Brussels, 16 July 1999
Commission adopts Communication to integrate Fisheries Management and Nature Conservation in the marine environment
The European Commission has adopted a Communication on Fisheries Management and Nature Conservation in the marine environment. Fisheries activities can affect marine ecosystems, biodiversity and the sustainable use of marine biological resources. The Common Fisheries Policy aims to achieve sustainable fishing, but much has still to be done to meet this objective. European Union (EU) instruments for nature conservation, covering to some extent the marine environment, have not yet been fully implemented. The Communication addresses some of these aspects and is intended to further improve the integration of environment and sustainable development in EU fisheries policy.
In the Communication, which was proposed jointly by Emma Bonino, Fisheries Commissioner, and Ritt Bjerregaard, Environment Commissioner, the Commission identifies some priorities and implementing measures that should benefit from increased co-ordination and coherence between the two policy areas, and that will be complementary and even synergistic to the conservation of fish stocks and to the conservation of marine nature. These measures include:
control of fisheries pressure to benefit commercial stocks and marine ecosystems by :
limitating access to fishing zones, catch levels and the intensity of fishing activities;
- adjustment of fishing capacity to the resources available;
- fixing medium-term management-targets;
improved measures for nature conservation in the marine environment, including:
improved selectivity of fishing gear and more effective monitoring of the implementation of selectivity measures;
- protection of natural habitats or the habitats of species of interest to the EU by the establishment of the Natura 2000 network in coastal areas;
- protection of non-commercial marine species;
- establishment of conservation areas known as 'boxes';
integrated coastal zone management by:
- the follow-up of the demonstration programme already carried out;
improved training, information and transparency:
- training of the professionals in the sectors concerned;
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better communication to the general public;
- the involvement of professional organisations and environmentalist representatives in the consultation processes;
- information and promotion of collaboration between research workers and between them and other interested parties.
greater contribution from scientific research to fisheries management and more account to be taken of the biological impact of fisheries, including :
- financial support for multi-disciplinary research,
- establishment of priorities within the framework of a wide-ranging debate.
The same priorities should also be pursued by the EU in bilateral and multilateral negotiations within the framework of international fisheries management or conservation of the marine environment.
The present Communication does not address all aspects of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) or of the environment policy. Nor is it intended to identify orientations for the review of the CFP, scheduled for 2002.
Upon adoption Emma Bonino said: "The European Council in Cologne invited the Fisheries Council to look more closely at the integration of fisheries and environemental matters. I strongly endorse this request. By putting forward our Communication, we are giving the Council a good basis for starting discussions." Ritt Bjerregaard added: "Fisheries management and nature conservation have a common interest in preserving the marine ecosystem. Hence there is a need for better co-ordination and coherence between the two policy areas. It also shows that the protection of natural resources and economic interests are not contradictory objectives. It is time to eliminate overfishing and to ensure that fisheries managers take into account life and biodiversity in the oceans. Similarly pollution and all other negative human impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems must be key targets for actions and strong environmental integration."
Background
The long-term maintenance of fisheries as an economically sustainable activity requires rational and precautionary management. Overexploitation of fish stocks leads to reduction in the size of stocks, often to the level at which there is an economic decline of the fisheries concerned. Depending on the level of overexploitation, this may also result in the stocks being unable to replenish themselves by reproduction. Many stocks, both within EU waters and beyond, are currently overexploited.
Furthermore, fisheries activities can have a significant impact on marine habitats (e.g. effects of trawling on seabed) and on marine species that are of no commercial interest to fishermen (e.g. bycatches of seabirds in longline fisheries).
Therefore, fisheries management and nature conservation in the marine environment share a common objective: to safeguard marine ecosystems and ensure responsible use of living marine resources as part of sustainable development. Measures designed to reduce and ultimately eliminate overexploitation of fish stocks will be of long term benefit not only to the fisheries sector, but also to the ecosystems to which these fish stocks belong.
The European Council at its meeting in Cologne in June called upon the Fisheries Council to report back in 2000 on the integration of the environmental and sustainable development dimension into the Common Fisheries Policy. This Communication may serve as a discussion document for further analysis of the "integration" issue.
