Fishing cuts likely as cod stocks dwindle

Fishermen are braced for another round of devastating cuts in the name of conservation today, as the annual haggling over catches gets under way in Brussels.

Up to three days of talks will be required to thrash out the ever-dwindling share of dangerously-depleted stocks the fleets will be allowed to catch next year.

The European Commission has stopped short of recommending a total ban on cod fishing in the the North Sea, Irish Sea and off the west coast of Scotland, despite the advice of experts.

But the alternative plan on the table – another round of deep cuts in permitted catches and more vessel lay-offs – is almost as bad for fishing fleets suffering from years of enforced belt-tightening.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) says nothing short of closure of key fishing grounds will do after years of failed conservation schemes which have not led to the promised revival of stocks.

But EU fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler – normally a stickler for the scientific advice – says closure is too tough for fishing communities to stand.

Instead, he says, they must accept a new fisheries recovery plan involving drastic reductions of up to 65% in annual permitted catches for species such as hake and sole, and further limits on the number of days vessels can stay at sea.

Fishermen are pleading that existing recovery programmes, introduced in 2000, should be given more time to work before another round of devastating catch cutbacks is considered:

The Commission has long blamed EU governments for insisting on fish catch quotas as much as a third higher higher than recommended by ICES in the annual fisheries haggling that has characterised the Common Fisheries Policy for many years.

Fishermen, too, have been blamed for exceeding the catch quotas which are agreed, thanks to inadequate policing at sea.

Mr Fischler has ordered brief closures for prime fishing grounds in the past in a bid to let dwindling stocks recover.

But even though he now has all the scientific back-up he needs to propose the “nuclear” option and ban fishing altogether on conservation grounds, his plans are to allow fishing with tougher controls on over-fishing.

A key issue is to enable fishermen to continue fishing plentiful stocks, such as North Sea haddock, while sparing the “by-catch” of cod they accidentally take in their nets.

Britain's Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw, facing his first EU fisheries marathon, has been taking soundings from UK fishing communities, warning that the ICES report must be taken seriously if UK fishing is to remain sustainable and profitable.

He says the aim is to ensure that fishing continues “at a viable level“.

Only two member states were taking what one EU official called the “purist” view as the talks began: Germany and Sweden believe cod fishing grounds should be shut as the only way to deliver stock recovery.

But Mr Bradshaw and his colleagues are looking for ways of capitalising on available fish without destroying what little cod is left in EU waters.

The UK is likely to stick to the Commission’s proposed quotas, while pressing for other member states to shoulder their share of vessel decommissioning and reduced days at sea.

The World Wildlife Fund warned against the usual compromises: “The future of Europe’s fish stocks depends on ending unrealistic and politically-driven fish quotas, the main cause of the current fisheries crisis.

“Short-term political dealing is not the answer to the long-term recovery of fish stocks,” said Charlotte Mogensen, WWF’s EU Fisheries Policy Officer.

SNP Euro-MP Ian Hudghton (correct) said the talks were vital to the future of the Scottish fishing industry.

He said the British government had to fight to separate out the plight of cod stocks from the healthy state of haddock.

“North Sea haddock stocks are at a 30-year high – it would simply confirm the madness of the Common Fisheries Policy to deny Scottish fishermen access to this catch. Our fishing communities deserve far better.”