EC plans tough new measures to save cod stocks

With cod stocks dwindling ever further, the European Commission tabled new plans today to save the dinner favourite from commercial extinction.

Despite the imposition of new catch cuts every year, cod stocks stand at about half of the minimum acceptable rate to keep the stocks from collapsing and less than a fourth of safe fishing levels.

“There is a need for urgent measures because cod is threatened with extinction,” said EU Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler. He added that cod stocks in popular fishing grounds in the North Sea Skagerrak and around Britain were already in “catastrophic circumstances.”

Instead of the annual cuts in catch quotas, Fischler now seeks to introduce long-term measures, but insisted it might take up to a decade before cod fishing reached sustainable levels again.

Fishermen oppose measures which cut too deep into quotas and the time they can spend at sea, arguing it would sink an industry which is already in crisis.

Yet Fischler will be asking the EU fisheries minister to adopt his plan, which calls for continued low catch quotas, limits on fishing and tougher controls.

“This will mean hardship for many in the industry,” Fischler said, and insisted the EU’s 200,000 fishermen would be able to count on EU aid during the crisis years. The industry now loses some 8,000 jobs a year.

Many fishermen have called for long-term planning away from annual catch quotas since it would allow them to better prepare for the future.

After the recovery plan for cod, Fischler also plans similar projects for hale, sole and haddock in key fishing grounds.

Last December, the EU ministers were able to stave of a fishing ban on cod at the last minute, countering scientific advise. At the same time, they agreed on unprecedented reform of the fishing industry to protect stocks.

The Commission blames inadequate management of fish stocks, lack of government monitoring of fish catches and too much intensive fishing for too few fish for the current plight.

Now it says the new long-term approach to the running of the much-maligned Common Fisheries Policy is the answer.

“This approach demonstrates our resolve to take tough but indispensable decisions to safeguard the future of our cod fleets.” said Mr Fischler.

“I know that this will mean hardship for many in the industry, but millions of euros in EU support are available to help the troubled whitefish sector. I call on member states to make use of this aid.”

But the cash is little comfort to fishermen determined to stay at sea and maintain a traditional industry.

One major reason for the state of cod stocks is the problem of mixed fishing, when several species are caught together. Even when the agreed cost quota is used up, cod continue to be caught as a “by-catch” and either landed illegally or thrown back dead.

Tougher enforcement measures are part of the answer, says the Commission and officials in Brussels have been careful to consult the fishing industry in detail before producing today’s proposals.

The hope is that the industry will be more accepting of the need for belt-tightening in future if fishermen themselves have played a key part in deciding the state of stocks and the figures on which fish catch limits are based.

The next stage is to win approval from EU fisheries ministers, who will consider the plan at talks in Brussels later this month.