Linda McAvan: To keep fish on plates, we must protect stocks

This crucial change, courtesy of the Lisbon Treaty, gives MEPs the opportunity to work with ministers from the 27 member countries to reform what has long been one of the EU’s most controversial policies. There are few advocates of keeping the CFP as it is; the fishing industry remains in decline while fish stocks for many species remain significantly below healthy levels.

This is not to say the CFP is completely to blame but it has been clear for some time it has not been successful in ensuring abundant stocks while providing a sustainable livelihood for fishermen. According to European Commission figures, 72 per cent of all EU fish stocks are estimated to be over fished, posing a real threat to the long term availability of fish in our seas.

For this reason, the European Commission has now put on the table a new draft law for a major overhaul of the fisheries policy. The most eye-catching change for many was the plan to end the current, hugely unpopular, policy of discards. Brought to wider public attention by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s documentary and accompanying “Fish Fight” Campaign, the practice of dumping dead fish back into the sea by fisherman who have already caught their quota rightly caused outrage for its monumental waste and futility. Proposed changes will mean fishermen must land whatever fish they catch. However, ending discards alone will not tackle the problem of how to rejuvenate fish stocks and will certainly not result in the EU meeting its target to ensure all fish species are at sustainable levels by 2015, a position the UK government must continue to support.

Consequently one of the most crucial reforms will be how fishing quotas are set. In the past, scientists provided recommended levels of fishing to the Commission but it was up to ministers of national governments to negotiate and set quotas themselves.

Desperate to protect their national fishing industry, quotas consistently exceeded recommended sustainability levels, by as much as 40 per cent according to research from the Commission.

Bigger quotas for short-term economic gain are clearly not an effective method of protecting fishing stocks or the fishing industry. To stop overfishing, the draft law emphasises the importance of scientific input into the setting of quotas, but other measures may be needed.

One idea is a legal cap on quotas so that they are equal to or lower than recommended scientific levels. The United States has already successfully implemented a similar method and has been rewarded with the recovery of fish stocks much faster than anticipated.

Another welcome proposed change to how quotas are managed is the introduction of Multi Annual Plans (MAPs) for the recovery and management of specific species.

The idea is that MAPs will secure greater long-term thinking and will result in a more regional and flexible approach. It also offers the potential for a greater commitment to Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas.

Something that we want to encourage is closer co-operation between fishermen and scientists, making it easier to recognise which species are plentiful and which are struggling and then adapting quotas appropriately. The current system also needs reform to encourage boats to catch their hauls responsibly by rewarding only boats are who opt to fish sustainably. Changes in technical standards can help: for example by using more selective nets, normally with bigger or specially designed holes, so that fewer undersized or juvenile fish will be caught, giving them a chance to repopulate our seas.

The new CFP is timetabled to come into existence in 2013 but before that happens, ministers from the 27 EU member countries and the European Parliament must all reach agreement.

No one is pretending the talks are going to be easy: opinions differ on how much emphasis should be put on sustainability and talks will come at a time when every country is wary of job losses. Yet, if we are to continue enjoying fish on our plates, then we must act now to ensure the recovery of stocks so that in years to come our fishing industry can prosper.

Here in Yorkshire and the Humber, we can see the evidence of the struggles the fishing industry has faced in our own shrunken fleet. Stocks have declined dramatically since the second world war and fishing communities have had to find new ways of generating income.

Consumers in Britain are already starting to do their bit by pushing retailers to stock only sustainable fish and by eating a wider variety of fish. As policy-makers, we will work hard to reform the CFP since without an emphasis on sustainability there is little hope for a fishing industry in the future.

• Linda McAvan is a Labour MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber.