The European Parliament has passed a sweeping fishery policy reform bill, to the delight of environmental groups and the European Commission (EC), which hailed it as a step toward responsible fishing in Europe.
The law, which reformed the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), passed by a vote of 502 to 137, with 27 abstentions. According to the Parliament's website, the current CFP, which dates back to 2002, doesnt take current scientific data and projections, and thus permits overfishing of critically low stocks.
According to figures from the European Commission, 80% of Mediterranean fish stocks, and 47% of Atlantic stocks are overfished. Rapporteur Ulrike Rodust, who drafted the new CFP, said it will address this problem. The policy still needs the endorsement of various fisheries ministers within the EU to finalize it. The reformed CFP, barring further opposition, will take effect next year.
"We have shown today that the European Parliament is anything but toothless," Rodust said. "We have used our power as a co-legislator, for the first time in fisheries policy, to put a stop to overfishing. Fish stocks should recover by 2020, enabling us to take 15 million metric tons more fish, and create 37,000 new jobs."
Among other reforms, the new CFP will:
* Oblige fishing vessels to land all catches in accordance with a schedule of specific dates for different fisheries, starting from2014, in order to reduce discarded fish that will usually die in the ocean.
* Set limits, starting in 2015, on quotas set by E.U. member states, preventing them from setting quotas that are too high to be sustainable.
* Rely on multi-annual fish stock management plans, allowing for long-term planning of fishery management.
The vote drew applause from the EC, including Maria Damanaki, commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries.
"I welcome the vote and I am especially pleased with the Parliament's support for a policy that is based on exploiting fisheries resources sustainably (according to the principle of
Maximum Sustainable Yield from 2015), a policy that introduces a discard ban with clear dates to put an end to wasteful practices that we can no longer afford," Damanaki said.
Environmental conservation groups echoed Damanaki's sentiments.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in a statement, noted the new policy reform includes all the key elements of the WWF's "wish list."
"This is a triumph especially in these times of crisis and despite strong opposition from certain politicians with unsustainable industry interests," said Roberto Ferrigno, WWF's
common fisheries policy project coordinator in Europe. "It's clear after this vote that it is a political priority to shape up EU fisheries and provide long-term stability to fishing
communities, fishermen and businesses and the marine environment they depend on."
Saskia Richartz, Greenpeace's E.U. fisheries policy director, also praised the parliament's vote, and spoke out against the Spanish and French governments, which Greenpeace maintains have fought against reform measures in the past.
"This vote signals a momentous shift away from overfishing and is a testament to parliament's resolve to defend the general interest," Richardtz said. "National governments that stand in the way of reform, like Spain and France, will find it increasingly hard to act as proxies for a handful of powerful companies, with no concern for the long-term wellbeing of the oceans or the majority of fishermen."
Support also came from within the industry. Johan Kvalheim, director of the Norwegian Seafood Council for the UK and France, acknowledged that stricter rules banning discards and setting upper limits on quotas would be difficult for the seafood industry throughout Europe. But Norway put similar rules into place in the 1980s to control its cod and haddock stocks, and today the Norwegian fishing industry is better for it. "We took huge steps to turns things around, and now most Norwegian fishermen would say to their European counterparts that these drastic measures did pay off," he said.
