Management of the fishing fleet needs modernising

On 12 April 2023, the fifth Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum took place in Estonia, the central theme of which was the need to limit the fishing fleet within the framework of modern fisheries management. Held in Tallinn, the forum saw the European Commission, policy makers, experts in the field, operators, and researchers from countries bordering the Baltic Sea and elsewhere sharing their views and experiences.

In the European Union, the basic regulation of the Common Fisheries Policy establishes ceilings on the shing capacity of the marine eet of each Member State. is does not take into account the measures and special sheries management put in place in various regions, let alone in the individual Member States, to protect sh resources. At the same time, the current technical condition of the shing eet, age, shing methods, and eet segments vary from one Member State to another. At the forum, it was noted that the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy—to ensure the sustainable exploitation of sh resources— could be achieved taking into account regional speci cities and valid sheries management measures in the di erent regions.

How the shaping of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy has led to a point where, on the one hand, it is necessary to deal with the limitation of shing activities by means of shing quotas and controlling catches and, on the other hand, it is important to regulate the shing capacity of the European Union’s shing eet, requires us to take a look into the past.

A brief history of the CFP

The Common Fisheries Policy first began in 1983, with the entry into force of a corresponding Regulation of the Council of Europe. It essentially created a system for the conservation and management of fish resources. The original objective of the Common Fisheries Policy was to ensure the protection and balanced use of fishing grounds and biological marine resources under sustainable economic and social conditions. For the sustainable management of fish resources, total allowable catches and quotas were set. At that time, the main topic was the increase in production capacities, through which as much food as possible could be supplied to the population. Before the foundation was laid for the Common Fisheries Policy, it was customary to encourage the modernisation and renewal of the fleet through various support mechanisms. This, in turn, led to a 60 increase in fleet capacity. As time went on, the conclusion was reached that fish resources were not unlimited and that the fleet, which grew with the aid of support mechanisms, had a direct impact on fish resources. At the same time, an immediate restriction on fishing would have had an impact on the profits and livelihoods of a fishing fleet that had already grown in size. Significant expenditures had been made on acquiring and maintaining a new fleet, and therefore the investments made in the renewal of the European Union’s fleet had to somehow justify themselves. This was also one of the main reasons why the set total allowable catches were higher than would have been optimal to ensure the sustainable management of fish resources. A sharp fall in catches would, in turn, have negative consequences for operators. However, even after the introduction of the Common Fisheries Policy, support for fleet renewal and modernisation continued. Even though one of the objectives set by the Member States was the reduction of the fleet, by the end of the 1980s the kilowatt capacities of the entire European Union fishing fleet decreased by approximately 2. e new Common Fisheries Policy, which entered into force in 1993, set an even more ambitious goal for the reduction of the shing eet, and the resulting e ects were intended to be mitigated by structural assistance measures. Support was paid both for the scrapping of vessels as well as the shermen who lost their jobs on board a vessel that had been removed from shing. At the same time, support for the modernisation of the eet continued at its own pace. e reform provided for a reduction in shing capacity by 20 for demersal species and 15 for pelagic species. In reality, the reform managed a reduction of 15 for demersal species and 10 for pelagic species. e reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, introduced in 2014 and currently in force, must ensure the long-term environmental, economic and social sustainability of the shing and aquaculture sectors. e aim is to bring the exploitation of sh resources up to the maximum sustainable yield, which would ensure the natural regenerative capacity and preservation of sh resources. e aim of adapting the capacity of the shing eet to meet shing rights is to ensure the economic sustainability of shing vessels.

The 2003 reform provided for the establishment of multi-year recovery plans, which laid down rules on how fishing quotas were to be agreed upon in the European Union, which would take greater account of the state of fish resources and scientific recommendations. With the newer reform, the provision of support for the construction of new fishing vessels was abandoned, while the possibility of modernising the engines of existing vessels was retained, and support became even more active for scrapping the fleet. The European Fisheries Control Agency was established, which made it possible to step up controls.

In Estonia, vessel owners take their own economic decisions

At the Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum, it was acknowledged that today the management of the European Union’s shing eet has become outdated in an era of modern sheries management, particularly in sheries management regulated by individual shing quotas. Cited as an example was the reform of the allocation of Estonian shing rights, where the shing quotas allocated to Estonia by a regulation of the European Union are allocated to operators as individual transferable shing opportunities. Although Estonia has also used a support measure for the scrapping of the shing eet to reduce its shing eet, in the last 20 years the number of shing vessels in the open part of the Estonian Baltic Sea has decreased from 153 to 25 vessels, of which more than 60 of the vessels have been removed from shing by operators without support. us, over time, operators active in the shing sector have been able to take their own economic decisions in order to bring their eet into line with the allowable catch allocated to each operator.

In a situation where the sustainable exploitation of sh resources is ensured by limiting the allowable catch, then, in terms of the sustainable use of sh resources, it does not matter how many vessels are used to harvest the allowable catch. Since the maintenance of each vessel entails costs for the operator, the operators themselves keep their eet at such a size so as to keep the costs as low as possible and to earn the highest possible pro t.

Restrictions on the fleet size are superfluous

An ageing fleet and the current policy of regulating the fishing capacity of the fishing fleet serve as a limiting factor to making the fishing fleet more energy-efficient, which would also reduce dependence on fossil fuels being used.

e harvesting of sh resources regulated at the European Union level is limited in the Baltic Sea by total allowable catches and each Member State is allocated a national shing quota, which in turn is shared in one way or another between the persons holding shing rights in the Member States. e forum recognised that in the case of such sheries management there is no need to impose further restrictions on the size of the shing eet, as the sustainable exploitation of sh resources is ensured by the total allowable catch.

Eduard Koitmaa, Fisheries Economics Department, Estonian Ministry of Rural A airs, Eduard.Koitmaa@agri.ee

International Conference on Aquaculture, 29-31 March, Vukovar