The Commission adopted a report on Member States'
efforts during 2013 to achieve a sustainable balance between
fishing capacity and fishing opportunities
To recall, under the new Common Fisheries Policy,
Member States have to take measures to adjust the fishing capacity
of their fleet to their fishing opportunities over time with the
objective of achieving a stable and enduring balance between them.
The capacity of the individual Member States may not increase, due
to the entry-exit regime, and must always remain under the fixed
capacity ceilings
Member States have to prepare an annual report on
the fishing capacity. If a Member State identifies a structural
imbalance, it has to prepare and submit an action plan for
the segments concerned, setting out the adjustment targets, tools
and a clear timeframe for its implementation. In 2014 the
Commission received from Member States six action plans.
Discussions are ongoing with some other Member States who have not
set out action plans.
The state of the fishing fleet
capacity: the report notes that
overall, fleet capacity has been further reduced in recent
years. However, in some segments imbalances remain:
- between 1 July 2013 and 1 January 2015 the fishing
capacity of the EU 28 Member States decreased by 1,1 % in
kilowatts (KW) and increased by 0.3 % in gross tonnage (GT).
This increase can be explained by the accession of Croatia in 2014.
Not counting the Croatian fleet, the EU fishing capacity was
reduced by 4% in GT and by 3.3% in engine power (KW) in the period
2012-beginning 2015, with a reduction in the number of vessels by
3.9;
- on 1 January 2014, 86.879 vessels were registered in
the EU fleet register with an overall capacity of 1.658.033 GT and
6.573.806 KW. This shows a reduction since 2012 of 7.8% in
number of vessels, 1.6% in GT and 5.4 % in KW.
Observations and conclusions: on the basis of the reports from 23 coastal Member
States and after assessing the analysis of the Scientific,
Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF), the
Commission makes the following observations:
- Member States’ reports show steady
progress is being made towards achieving a balance between
fishing capacity and fishing opportunities for the whole of the EU
fleet. Only six Member States have identified fleet segments with
structural overcapacity. These imbalances need to be
addressed. Other Member States have not set out action plans
whilst the results of the assessment of their fleets would normally
lead to the establishment such plans;
- the ex-ante conditionality between the annual fishing
fleet capacity reports of the Member States and European
Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) financial assistance
represents a significant element in the new CFP to contribute to
achieving a healthy and sustainable balance between the capacity of
EU fleets and their fishing opportunities;
- the action plans are a
transparent and effective means in the pursuit of the balance
between the fishing fleet capacity and the fishing opportunities
over time. For the fleet segments concerned some Member States
choose to use the instrument of decommissioning with public aid,
while others hope to address the structural imbalances through
other mechanisms (such as individual transferable
quotas);
- given the fact that under EMFF public support for
permanent cessation schemes are phased out by end 2017, Member
States should utilise the decommissioning support in a targeted
way, for segments for which Member States have identified
structural overcapacity on the basis of balance indicators
provided in the Commission guidelines;
- the analysis by STECF of the Member States' reports
shows that some fleet segments are active on stocks that are
currently fished above maximum sustainable yield (MSY). To
enable adjustments, Member States need to continue monitoring the
fishing capacity of their fleets in order to achieve viable fleets
that operate and exploit sustainably marine biological
resources;
- due to lack of data, the analysis by STECF shows that
not in all cases the indicators included in the Commission
guidelines could be calculated for all fleet
segments;
- in many Member States the percentage of inactive
vessels is significant, reaching 50 % in the most extreme
cases.
Considering the dynamic nature of both the fishing
activities of the Union fleets, and of the resources which are
exploited, and given the low level of vessel utilization, the
Commission considers that it remains important to monitor closely
the fleet capacity developments in light of the fish resources and
the policy measures related to them.