2012: Opportunity for Change

2012: Opportunity for Change

European Union Common Fisheries Policy Reform

(If you are new to the EU CFP, read EU Fisheries Policy first )

In 2009, the EU Commission launched a wide-ranging debate on the way EU fisheries are managed, to which EU citizens, organizations and member states have submitted their input. The Commission published a Green Paper with the results of consultation in 2011, and its reform proposals in 2012.

The CFP reform proposal comes as part of a package that includes measures on the EU’s domestic and external fisheries policy, common market rules and a new financial instrument. The European Commission proposal undergoes the review of Council, and, for the first time, is subject to co-decision with Parliament. If successful, the EU policy could become a global model for secure fisheries, for fish, fishermen, and consumers.

Most recently, EU Ministers reached a general compromise on CFP reform on June 13, 2012, but fail to agree on ambitious targets, delaying the end of European overfishing.

The CFP reform is an opportunity to restore our ecosystems and rebuild European fisheries that are environmentally sustainable, and socially and economically viable.

In 2012 MEDASSET joined OCEAN2012: a coalition of 166 organizations across Europe dedicated to transforming European Fisheries Policy to stop overfishing, end destructive fishing practices and deliver fair and equitable use of healthy fish stocks

OCEAN2012's VISION FOR A RADICAL REFORM:

"We stand for a CFP reform that:

recovers the well‐being of our seas and dependent fishing communities;
ends overfishing and makes the shift towards environmentally sustainable fishing practices, regardless of whether vessels fish within or outside the EU;
respects scientific advice and the limits of the ecosystem;
applies precautionary and ecosystem‐based fisheries management;
delivers fair and equitable use of marine resources;
can supply Europe’s consumers with a rich variety of locally‐caught fish now and into the future; and
uses public funds as part of the solution and not as a driver of overfishing."

In particular, OCEAN2012 supports a discard ban to discourage bycatch in the first place. Fishermen receive compensation, equal to a small proportion of the bycatch’s market value, in order to avoid profiting from discards of unwanted or unsustainable catches, while still shunning unnecessary wastage of marketable fish. Additionally, technical fixes (turtle exclusion devices, circle hooks, etc.) and better bycatch policy can reduce the amount of unwanted catches hauled up from the ocean in the first place. A discard ban would also drastically improve scientists’ ability to track our oceans’ health, with a reliable record of fisheries impact on populations and ecosystems.

For more information on this coalition’s actions within CFP reform, please visit OCEAN2012.

Politicians are responsible for making the decisions that will end overfishing; citizens have the responsibility to encourage and support them in making these decisions. European Fish Weeks is your opportunity to have your say. EU fisheries can be fixed and you can be part of the solution. Make your voice heard by getting involved in Fish Weeks activities near you. Events are listed in our events section (on a Google map).

You can also organise your own event and create a human fish shape to end overfishing. For some creative ideas on what to do, download the fish shape and description.

Check our news section for events organised by MEDASSET.

OCEAN2012 was initiated and is co-ordinated by the Pew Environment Group, the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organisation working to end overfishing in the world´s oceans. The steering group of OCEAN2012 consists of the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements, Ecologistas en Acción, The Fisheries Secretariat, nef (new economics foundation), the Pew Environment Group and Seas At Risk.

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