There certainly aren鈥檛 plenty more fish in Europe鈥檚 sea. Its stocks have crashed, and imports now account for more than half the fish consumed in the European Union. Now, the EU hopes that radical reforms to its system of fishing quotas will restore fisheries by 2020. The plan is a big step forward, but experts are concerned that politicians could yet ignore scientific recommendations in implementing it.
The , set up in 1970, governs the European fishing industry, with annual fishing quotas for each EU member state. These are set by a gathering of ministers called the .
鈥淎lmost everyone agrees it has been a complete failure,鈥� says , a Belgium-based adviser to the Pew Charitable Trusts鈥� European Marine Programme. Despite the quotas, overfishing has continued for decades, fish populations have dwindled and the industry is dependent on subsidies. 鈥淲e are importing 60 per cent of our fish consumption in the EU,鈥� says Knigge.
Advertisement
The problem is that the Council tends to ignore scientific evidence on the state of the fisheries and then sets quotas too generously, says of the University of York, UK. He has shown that, between 1987 and 2011, European fishing quotas were on average a third higher than scientific recommendations (, doi.org/bwrrgc).
The aim to make European fishing sustainable by 2015, and to restore stocks by 2020. That will require limiting catches to sustainable levels, allowing the fish to maintain their populations. 鈥淭hat is a complete paradigm shift,鈥� says Knigge.
Not watertight
But Roberts says the system will not be watertight. The maximum sustainable yields will not be written into law, so the Council will still be able to set quotas too high. 鈥淭here is no commitment on ministers to binding targets.鈥�
Instead the annual quotas will be replaced by spanning several years, making it harder for ministers to push quotas up. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 good if you stick to the plan,鈥� says Roberts. But at , it emerged that North Sea cod was not recovering as planned. That should have meant a 20 per cent cut in the quota 鈥� but it never happened. 鈥淚nstead the ministers abandoned the recovery plan .鈥�
Restoring fish stocks is in everyone鈥檚 interest. Falling yields have made fishing unprofitable: in 2010 Roberts found that the commercial productivity of UK fisheries fell 94 per cent between 1889 and 2007 (, doi.org/dt8nts).
Last year the New Economics Foundation, a think tank based in London, claimed that paying fishermen not to do any fishing for 10 years would pay for itself in higher yields within five years once fishing had resumed.
It鈥檚 not just about fish as a food source. Overfishing damages marine ecosystems that are beneficial to humanity, says Roberts. The sea is losing its ability to process human waste, and , a major greenhouse gas.
Overfishing also makes the ocean more prone to toxic algal blooms, jellyfish blooms and dead zones.
鈥淭he functionality of the marine ecosystem is at stake,鈥� Roberts says. 鈥淭hat in turn will impact on human welfare.鈥�
