Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 4 • Number 23 • 20th December 2004

EU, ACP REVIEW FISHERIES; NEW EU QUOTA PROPOSALS RELEASED

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EU, ACP REVIEW FISHERIES; NEW EU QUOTA PROPOSALS RELEASED

In an attempt to resolve differences of opinion and process, experts from Europe and from the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries met on 13-14 December to address the developmental implications of EU-ACP fisheries relations. Meanwhile, fishing quotas proposed by the European Commission for 2005 proved a source of controversy within the EU.

ACP-EU fisheries expert meeting

Representatives from the European Commission and ACP countries, along with several non-governmental organisations, met in Brussels on 13-14 December to build capacity, share information, review policy tools, and discuss opinions in an expert seminar entitled ‘ACP-EU Fisheries relations - Maximising socio-economic benefits for the ACP fisheries communities’. The meeting was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), and followed a similar seminar held in April 2003. Although Roman Grynberg of the Commonwealth Secretariat described it as "a fruitful exchange of views," sources suggest that participants were unable to resolve key points of contention on how to improve the developmental impacts of EU fisheries policy.

The European Commission made a presentation on fisheries partnership agreements (FPAs), a relatively new form of agreement between the EU and ACP states that moves from older bilateral fisheries access agreements — wherein the EU paid for the right to fish in ACP waters — to ‘partnership agreements’, which aim to contribute to responsible fishing in the mutual interest of the parties concerned. Partnership agreements are supposed to ensure that the interests of the EU distant-water fleet are protected while simultaneously reinforcing the conditions to achieve sustainable fisheries in the waters of the partner concerned.

However, at the seminar, ACP representatives questioned whether there was in fact any substantive difference between FPAs and the old bilateral access agreements. In particular, they said that they would prefer to negotiate on a regional basis with the EU to avoid power asymmetries that can arise in bilateral negotiations between small ACP states and the EU. However, EU representatives said that they had "no mandate to negotiate regionally". As well, ACP countries asked for a framework or model FPA agreement from the EU that they would be able to use in planning and conducting their negotiations with the trading bloc.

Representatives also discussed the issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and noted the variety of regional, national, and private efforts to stem illegal fishing. However, they noted that curtailing the proliferation of illegal boats was difficult. The meeting supported the notion of developing a positive, or "white" list of approved boats which have passed EU, regional or national tests as a means of preventing IUU fishing, rather than using a negative "black" list of bad vessels.

In a session on fisheries subsidy negotiations at the WTO, participants grappled with how to incorporate special and differential treatment for developing countries into WTO rules for the sector (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 19 November 2004). In particular, participants raised the question of whether the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) definition of "artisanal fisheries" needed to be reconsidered so as to ensure that any exemptions to fishery subsidy disciplines for this sector are supportive of sustainable development. ACP countries were encouraged to bring up these issues at the WTO and take advantage of supportive positions already forwarded by the US and the ‘Friends of Fish’ countries in favour of artisanal fishery exemptions.

A number of the other issues were raised as important for ACP and EU policymakers which remain to be resolved in the WTO and in bilateral and regional negotiations, including sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues, process questions on the fragmentation of EU fishery and development directorates, and questions of rules of origin and market access.

Europeans propose selective fishing bans

The European Commission released its proposed total allowable fisheries catches (TAC) for 2005 on 8 December, saying that the aim of EU fisheries policy was to strike a balance between the environmental need to replenish depleted stocks and protect healthy populations and the economic needs of the fishing industry. Although the Commission did not go so far as to fully adopt the recommendations of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which called for a total ban on cod fishing in the seas around Scotland in 2005, the Commission proposal nonetheless calls for restrictions and, in some cases, fishing bans on cod and other species in areas of the North Sea, Katthegat, Skarregak, the eastern English Channel, the west of Scotland and the Irish Sea. The plan also proposes to create restricted TACs for other species and areas in which recovery plans are in the pipeline.

The Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association and Scottish Ministers reacted angrily to the EU proposal, claiming that the scientific justification for the fishing bans is murky at best. "[Previous] proposals on closed areas have already been overtaken by the advice from the Commission’s own technical advisers and fly in the face of representations by the newly formed North Sea Regional Advisory Council," said Scottish Fisheries Minister Ross Finnie. Minister Finnie vowed to fight the proposed regulations, which will be considered at the EU Council of Ministers on 20-22 December. The European Council of Fisheries Ministers faced similar resistance last year, when proposals from scientists to impose a total catch ban on cod and hake in certain areas resulted after all-night Council meetings in more lenient quotas and a recovery plan (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 22 January 2004)

British Royal Commission slams environmental impacts of fishing

In a new report released on 7 December entitled "Turning the Tide: Addressing the Impact of Fisheries on the Marine Environment", the UK’s Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution delivered a scathing critique of the adverse impacts that commercial fishing activities have on the marine environment. The report focuses on the North East Atlantic area and suggests that activities such as trawling, drift netting, industrial fishing and fish farming have led to overfishing and the collapse of fisheries in many areas. The Commission report forwards a number of recommendations for the fishing industry and policy-makers, including inter alia, the establishment of marine reserves that would be closed for commercial fishing in 30 percent of the UK’s exclusive economic zone.

The Royal Commission, a group of scientific advisers to the British government, are expected to meet with EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg and members of the European parliament’s fisheries and environment committee to discuss the report within the next few weeks.

ICTSD Reporting; "Finnie pledges better fish deal," BBC NEWS, 9 December 2004; "Fisheries News," MERCOPRESS, 13 December 2004; "’Outdated’ fishing plan attacked," BBC NEWS, 8 December; "ACP-EU fisheries relations: executive brief," AGRITRADE, February 2004.