ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (79)687
Vol.1979/0236

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(79)687 final
Brussels ,21th November 1979
/*> '• ^ :-Ar^: nF
fep/i-l-Vr?z •;
v/'x'S7x-*y\/ J . » / v/
CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES
OFTHE COMMON FISHERIES POLICY
(Communication from the Commission tothe Council )
COM (79)687 final

»
COMMUNICATION FROMTHEee?OtI83ie?f TOTHEeOUNGlt
Subject^:Conservation andManagement Objectives oftheCommonFisheries
Policy
1.AttheCouncil (Fisheries )of29October1979theCommission
indicatedthat,inpreparation fortheCouncil(Fisheries )of
3/4December 1979»itwouldprepareproposals containing TACsfor1980,
proposals foramendments toitsexistingdraftRegulation onTechnical
Conservation Measures andsuchothermaterial inadditiontothatalready
beforetheCouncilaswouldfacilitate theCouncilinitsdebateonthe
development oftheCommonFisheries Policy.TheCommission alsoindicated
thatitfeltthatitwasthesenseoftheCouncilthatthisdebateshould
beginwiththeseconservation mattersas,giventheover-exploitation
ofmanyofthestocksinCommunity watersaswellaainwatersshared
bytheCommunity withthirdcountries ,conservation isthenecessary
*
foundation offisheries policy.
ChoiceofTACs
2.Scientific workconducted bytheInternational Councilforthe
Exploration oftheSeaandtheconclusions drawnfromthatbytheCommission 's
Scientific andTechnical Committee forFisheries showthatatpresentmost
fishstocksinCommunity watersfallintooneorotherofthreecategories :
1)thosewhichhavebeensoheavilyfishedthattheyarenotnow
acommercially viableresource (mostherringstocks)}
2)thosewhicharesoheavilyfishedthattheyareindangerof
becomingcommercially non-viable (Manxherringstock,eastern
mackerel stockand,ifpresentfishingratescontinue much
longer,thewesternmackerelstock);
3)thosewhichprovidecommercially viablecatchesbutareheavily
overfished . -*
3.Veryfewstocksareunder-exploited .Tenstocksarebeing
fishedatthelevelofthemaximumsustainable yieldbuttheseareingeneral
thesmallerones.Forexample,itisestimated thatthelong–termaverage
annualsustainable yieldfromthesestocks,outofatotalof26stocks
forwhichTACsarebasedonscientific assessments aslistedinTable1of
theFirstReportoftheScientific andTechnical Committee ,is165,000tonnes
•••/•••

(proposed TACsforI98O=172,160tonnes).Incomparison ,subjectto
restrictions imposed "bymulti-species "biological constraints ,thelong--
termaverageannualyieldfromtheother16stockscouldbeconsiderably
increased .Thus,calculated onastock-by-stockbasis
-thelong-term annualyieldfromthe5stocksforwhichzero
TACsareproposedfor1980,becausetheirspawningstocksize
isatorbelowacriticallevel,couldbemorethanone
milliontonnes;
-thelong-term annualyieldfromthe11stockswhicharelisted
asover-exploited couldbeinexcessof1,200,000 tonnes
comparedwiththeproposed TACsforI98Oof910»000tonnes;
mostofthisincrease wouldderivefromfiveofthesestocks.
4«'Oneofthefeatures ofheavilyexploited stocksisthatthey
containrelatively largenumbersofyoungfishandveryfewoldfish .
(becausesomanyyoungfisharecaughtatanearlyage).Inconsequence ,
thesizeofthestockand,therefore ,ofthecatchesfromitdependupon
thenumberofyoungfishwhichenterthefisheryeachyear.Thisnumber
fluctuates fromyeartoyearandforsomespeciesverymarkedly ,e.g.for
NorthSeahaddockithasvariedinthepastfifteenyearsasmuchasfrom
63millionto6,300million–afactorof100.Thisisreflected inthe
widelyfluctuating TACswhicharerecommended byICESandhavebeenproposed
bytheCommission .Iftheyoungrecruits wereallowedtosurvivetoa
greaterage,withtheresultthatthecatchesdepended uponseveralyear-
classesinsteadofmainlyononeortwoasatpresent,goodyear-classes
wouldbalancepooronesandcatchescouldbemaintained atamuchmorestable
level.Thiscanbeachieved overafewyears,depending uponyear-class
sizes,onlybyareduction intheamountoffishingwhichwouldresultina
highersurvivalrateoffish.Theaverageannualcatchavailable wouldbe
higherfromthepresentover-exploited stocksifsuchrestraint were
exercised now.TheCommission believesthatitiseconomically desirable
tohavestablecatchesfromyeartoyearasthisallowsmorerational
planningforthecatching andmarketing sidesoftheindustry andwouldavoid
alternating periodsofglutandscarcity .

-3-
5«TheCommission hasonanumberofoccasions pointedout.that
aproperandrationalresources management policy,whilstbasedonthe
.bestavailablescientific advice,shouldalsotakeaccountofeconomic,
social,regionalandotheraspectsofthefishingindustry ;theCommission
remainsattachedtotheseconsiderations .However,inthepresentsituation ,
characterised ,bystocksatlevelswhicharenotcommercially viableor
whichareindangerofbecoming soorwhichareover-exploited ,the
availablescientific advicegivesnoleeway *
Management Objectives
6.TheCommission ,therefore ,considers thatmanagement objectives
forstpckswhollywithinCommunity waters,aswellasforjointstocks
whichinvolvenegotiation withrelevantthirdcountries ,shouldbe:
1)totakemeasures whichwillensurethecontinuation ofeach
fishstockasacommercially viableresource ;
2)todecreasethefishingeffortonover-exploited stocksin
ordertoensureyieldswhicharestablefromyeartoyear;
3)toensurehighestpossiblecatchesfromthestocksconsistent
withobjectives (l)and(2).
Tomeettheseobjectives ,inthecircumstances described inparagraphs2-4
preceding ,theCommission issatisfied thatrational management ofthe
resources leavesitnooptionbuttopropose TACstotheCouncilnotgreater
thanthosecontained inDocument
7-TheCommission'sproposals forzeroTACsforcertainstocksareintended
tomeetthefirstobjective .Itisessential toensurethatdepletedstocks
arerevivedandthosewhichareindangerarenotdriventocommercial
extinction .Toavoidthemistakes whichhavebeenmadeinthepastit
isnecessarytoerrforatimeontheside,ofcaution.BoththeAtlanto-
Scandian andNorthSeaherringwerereducedtntheirpresentstatebecause
itwasinsistedthatgreatercatchescouldbetakenfromthestocksthan
thescientific assessment showed.Itwasagreedthattheassessments were
impreciseasaconsequence ofthemethodsbywhichthedata'hadtobeobtained.
Whilethiswastrue,itwouldhavebeene'quallylogicaltoarguethat-catcjiLimits
lowerthantherecommended TACsshouldhavebeenimposed.Similararguments
arealreadybeingmadenowthatsomeofthestocksarebeginningtorecover.
Theriskinvolvedinacceptingtheseargumentsisthattherewillbeare~
petition oftheeventswhichledtothestockcollapsesinthefirstplace.
•••/•*•

MAM*
8.Forover-exploited stocks,,theCommission 'sproposed TACsrepresent astep
towardthesecondobjective ofstableTACsbyreducingfishingeffortonthese
stocks.Forfullyexploited stockstheTACsproposed areintended tomaintain
thestocksatastableyieldlevel.
9.Sometechnical conservation measuresaredesignedtore-inforce zeroTACs,
e.g.by-catch regulations concerning herringinspratcatches.Someare
designed tomeetthethirdobjective .Inthiscategoryarethosetoincrease
theageatwhichfishstarttobecaughtinthefisheryandthusincrease
averagelong-term yields,e.g.meshregulations ,closureofareaswhere
smallfishpredominate .
10.Thethird ,objective takesintoaccountthepossibility ofmulti–species
management whenthescientific "basisforthisismorefirmlyestablished .
Nevertheless ,eveninthepresentstageofknowledge ,theCommission
cansaythatitisnotaxiomatic thatthefishingeffortoneachstock
shouldbereduced ,tothelevelwhichwillattempttogivetheMSYfor
eachstock.
Technical Conservation Measures
11.Consistent withthisgeneralapproachtheCommission hasdrawn
verylargelyonsuggestions madebyitsScientific andTechnical Committee
intheirFirstReportinconnection withitsproposed amendments tothe
draftRegulation ontechnical conservation measures .Ithasnotnecessarily
followedthesesuggestions ineverydetailandinsomecaseshasrelied
onotherrelevant material .
12.Ithasadoptedthesuggestions that?
-thereference tosingleanddoubletwinebeeliminated
andtherelevant Articles andAnnexareconsequently amended
–therebean80mmminimummeshsizefordirectfishingof
hakewithconsequential changesinby™catch provisions
™minimum mashsizesforcertainspeciesofshrimpbeincreased

-formackerel :theminimumlandingsizeforEasternstock
mackerelof30cmbeextendedtocoverfishingforhuman
consumption ;theuseofpurse–seinesandundersized nets
"beforbidden from1Marchto15Novembereachyearinpart
oftheWesternApproaches
-forherring:theretention ofby-catches ofherringinthe
CelticSeabeprohibited
-forNephrops :therebeauniformmeshsizefortheNephrops
fisheries buttheintroduction oftheminimum meshsizeof
70mminICESsub-zone VIIshouldberetardeduntil1January
1983*InthemeantimetheCommission proposesaminimummesh
sizeof60mm.Minimumlandingsizeshouldbeexpressed in
carapucelengthbuttheCommission maintainsitsproposalfor
»
conformity oflandingsizethroughout Community waters
-theuseofpurse-seines onallprotected speciesbe
forbidden
–someminimumlandingsizesbemodified .
13.TheCommission alsointroduces aproposal ,whichdoesnotfigure
intheFirstReport,forbidding theuseoftrawls,purse-seines and
ring-nets duringpartoftheyear,comprised betweenthedatesof1October
and31March,incertainherringnurserygroundsinbaysandlochsonthe
westcoastofScotland.Italsoproposesthatthedateofentryintoforce
ofcertainmeasures bechangedtoabouttwomonthsafterthedateofthe•
Council(Fisheries )of3/4December 1979<inaccordance withthecontents
ofDocument COM(79)635 Finalof8November 1979*
14.TheCommission hasnottakenupthesuggestion madeinthe
FirstReport(i)astotheuseofselective shrimptrawlsasaction
isnotpracticalasyet;and(ii)astohowtomeasuresmallmeshesas
thisisanewmethodwhichneedstobefurthertestedbeforebeing
considered forapermanentregulation .TheCommission alsomaintains ,
inordertoavoidfraud,itsproposalforamaximumby-catchof50$in
theNephropsfishery.

15-TheCommission wishestoemphasise onceagainitswillingness
toreconsider itsproposals inthelightofnewscientific information
"butalsoconsiders thattheintroduction ofnecessary proposals should
not"beheldupmerely "because oneorotherinterest hasfurtherscientific
questions toask.
16.IncertaincasestheCommission has.,atthisstage,refrained
frommakingtechnical proposals concerning waterswhichfallalsowithin
thesovereignty orjurisdiction ofthirdcountries orarestillopen
sea,e.g.Skagerrak andKattegat .Consultations withthethird
countries concerned arenecessary insuchcases.