13 November 2012
Fish, Fishermen and General Public Let Down by the Political Process
Large sums of money are being spent by the EU and the member states on world class scientific expertise – which is then being ignored. That is the inescapable conclusion of the tragi-farcical situation that is evolving this autumn on important TAC decisions.
Although the EU/Norway negotiations for next year’s fisheries agreement have yet to begin, the signs are that the TAC for North Sea cod will be cut by 20% although ICES science predicts that this will only result in a giant surge in discards.
In a parallel strand of work, scientists in STECF have laboured for two years to evaluate the EU Cod Management Plan and have concluded that it is fundamentally flawed – only to stand by as those conclusions look like being set aside in the December TAC and Quotas decisions.
Likewise, ICES science, which advises that rebuilding plans for spurdog, porbeagle, skates and rays should be introduced, has been translated through the political process into zero TACs – which can only then transform landings into discards.
All this amounts to a failure of the political process to translate scientific advice into meaningful, coherent management measures which deliver sensible outcomes.
Who is Culpable?
Those of our past ministers who signed up to regulations which they didn’t understand and the Commission (when it was wedded to a “command and control” micro-management philosophy) must bear much of the weight of criticism. Then there is bad timing and bad luck. It is unfortunate that quota and effort decisions this year are still caught up in the transition to co-decision with the European Parliament – before the politics in the form of separating out decisions on broad principles from detailed regional measures has been sorted out. The Commission’s Proposal for an amended Cod Plan is not perfect but it goes a long way to addressing its worst features but it won’t be through the legislative process until well into next year.
What can be Done?
The NFFO and its allies will be pressing for an over-ride of good sense:
- The negotiators in the EU/Norway talks on next year’s joint-stock TACs such as cod should roll over the current TAC, avoid a surge in discards, and encourage the kinds if industry initiatives that have already led to a turn- round in the fortunes of North Sea cod. The UK fisheries department has put forward a paper on alternative TAC scenarios for North Sea cod and we are hopeful that this could be used to breakout of the self-induced fatalism that if allowed sway would lead to the discarding of many thousands of tonnes of cod next year.
- Replace zero TACs by a reasonable by-catch provision linked to a rebuilding plan based on close cooperation between fisheries scientists and the industry on effective avoidance initiatives. The current policy is going nowhere except over the side.
A move in this direction would signal that the political process is capable of delivering rational decisions acceptable to the fishing industry and the wider public. Both understandably have difficulties in appreciating the niceties of deliberate policy decisions that lead directly to large scale discards.