NFFO Welcomes European Parliament Vote but Warns about Practical Implementation Issues

“The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisation has welcomed the vote today in the European Parliament as a step towards a more rational and effective fisheries policy. However, it warned that the history of the CFP has been littered with well intentioned pieces of legislation that have failed because insufficient attention had been paid to how the measures could be implemented. How political aspirations are translated into meaningful and achievable measures should now become the focus, as the Parliament, member states and the European Commission enter discussions on the final shape of the new Common Fisheries Policy.

As with any large legislative package, there is good and bad in the compromise text. For us, the key to a more effective fisheries policy is the decentralisation of decision-making to the regional seas level. It is only at this scale that management measures can be tailored to the fleets and fisheries involved and adaptive management can hope to work. We always recognised that there would be a discard ban in some form or other within this reform. The real issue however concerns the practical issues of applying such a policy at the level of each individual fishery. The European Parliament now has a mandate to begin discussions with the other European institutions. We hope that rhetoric and grandstanding will be left behind as the talks focus on the real outstanding issues.”

Barrie Deas, Chief Executive, National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations