Future Common Fisheries Policy to protect ecosystems and highlight the responsibility of fishermen and market mechanisms

Tisková zpráva

Press Release

Communiqué de presse

Prague, 26 May 2009

Future Common Fisheries Policy to protect ecosystems and highlight the responsibility of fishermen and market mechanisms

On Monday the competent Ministers discussed the recently published Green Paper on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy and more specifically the problems of the so-called discards. The material which the Commission presented at the Council meeting in Luxembourg in April not only describes the current state of affairs but rather inspires discussion about the direction of the future fisheries policy. The emphasis on market mechanisms and at the same time on greater responsibility among the fishermen themselves is essential. Other important aspects include the protection of the marine environment and ecosystems as well as better coordination with other policies and sectors. Greater emphasis will be put on aquaculture as a sustainable source of fish in the long term.

“Although the Czech Republic is a landlocked country, we are pleased that the discussion on the future direction of the Common Fisheries Policy started during the Czech Presidency,” says Czech Agriculture Minister Jakub Šebesta. 
In today’s debate, the competent Ministers highlighted a number of areas that the delegations and the Commission regard as crucial for the success of the future Common Fisheries Policy. They stressed e.g. that it is necessary to ensure a long-term and sustainable character of the fisheries policy, mainly with regard to the environment, and to secure a viable economic model. The Community must adopt this attitude in approaching e.g. the future model of setting up the quota system and fishing capacity.
The Member States emphasised that the whole system of the policy, including control mechanisms, should be further simplified and made more efficient. The debate also stressed that the Common Fisheries Policy should respond to new challenges, use modern management tools, be flexible and more market-oriented.
“It is necessary to motivate and involve all stakeholders – fishermen, processing industry, regions and NGOs. It is also necessary to preserve and strengthen the Community role in the area of fisheries in the international context”, said Minister Šebesta. “As for concrete items, I got mainly interested in the greater use of aquaculture and the issue of discards, which we discussed in detail today and which I believe must be dealt with urgently”, said Minister Šebesta. The issue of discards, i.e. catches thrown back into the sea for various reasons, which are however mostly incapable of further life, was put on the agenda at the Commission’s request. The main goal, stressed by Commissioner Borg, is to reduce and eliminate discards, as a key condition for long-term sustainability of fishing and biodiversity protection. The Commission has proposed a series of measures to achieve this goal, being supported in its endeavour by the Czech Presidency. The delegations welcomed the Commission’s attitude to this issue and called for more efficient measures.

The Commission spelt out the main causes of discards – the current system, provided for by regulatory measures at Community and national levels, national quota allocation systems and the economic behaviour of fishermen themselves. The Commission says that discards must be eliminated and in order to achieve this, the regulatory frameworks of the Community and the Member States as well as the behaviour of fishermen must change. It is obvious that attention must in the first place be paid to the economically most significant species such as cod or tuna. Among appropriate measures to be taken, the Commission proposes more selective fishing gear, a ban on the method of discarding less valuable fish known as highgrading, “real-time” closures of certain fishing zones, the introduction of modern methods of on-board control and projects controlling landings in harbours. As part of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, the Commission aims to focus on quota setting and address the landings issue.

Schedule: A broad public debate on the Green Paper with businesses operating in the sector, Member States, non-government organisations and other relevant entities will be conducted until the end of 2010. The results of the debate will then be summarised and analysed and the Commission will submit its Communication based on the Green Paper; a proposal for a regulation of the Council on o the Common Fisheries Policy will be presented in 2011 and is expected to be adopted in 2012.

Contact:

• Tereza Dvořáčková, Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Agriculture
• Tel.: +420 221 813 063, GSM: +420 737 213 030, E-mail:tereza.dvorackova@mze.cz