New report condemns EU controversial fisheries policy

A new report paints a "damning" indictment of the EU's controversial common fisheries policy (CFP).

It says the policy has "failed" and suggests that fisheries affairs should, in future, be "repatriated" to member states.

Publication of the own-initiative report by UK member Marta Andreasen comes as debate about the EU's future fisheries policy intensifies.

The commission has launched a consultation period on the policy and is inviting comment from a range of 'stakeholders'.

Andreason's report highlights several "problems" with the CFP, including claims that €1.7bn has been "wasted" since 2002 on vessel decommissioning with "no tangible results".

It also says that some 90 per cent of fish stocks are over fished and that 30 per cent of these over safe biological limits.

The report goes on to claim that 100,000 jobs have been lost in fishing to date.

It concluded, "The future sustainability of fishing in the EU cannot be guaranteed at all.

Malta believes that it is essential that the Proposal’s ambition on the CFP reform regarding the bluefin tuna, should be coupled with a regionalised approach that takes into account the specificity of the fisheries involved, which range from large-scale industrial activities to small-scale artisanal practices that need to be safeguarded.

This specificity excludes a one-size-fits-all solution, especially when it comes to the attainment of goals such as Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) by a specific target date and Transferable Fishing Concessions (TFCs) across the board. In order to avoid unjustified social and economic problems, different timeframes and measures based on the specific ecological, economic, socio-cultural and institutional aspects of each individual fishery are required.

Furthermore, the Government believes that flexibility is also required in efforts at attaining the curtailment of discards. Although Malta is against the squandering of resources associated with discards, by-catch and discard provisions should be crafted in a way to avoid fishery disruptions.

Malta is also against impractical and similarly wasteful solutions such as reducing undersized fish to fish meal. In this regard the Government is also arguing that a fishery-by-fishery approach, achieved through regional multi-annual management plans, should be adopted.