately based on Total Allowable Catches (TAC) and quotas. The combination of this type of management and the depletion of many commercial species has led to a number of problems, in particular discards, unreported landings and high-grading. These known problems have made various stakeholders call for a change in management strategies towards a system based on effort regulation, where the fishing effort is adjusted to the available resources.
How to influence the European Fisheries Fund
Learn about key issues regarding the EFF, and how to influence it on the national level.
EU eel management
The European eel population has declined drastically, with glass eel recruitment now lower than ever. Climate change might be contributing, but pollution, diseases, parasites and loss of habitat have also had a negative impact, and the mortality rate in all of the eel life stages remains high. A joint EU management plan was agreed in 2007. Implementation has taken an important step forward with national management plans for eel that were submitted to the European Commission at the end of 2008.
Bottom trawling on the high seas
Bottom trawling on the high seas threatens the unique and sensitive biodiversity of deep sea ecosystems. Therefore, many scientists, NGOs and national delegations have been calling on the UN to set up a temporary ban, intended to provide blanket protection for unique and largely unknown deep-sea areas of high biodiversity, such as seamounts, until more long-term management measures are in place.
- Why a moratorium?
- Regulation and legislation - a patchy picture
- The campaign for a moratorium
- Deep sea ecosystems at risk
- What is bottom trawling?
- Ecological impacts
- Timeline of key events - 2004 and earlier
- Timeline of key events - 2005 and 2006
Key concepts
Coasts and oceans support an enormous amount of marine biodiversity and provide substantial services to humans, from nutrient cycling to fisheries production. Ecologically unsound fishing practices threaten the existence of commercial fish stocks, damage the marine environment and often result in by-catch. The following concepts form the backbone to policy making and development of future strategies in management of fishery.
- Precautionary principle/approach
- Ecosystem-based management, EBM
- Quotas/stock reference
- Large Marine Ecosystems, LMEs
- Fishing down the food web
Acronyms
Some of the most commonly used acronyms within sustainable fisheries.
Aquaculture
Many hope that the cultivation of fish and shellfish will provide the solution to the rising demand for fish and other marine products. Indeed, aquaculture has grown by 9.6 per cent annually since 1984, and is today the world’s fastest-growing food production system. In Europe, the largest aquaculture branch is salmon farming, but tuna farming in the Mediterranean is on the rise with a 50 per cent increase in 2003.