Sustainable Fisheries

There is worldwide concern about the consequences of intensive fishing at sea. Many species of fish are being overfished. EU policy to combat overfishing in European waters is directed at the 'sustainable management' of marine life, taking account of both environmental and economic interests. We investigated whether the Netherlands was succeeding in implementing and enforcing EU fisheries policy and whether the sustainability goals were being achieved.

Conclusions

The Netherlands is not fulfilling its ambitions of protecting fish stocks and biodiversity in the North Sea. Economic interests take precedence in policy decisions. Both the economic position of the fishing industry and the ecological condition of the North Sea suffer as a result. Four factors play a role:

(1) EU policy on catch quotas is ineffective. The policy is directed solely at maintaining species of fish that are sold for consumption and takes no account of the undesirable impact on the ecosystem. The loss of fish species through overfishing can disrupt the food chain. In consequence, other animal species (porpoises, birds) become endangered or their numbers increase excessively. The EU goal of conserving fish stocks at a sustainable level is not always achieved. This is because of negotiation processes and economic lobbying in Brussels. As a result, there is an upward bias in the catch quotas for some species of fish and fish stocks dwindle to below the minimum level. The overfishing problem is aggravated by fishermen discarding fish (i.e. returning them to the sea dead) if they are not of the right species or size. This is encouraged by the quota policy preventing catches being landed if the quota is exceeded. The discard problem has been on the EU agenda for decades but an effective answer has still not been found.

(2) Compliance with and enforcement ofregulations are under pressure. The enforcement capacity formally satisfies EU regulations but there are shortcomings in practice. There is large-scale evasion of the rules by fishermen. A further complication is that the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) has not taken a decision on the required compliance rate. There is therefore no criterion to assess the adequacy of enforcement capacity.

(3) Innovations in fishing methodscould reduce damage to the North Sea. Although the problems and the potential solutions have been known for many years, innovation policy did not get off the ground until 2007, partly on account of rising fuel prices.

(4) Rationalisation of the fishing industrywould help the industry remain profitable despite the catch quotas. Although the Dutch cutter fleet has fallen in number since 1994, it is uncertain how effective the rationalisation has been. In practice, contraction of the fleet does not improve the profitability of the remaining vessels as intended. This is because the rationalised vessels retain their fishing rights and the remaining vessels buy or rent them. Despite the rationalisation, the declining annual quota is therefore shared among just as many vessels.

Recommendations

At national level, measures should be taken to protect biodiversity in the North Sea. The Minister of LNV should also actively encourage innovation in the fishing industry. She should also take a decision on the optimal size of the sea fishing fleet in relation to the catch quotas. Furthermore, she should set a required compliance rate in order to decide on the necessary enforcement capacity.

At EU level, the Minister should bring pressure to bear in Brussels to coordinate fisheries policy, nature policy and water policy. The Minister should also call at European level for an amendment of the regulations on landing fish in order to address the discard problem. In other areas, European rules should be simplified in order to increase fishermen's willingness to comply with them.

Response of the Minister

The Minister of LNV takes most of our conclusions and recommendations to heart. She does not accept our recommendations on the required enforcement capacity and optimal fleet size.

Current status

The report was submitted to the House of Representatives on 30 October 2008.