Pessimism about new EU fisheries policy
"Coming up with a new EU fisheries policy that works well will be a major challenge. The current Common Fisheries Policy has so many shortcomings that it's hard not to be pessimistic," Professor Jesper Raakjær of the University of Aalborg, a specialist in EU fisheries policy, told a meeting of Nordic ministers in Iceland.
- Photographer
- Patrik Edman
Revision of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is high on the agenda for the summer meeting of the Nordic ministers responsible for agriculture, forestry, fisheries and food in Isafjordur, north-west Iceland, on Thursday and Friday.
The Professor Raakjær stressed that structural problems inherent in the current policy have encouraged overfishing, fleets with too great a capacity due to a distorted funding system and low levels of profitability. He did, however, go on to mention possible improvements. All EU agencies are under pressure to live up to the principles of good governance, for example, and the stipulation that the cost of the CFP must be reduced will necessitate institutional reform.
He also called for regionalisation of the CFP, pointing out that the delegation of responsibility for certain issues from Brussels would also make it easier for the fishing nations of Iceland and Norway to contemplate joining the Union.
Sweden's Minister of Agriculture, Eskil Erlandsson, who is currently responsible for EU fisheries issues during the Swedish Presidency of the Union, stressed that revising the CFP is one of his top priorities.
"Decisions should be taken as close to the people affected by them as possible. We must move away from micro-management at central level – regionalisation is the way forward," he said.
Erlandsson also criticised the current system of subsidies, which acts as a hindrance to a much needed reduction in fleet capacity.
The Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Halldór Ásgrímsson, and Director Reinhard Priebe of the EU Commission's Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries also took part in the debate.
"We know that fisheries management in Europe is complex and requires decentralisation. But before talking about organisational structures, we need to discuss which issues it is feasible to decentralise," Priebe commented.
Another major problem in Europe is discard, i.e. throwing unwanted fish back.
"Huge amounts of fish are wasted because of discard. EU fisheries policy should include a ban on the practice," said the Norwegian fisheries minister, Helga Pedersen.
The Danish food minister Eva Kjer Hansen suggested installing surveillance cameras on fishing boats to help deal with the problem.
This spring, the EU Commission presented its Green Paper for a new CFP to come into force in 2013. The Nordic Council of Ministers is actively seeking to influence the process, e.g. by presenting successful Nordic models that might serve as inspiration to the European Union. The Nordic nations have a good reputation for fisheries management and come out top in international comparisons year after year.
