New European Common Fisheries Policy

Mid December 2013 the European Parliament approved the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. The focus of the reform is the reduction of European fish stocks to sustainable levels. The policy aims to reshape the fisheries and aquaculture sector in order to create a sector that is sustainable in all dimensions (ecological, economic and social). An evaluation of the, in 2002 reformed, Fisheries Policy carried out in 2009-2010 showed very clearly that multiple aspects of the program were not met and that a new reform was imperative. There were too much discards, an imbalance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities, higher quota than scientifically advised and a lack of information of certain stocks. In recent years, fishermen, scientists and policy makers were too often confronted with inadequate integration of separate opinions, the lack of ecosystem considerations, a moderate follow up of the rules and low profitability and resilience of the sector.
To meet this demand, Europe has formulated detailed objectives. More coherence between different policy objectives was ensured. For instance, the reformed fisheries policy states that all fish stocks should be fished according to the principle of 'maximum sustainable yield' by 2020. Also aquaculture activities should be developed according to sustainable standards. On top of that, the landing obligation, the new market and control regulations, the rules for the involvement of all stakeholders, the regionalization of fisheries policy and the development of a new financial instrument essential elements of the reformed policy. This includes embedding the data collection in the whole process, which captures the information that each Member State must collect. Only so the impact of exploitation on entire ecosystems can be given the necessary attention over several years.
Link: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/index_en.htm