21 December 2010
The fisheries for plaice and sole and other flatfish species are amongst the most valuable to us in terms of revenue, employment and supply of food to consumers in the EU.
Their fortunes for the next 12 months appear mixed, although there are clear signs in many fisheries a corner that has been turned.
The fishery for North Sea plaice has seen serious reductions in quota in recent years, as well as suffering from blunt cod recovery measures. However, the plaice stocks are now rebuilding quickly, and the sole fisheries are stable. Although some specific skate and ray fisheries show signs of depletion others are buoyant. These divergence trends underline the need for management measures that are customised, targeted and designed for specific fisheries and specific stocks. Blunt measures can often do as much harm as good.
What lies behind the figures?
North Sea Flatfish
By far the largest flatfish fishery in EU waters is the North Sea plaice fishery, prosecuted by beam trawlers as a targeted fishery and as a valuable by-catch in the directed sole fishery. Plaice is also taken in a directed fishery in seine nets and static nets and as a by-catch in many trawl fisheries. In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, the NS plaice stock is now rebuilding rapidly under the EU Flatfish Management Plan, which is currently review. Although it is never possible to completely separate environmental conditions from fishing mortality, the large decommissioning schemes in the Netherlands and Belgium are likely to account for a significant part of this improvement. Taken together, the indicators suggest that the plaice stocks are responding to management measures.
At the same time steps are being taken in these fisheries to minimise by-catch and sea bed impacts. The main outstanding problems facing the flatfish sector in the North Sea are:
- The rigidity of the EU cod management plan
- Norway’s tactical use of North Sea plaice (a jointly managed stock) to increase negotiating leverage elsewhere in the EU/Norway agreement
- The Commission’s treatment of “associated species” stocks, such as turbot, lemon sole and dabs.
- Accommodating itself to society’s high expectations on lower discards and seabed impacts
- Stock depletion of particular species that are managed within a broad basket of similar stocks many of which have a very different conservation status; the approach to skates and rays is a case in point
- The threat of lost access to customary fishing grounds
Associated Stocks
When the main plaice TACs were facing significant reductions in recent years, the Commission, making the assumption that quota uptake of the “associated species” were invariably linked to the plaice and sole fisheries, proposed that TACs for all “associated species” should be reduced pro-rata. With the recovery of the plaice stocks this logic has been abandoned and across-the-board 15% reductions still proposed. At the recent December Council member states had to spend valuable negotiating currency in rescuing these TACs individually, with the result that the TAC changes follow a patchwork pattern ( -10%,-2%,-15%).
One of the weaknesses of the current system is the absence of understanding how quota management works at ground level when TACs and TAC conditions are set. This translates into a type of policy decisions that is hard to explain in any rational way. The Commission’s approach on associated species is one of these.
Celtic Sea
The critically important monkfish and megrim fisheries in the western approaches are vital for ports such as Newlyn in Cornwall. The close work done between fishermen and scientists within fisheries science partnerships in recent years, has strengthened the quality of the fish stock assessments and this is reflected in the essential stability in the TACs, although some important fine tuning was required by the Council of Ministers. The contrasting TAC changes for sole (+25%) and plaice (16%) in the Bristol Channel are difficult to explain; time may tell if the assessments on these stocks have been robust or whether there are other factors in the environment are at work.
One of the most inexplicable components in the Commission’s TAC proposals is the “use it or lose it” approach to stocks, such as sole and plaice in the western approaches (VII hjk), where the uptake of quota is sporadic. There are many reasons why an individual member state might not take up its fishing opportunities – more profitable alternatives, for example. It is quite ludicrous that the Commission assumes that the quota is not taken because the fish are not there as a reason to apply further reductions which then create difficulties in subsequent years. The VII hjk sole fishery was again cut by 15% on the basis of this twisted and inadequate logic.
Channel
The Channel flatfish fisheries narrowly escaped a beating this December. Although both the eastern and western components of the Channel sole fishery saw 15% increases in the TAC, a 15% cut in effort in the VIIe sole fishery was proposed and a proposal to split the combined eastern and western components of the Channel plaice fishery was also included. If adopted this would have has serious adverse consequences for the UK fleet. Thankfully these proposals were fought off with support from the French on the basis of a more realistic interpretation of the science.
Irish Sea
The divergent trends for sole and plaice stocks in the Irish Sea continues to be a mystery although the changes to the TACs have been modest, suggesting some kind of stability. Plaice in the Irish Sea is currently at historically high levels of abundance.
Skates and Rays
In fact, one of the worst examples of the rigidity of the current CFP is that the “Skates and Rays” TAC which for administrative convenience embraces a range of different species with very different conservation statuses. Many skate and ray stocks remain stable and robust, whilst others show signs of serious depletion. If ever there was an argument for regional management, and tailored measures based on local knowledge and a fisheries science partnership, it can be found here. The 15% reduction in the skates and rays TAC and in particular the prohibition on retaining skate amounts to a bankrupt policy as the only result can be high levels of discards with unknown survival rates.
An idea of what would be possible under a more decentralised CFP can be seen in the Bristol Channel where the local fleets are dependent on a range of ray stocks and have initiated a seasonal closed box to protect juveniles. There is no question of the box being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as is often the result when this type of approach is applied from above. And through bilateral contacts arranged by the NFFO, the closure initially only supported by the local fleets is now observed by visiting Belgian vessels.
The undulate ray fishery around the Channel Islands is another example where tailored measure proposed by the local industry, supported by visiting fleets, could provide adequate protection whist allowing a reasonable level of exploitation of this valuable resource. At present getting this type of approach adopted faces apparently insurmountable hurdles and bureaucratic inertia.
Access Issues
Undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges facing the flatfish sector is the potential displacement from customary fishing grounds by poorly designed and implemented marine protected areas along with the massive expansion of offshore wind-farms. Only belatedly is there any sign of recognition within government of the level of economic, social and ecological destruction that poorly implemented policies could have. The Dogger Bank Special Area of Conservation, part of which has been designated as a vast offshore wind-farm, provides a good example. At certain times of the year the beamer fleet currently catches substantial quantities of high value plaice from the Dogger but if displaced would be obliged to fish at those times of years where high levels of discards would be inevitable. A similar picture is seen in the Bristol Channel. There is great concern within the flatfish sector over access to its most important fishing grounds over the next few years. It is a great pity that these enormous developments are taking place before and outside any comprehensive system of marine spatial planning is put in place.
Quotas, Prices and Profits
Positive stock trends and increasing TACs are the bedrock of viability and profitability in the flatfish sector. But first hand fish prices reflect market conditions within a world market and profitability also reflects production costs. The flatfish sector is more sensitive than most to the price of fuel and price spikes in the international market for oil can only be kept at bay by judicious purchasing policies for so long. There is therefore a determination to move over time to methods of fishing that are efficient and lower fuel costs.
The future for the flatfish fisheries lies in progressing down the road that it is based on:
- A more rational management approach based on long-term management plans in which the principal stakeholders have had a central say
- Regional management that allows measures to be tailored to the specifics of particular fisheries and encourages rather than discourages local initiatives
- Close collaboration between fishermen and scientists through fisheries science projects
- A progressive reduction in discards through initiatives such as the 50% project
- A transition to less fuel intensive modes of fishing
- An approach to introducing marine protected areas and offshore wind-farms that takes adequate account of the spatial distribution of fishing and the needs of the fishing industry