Dr F Fischler Discussion meeting with the Irish Fisheries Organisations p1of 2

Dr. Franz FISCHLER

Member of the European Commission responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries

Meeting with the Irish Fisheries Organisations
Discussion meeting with the Irish Fisheries Organisations

Dublin, 11 November 2002

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to be in Dublin today to discuss with you the way ahead for our fisheries. I will present to you the Commission's thinking about the latest ICES advice, an improved cod and hake recovery plan and the reform of the CFP.

This is a particularly worrying time for your sector which plays such an important role in the economy of many coastal areas in Ireland.
Like me, you will have been alarmed by the recent scientific advice from ICES, who recommended the closure of cod fisheries in a number of areas, including the Irish Sea and west of Scotland. I know how hard your industry would be hit by a moratorium on these fisheries, as you could no longer catch haddock, whiting, Nephrops or flatfish in these areas, because cod is a by-catch here.

But why has it come to this? Because the way we manage our fisheries is flawed. Yes, we have cut back the TAC's in the past few years, but Member States have not enforced it properly.
On top of overfishing and misreporting our management has allowed discards on a large scale. This has falsified scientific assessment and emptied the sea of the very asset on which your industry depends.

Nobody of us can claim not having known that the way we manage our fisheries has serious shortcomings, because scientists have long been telling us that TAC's and quotas alone don't work. They have said for long that we need to beef up our management with fishing effort. That is exactly what we have proposed already one year ago when we presented our recovery plan for cod and hake. But Ministers have thought time will stand still and used all sorts of excuses not to agree to this plan. But time has not stood still and in the meantime cod has gone from bad to worse. Today the measures we proposed are no longer sufficient to solve the problem.

Now before you criticise me for blaming you alone for the disaster we find ourselves in today, let me make it crystal clear that I acknowledge pollution and rising water temperatures may play a role to. And if anyone of you has a recipe how to decrease our water temperatures in the course of next year then please let me have it. The simple truth is that in the short to medium term we can only act on fishing and this is what we need to do.

So, what do we want to do? The advice from our own scientific and economic committee is clear: the surest way forward is a closure of the cod and associated fisheries.

However I am exploring other options where fishing for cod, haddock, whiting and other stocks could continue on a very limited level, provided that Ministers agree on an improved recovery plan for cod in December.
This plan would include drastic cuts in TAC's and quotas, fishing effort limitations, closed areas and improved controls - but not a moratorium.

Our own scientific and economic committee has accepted that it might be possible to allow reduced fishing under such a plan. But let me be clear: this alternative option will also mean some hardships, as you will be faced with substantial cuts in catches and with effort reduction. I am proposing harsh measures now, because I don't want you to be traumatised later, like the fishing communities of north east Canada have been traumatised ten years ago when cod disappeared for good. In any case we will invite representatives from your industry to come to Brussels on 18 November to consult you on our ideas for an improved recovery plan.

I know of course about the Europeche initiative where fishermen have been asked to compare their catches of cod in 2002 with last year. I am aware that fishermen felt at least in the northern part of the North Sea that was more and bigger cod than in 2001.

The Grandbanks fishermen have made the same observations. They argued they were catching more and more fish and that stocks would recover. Only when it was already too late they realised that with ever improving fishing methods they were catching fish in a part of the Grandbanks where the last cod had concentrated in.

Let us not make the same mistake and claim that the scientists have got it all wrong again. After all Ireland pays for quality scientific advice from ICES, not to just ignore it afterwards. We have far too much to loose!

Again I understand that a harsh cutback in TAC's and fishing effort will drastically affect your fishing industry with economic losses and job losses. This is why, last week, we presented an action plan to help fishermen and their families face the hardship that may result from job losses.

I would like to encourage Ireland to use the measures we have listed in the action plan to alleviate the short-term consequences for those who will be affected by cutting back TAC's and fishing effort.

From 2000 to 2006 Ireland receives 70 million € from Brussels for structural measures.
To date it has foreseen to spend 23 million € for modernisation of vessels. We have proposed that Ireland changes its priorities and reprograms this amount for social measures and for reducing fleet capacity, for specific measures to foster small-scale fishing, to improve living and working conditions on board and to help young fishermen.

One thing is clear: we have been overtaken by the events, which proves that we urgently need a root and branch reform of the CFP. This is our only chance if we want to save our fishing industry in Europe. It is our responsibility to provide healthy economic conditions for those who depend on fishing for their livelihoods. But it is also our responsibility to make a suitable offer to those who want to leave the industry. The measures proposed by the Commission on the reform of the CFP represent the best chance for the future of the industry.

The cod crisis proves how important it is to manage the stocks on a multi-annual basis, which are based on scientific advice and include fishing effort. Just as the scientists, Ministers have graphs too, with job losses on the vertical plane and election dates on the horizontal.