Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Report on the implementation of the 'Statement of conclusions from the intermediate ministerial meeting on the integration of fisheries and environmental issues 13-14 March 1997 in Bergen'
Date: 1998-05-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Norway, common fisheries policy, environmental protection, fishery management, ministerial meeting

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 19.05.1998 
COM(1998) 326 final 

»  \ 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

REPORT  ON  THE  IMPLEMENTATION  OF  THE  "STATEMENT  OF 
CONCLUSIONS FROM THE INTERMEDIATE MINISTERIAL MEETING ON 
THE INTEGRATION  OF FISHERIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL  ISSUES 13-14 
MARCH 1997 IN BERGEN" 

COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION  TO  THE  COUNCIL  AND 
THE EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT 

REPORT  ON  THE  IMPLEMENTATION  OF  THE  "STATEMENT  OF 
CONCLUSIONS  FROM  THE INTERMEDIATE  MINISTERIAL  MEETING  ON 
THE  INTEGRATION  OF FISHERIES  AND  ENVIRONMENTAL  ISSUES  13-14 
MARCH  1997 IN BERGEN" 

1. Introduction 

This  report  does  not  elaborate  on  the  sections  of  the  Statement  of  Conclusions  called 
Guiding  Principles,  Management  objectives  and  Strategies.  This  report  deals  with 
the  section  called  Actions,  which  makes  up  the  larger  part  of  the  Statement  of 
Conclusions  and  which  most directly  addresses  the competent  authorities. This report is 
concerned  with  actions  taken  at  Community  level,  it  does  not  contain  information  on 
action  taken by individual  Member States. 

2.  Rebuilding  or maintenance of spawning stock  biomass 
(Sections 6 and 7 of Statement of Conclusions) 

In  December  1993 the Commission  submitted  to the  Council  its proposal  for  a Council 
Regulation  fixing  management  objectives  and  strategies  for  certain  fisheries  or  groups 
of  fisheries  for the period  1994 to  1997 (COM(93) 663 final). The Council did nouidopt 
this  proposal.  However,  for  a number of North  Sea  fish  stocks  objectives  and  strategies 
have  been  established  in  the  framework  of  the  yearly  bilateral  agreement  between  the 
IX  and  Norway.  Target  fishing  mortality  rates  and  minimum  spawning  stock  biomass 
levels  were  fixed  for  herring,  mackerel  and  plaice.  These  targets  were  first  established 
for  1996. and were carried  over to  1997 and  1998. 

In  1995  the  EC  and  Norway  initiated  bilateral  talks  on  the  improvement  of  the 
management  schemes  for  herring  and  mackerel  (including  issues  like  the  above-
mentioned  target  mortality  rates and  minimum  spawning  stock  levels).  For herring this 
process  has  come  to a conclusion,  while  continuation  of  it  will  be  necessary  as regards 
mackerel,  although  progress  has been made. The  objectives  and  strategies for plaice, as 
agreed  initially  by the EC and Norway, may  need  to be modified.  In any case, the TAC 
for  plaice  for  1998 as  set  by  the  EC  and Norway  should  lead  to  a reduction  in  fishing 
mortality rate. 

The  alarming  situation  of  the  herring  stock  in  early  1996  necessitated  immediate  and 
drastic  remedial  action  by  the  management  bodies  concerned.  The  EC  and  Norway 
quickly  took  measures  to  drastically  reduce  catch  levels  of  both  adult  and  juvenile 
herring  for  the  remainder  of  1996  (Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  1265/96  of  1-7-
1996  and  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1602/  of  25-7-1996).  The  measures  of  this 

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recovery  plan,  including  provisions  for  the  directed  sprat  fishery  aimed  at  limiting 
bycatches of juvenile herring, were in all essence continued for  1997 and 1998. 

Up to now,  it has not been possible to establish  a specific  recovery plan for  cod. One of 
the  major  difficulties  in this respect  is caused  by the  fact  that different  types of  fisheries 
are  involved.  The  establishment  of  special  protective  measures  for  juvenile  cod  is 
hampered  by juvenile  cod  not  aggregating  in  clearly  delineated  geographical  areas  for 
sufficiently  long time-periods. In spite of this, a number  of Member States were recently 
able to establish as a national measure a temporary  closure to protect a local  aggregation 
of juvenile  cod.  Moreover,  a  measurable  reduction  in  fishing  mortality  rate  appears  to 
have  recently  occurred.  Furthermore, the recent  good  recruitment  of cod combined  with 
the  TAC  for  1998  as  set  by  the  EC  and  Norway  can  pave  the  way  for  a  progressive 
rebuilding  of the spawning stock biomass. 

For  1998  the  EC  has  established,  for  the  first  time,  TACs  for  sand  eels,  anglerfish, 
megrim,  turbot  and  brill,  dab  and  flounder,  lemon  sole  and  witch,  and  skates  and rays. 
For  1998  exhaustive  national  quota  allocations  were  established,  also  for  the  first  time, 
lor  blue  whiting,  horse  mackerel,  Norway  pout,  sprat  and  bycatch  of juvenile  herring. 
These  quota  allocations  were  established  to  prevent  fishing  to  the  extent  that  each 
participant  tries  to  utilise  the  whole  of  a  TAC,  thereby  introducing  the  risk  of  TACs 
being  overshot.  The  TACs  for  1998  for  sole  and  saithe  arc  based  on  reductions  in 
current  fishing  mortality rates. 

The  Commission  requested  ICES to establish  limit  and  target reference  for  a number of 
stocks.  To  this  end.  the  ICES  Study  Group on  the  Precautionary  Approach  to  Fisheries 
Management  met  in  February  1998.  The  findings  of  this  study  group  will  be  further 
discussed  within ICES. 

Council  Regulation  (EC) No 847/96 of 6 May  1996  introduces  additional  conditions  for 
year-to-year  management  of TACs  and  quotas.  This  regulation  became  fully  applicable 
on  1  January  1998.  Application  of  this  regulation  opens  the  way  to  a  reduction  in 
discarding  in mixed  fisheries. 

The  currently  existing  boxes  to  protect  dense  aggregations  of  spawning  herring  have 
been  fully  maintained  in  the  new  technical  measures  regulation  (see  Section  4).  Since 
the I MM. establishment  of additional  such measures  was not considered  appropriate. 

The  IMM  Conclusions  also touch upon the protection  of Rhine salmon and  Rhine trout. 
The  current  technical  measures  regulation  (see  Section  4)  specifies  that  no  fishing  for 
salmon  or  sea  trout  may  take  place  outside  of  12-mile-zones.  In  the  new  technical 
measures  regulation  this  provision  has  been  made  more  restrictive:  no  salmon  or  sea 
trout  mav be caimht outside of the 6-mile-zones. 

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3.  Reduction  of fishing  fleet  capacity  and/or  deployed  fishing  effort 
(Section  6.9  of  Statement  of  Conclusions) 

In  December  1997  the  Commission  adopted  the  multi-annual  guidance  programmes  for 
the  fishing  fleets  for  the  period  1-1-1997/31-12-2001  (MAGP  IV). The  aim  of the  multi-
annual  guidance  programmes  is  to  reduce  fleet  capacity  to  a  level  that  will  ensure  the 
long-term  balance  between  fishing  effort  and  resources.  The  guidelines  for  setting  the 
objectives  of  the  MAGP  IV  were  given  by  Council  Decision  97/413/EC of 26-6-1997. 

In  accordance  with  these  guidelines, the MAGP  IV  calls  for  reductions  in fishing  effort  of 
30%  on  stocks  in  risk  of  depletion  and  of  20%  on  overfished  stocks.  The  rates  are 
moderated  according  to the  percentage  of the  catch  made  up  of these  stocks. The  stocks  in 
risk  of  depletion  (examples:  herring  and  plaice)  and  the  overfished  stocks  (examples: 
haddock  and  saithe)  are identified  in Council  Decision  97/413/EC. 

The  MAGP  IV  identifies  fleet  segments  for  each  Member  State  and  according  to  the 
stocks  exploited  and  the  fishing  gears  employed  fixes  the  effort  reduction  objectives  to 
be  achieved  for  each  segment  by  31-12-2001.  Annual  intermediate  objectives  are  also 
fixed  in  order  to ensure  that  the reductions  are  achieved  progressively. 

The  MAGP  IV  therefore  concentrates  the  reductions  in  effort  on  those  fleet  segments 
operating  on  the  most  vulnerable  stocks  and  attempts  to  minimise  the  short-term  socio 
economic  impact  of  these  reductions.  Vessels  of  less  than  12  metres  overall  length  that 
Lise passive  gears  are exempted  from  any  reductions  in  capacity. 

For vessels  using  active gears such as trawls or  purse  seines the effort  reductions under the 
MAGP  IV  can  be  achieved  by  a mixture  of activity  and  capacity  reductions, provided  that 
the  activity  in  clearl)'  identified  fisheries  can  be  adequately  controlled.  France,  Germany, 
Ireland,  the  Netherlands.  Sweden  and  the  United  Kingdom  make  use  of  this  provision  in 
some  fleet  segments.  All  other  Member  States  intend  to  achieve  the  MAGP  IV  objectives 
purely  by  reductions  in  capacity. 

The  objectives  of  the  MAGP  III  serve  as  the  point  of  departure  for  the  calculation  of  the 
objectives  of  the  MAGP  IV.  which  means  that  some  Member  States  must  make  up  a 
backlog  from  the  MAGP  III. This  must  be  done  according  to the  conditions  of  MAGP  III, 
which  means  that  a  minimum  of  55%  of  the  reduction  must  be  achieved  through  a 
reduction  in  capacity.  This  condition  also  applies  to  those  countries  that  intend  to  achieve 
the  MAGP  IV  targets  by  a  reduction  in  activity.  On  the  other  hand.  Member  States  that 
were  well  within  the objectives  of the MAGP  III  may  have  little or no  further  reductions  to 
make  under  the MAGP  IV. 

In  accordance  with  Council  Regulations  (EC)  No  685/95  of  27  March  1995  and  No 
2027/95  oi" 15  June  1995,  maximum  levels  have  been  fixed  for  the  time  Community 
fishing  vessels  can  spend  for  demersal  fisheries  in,  inter  alia,  ICES  divisions  Vlld  and 
Vile.  To  this  end,  each  vessel  which  is  not  equipped  with  an  operational  Vessel 
Monitoring  System  device  shall  notify,  by  traditional  means  of  communication,  its  entry 

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into and exit from  an effort  zone, as well as the catches retained on board, to the relevant 
authorities  of  the  flag  Member  State  and,  where  appropriate,  of  the  coastal  Member 
State.  Furthermore, these vessels are required to record the time spent  in effort  zones in 
their  fishing  logbook.  Each  flag  Member  State  compiles  and  then  converts  the  time 
spent by its fishing  vessels per effort  zone in kilowatt-days by  fishery. 

4. Protection of juvenile fish, crustaceans and  molluscs 
(Section  8 of Statement of Conclusions) 

In  1995  the  Council  for  the  first  time  adopted  technical  measures  for  the  use  of  fixed 
gears. These provisions came into effect  on  1  January  1998. 

In  1998 the Council  adopted  Council  Regulation  (EC) No 850/98 for the conservation  of 
fishery  resources  through  technical  measures  for  the  protection  of juveniles  of  marine 
organisms.  As  of  1  January  2000  this  regulation  will  replace  the  current  technical 
conservation  measures  regulation,  Council  Regulation  (EC)  894/97  of  29  April  1997 
(this  regulation  in turn  replaces  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  3094/86  of  7 October  1986 
with  all  its  subsequent  modifications).  Both  the  current  and  the  newly  adopted 
regulations refer  to, inter  alia, the North  Sea, the Channel  and the  Skagerrak. The  major 
aim of the new regulation  (as is that of the current one) is to reduce as much as possible 
catches of juvenile  fish, crustaceans and molluscs. 

The major  points of progress in the new regulation are as follows: 
•  The standard  mesh size for the Channel will be increased  from  80 to  100 millimetres, 
•  Provisions  regarding  catch  percentages  to be retained  on board  have  been  revised  in 

ways that should  reduce the amount of mandatory  discarding, 

•  Provisions  regarding  gear  characteristics  have  been  established  that  should  lead  to 
increased  selectivity  of  these  gears.  These  include,  inter  alia,  provisions  on  twine 
thickness, the use of multiple twine and the use of square-meshed panels. 

The existing  boxes  for  the  protection  of herring, mackerel  and  roundfish  (Norway  pout 
box)  have  been  maintained,  provisions  for  fishing  in  the  plaice  box  have  been  made 
more  restrictive,  while  restrictions  on  fishing  for  shrimp  to  protect  flatfish  have  been 
added. 

The  new technical  measures regulation  maintains  and refines  the current  restrictions  on 
the use of automatic grading equipment. The purpose of these restrictions is to minimize 
high grading. 

A number of cuiront  minimum  sizes that seem  to serve  no useful  purpose  have  not been 
continued  in  the  new  technical  measures  regulation  (black  seabream,  brill,  conger, 
flounder,  grey  mullet, lemon  sole, red mullet, red seabream, shad, turbot,  witch). On the 
other  hand, a number of new species have been added  (edible crab, ling, octopus, queen 
scallop,  whelk). A number  of minimum  sizes have  been  revised  (hake, megrim,  plaice, 
spinous spider crab, whiting). 

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The  existing  technical  measures  for  the  Skagerrak  have  for  the  moment  been 
maintained, as they are taken from the Agreed Record between the Community, Norway 
and  Sweden  of  1982. The Commission  hopes to enter into negotiations with Norway to 
agree upon a revision of the current technical measures for the Skagerrak. 

5. Protection  of species and habitats 
(Section  9 of Statement of Conclusions) 

The  combination  of  the  yearly  TACs/quotas-  regulation,  the  technical  measures 
regulation  and  the  Multiannual  Guidance  Programmes,  which  are all aimed  at  reducing 
and  controlling  fishing  mortality  rates,  will  have  beneficial  effects  on  the  North  Sea 
ecosystems. 

The  Habitats  and  Bird  Directives  are  the  principal  instruments  for  the  protection  of 
species  and  habitats  within  the  European  Community.  In  particular,  these  provide  for 
the  establishment  by the Commission  of a series  of protected  sites known as the Natura 
2000  network,  based  on  proposals  from  Member  States. The  setting  up of Natura  2000 
has  been  delayed  because  some  Member  States  have  failed  so  far  to  meet  their 
commitments  under  these  directives. Furthermore,  it  has  been  found  to be necessary  to 
institute  legal  proceedings  against  some  Member  States  in the  light  of this  failure.  The 
Commission  will  do  all  that  is  necessary  to  ensure  that  the  Directives  are  fully 
implemented  with minimum delay. 

Nevertheless, there have been significant  steps towards the setting up of the Natura 2000 
network.  Lists  of  proposed  sites  have  been  received  by  the  Commission,  and  some 
Member  States have been active in proposing  marine  and coastal  sites for  inclusion. The 
first  Atlantic  Biogeographical  Seminar  will  be  an  important  step  towards  the  listing  of 
sites of special  Community  interest. 

In  June  1997, the  Commission  co-funded  a seminar  on  implementation  of  the  Habitats 
Directive  in  marine  and coastal  areas, and has  funded  a project jointly  organised  by UK 
and  Ireland  (the  Biomar  project)  aimed  at  defining  an  in-depth  and  comprehensive 
classification  of marine biotopes. Some projects  in the marine  and coastal  environments 
have  been  funded  under  the  LIFE  Nature  instrument;  The  Commission  is  also 
supporting  action  within  the  OSPAR  framework  to  further  develop  a  European-wide 
classification  of  marine  biotopes  and  to  study  the  ecosystem  approach  to  nature 
protection  in the marine environment. 

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6. Protection from activities other than  fisheries 
(Section  10 of Statement of Conclusions) 

To  reduce  the  threat  of  hazardous  substances  to  aquatic  species,  the  Commission  is 
preparing  a list of priority  substances which under  the  new Water  Framework  Directive 
will  be subject  of environmental  quality  standards. This will complement  ongoing work 
on  best  available  technology  under  the  IPPC  (Integrated  Pollution  Prevention  and 
Control)  Directive  96/61  aimed  at  reducing  inputs  of  substances  from  industrial 
installations. 

The  Commission  is  also  organizing  a  workshop  on  reduction  in  the  use  of  plant 
protection  products.  Regarding  the  threat  of  Eutrophication  caused  by  nitrates  from 
agricultural  sources, the Commission is taking legal  action against a number of Member 
States for poor implementation of the nitrates directive 91/676. 

Representing  the  Community  as a contracting  party  to  the  OSPAR  Convention  for  the 
Protection  of the North  East Atlantic the Commission  supports new strategies under that 
convention  on  combating  Eutrophication,  hazardous  substances  and  biodiversity,  the 
last of which will also be subject of a new annex to the  Convention. 

7. Control  and  enforcement 
(Section  11 of Statement of Conclusions) 

Several  initiatives  have been taken by the Commission,  the member  States and Norway 
to  enhance  co-operation  between  the  authorities  responsible  for  monitoring  fishing 
activities  carried  out  in  the  North  Sea.  Several  meetings  have  been  convened  to 
exchange  views  on  control  issues  in  general  and,  more  specifically,  issues  touching 
upon  mackerel  and  other  pelagic  fisheries.  In  the  framework  of  the  annual  bilateral 
fisheries  consultations  between the EC and Norway  both  parties are committed  to work 
towards reinforced  control  in mackerel  fisheries. 

At a first  meeting  between the EC, Norway and the Faroe Islands in the autumn of 1997, 
it  was  agreed  to  provide  data  on  landings  of  flag  fishing  vessels  to  the  respective  flag 
slates.  Further  meetings  are planned  with  a view  to  formalise  electronic  data  exchanges 
between  the parties. 

Several  exchanges  of  fisheries  inspectors  between  Member  States  and  third  countries 
surrounding  the  North  Sea  have  taken  place  in  which  fisheries  inspectors  of  the 
European  Commission  also  took  part.  These  exchanges  familiarised  inspectors  with 
inspection  procedures  and  practices  applied  by  other  parties  and  have  improved 
communication  between authorities by the establishment  of personal contacts. 

The  Council  adopted  a system  for  monitoring  fishing  vessels  by  satellite  which  will be 
implemented  for  certain  fleets  as from  1 July  1998 and  for  all  fishing  vessels  exceeding 
20 metres  length as from  1  January 2000. The EC will consult with other parties in order 

to  extend  monitoring  fishing  vessels  by  satellite,  inter  alia,  to  all  fishing  vessels 
operating  in  the  North  Sea.  Satellite  tracking  together  with  efficient  landing  controls 
will  considerably  enhance  the  capacity  of  the  authorities  to  monitor  effectively  fishing 
activities. 

8. Science, technology  and economic impacts 
(Sections  12, 13, 14 and  15 of Statement of Conclusions) 

In  the  recently  adopted  revised  technical  measures  regulation  the  Member  States 
commit  themselves,  when  applying  for  funding  by  the  Commission  during  the  years 
1998,  1999  and  2000, to  give  priority  to  experimental  projects  that  are concerned  with 
the  utility  of  square-meshed  panels  or  other  devices  for  increasing  the  selectivity  of 
towed  gears. The Commission  is committed to give priority for funding  to such projects. 

The Commission  provides funds  in support of studies relevant to the Common  Fisheries 
Policy  in  all  its  aspects,  including  in  particular  scientific  sampling  programmes  for 
relevant  fisheries. 

9. Information  and  involvement 
(Sections  16, 17 and  18 of Statement of Conclusions) 

In  1997  the  Commission  initiated  a  series  of  meetings  on  a  regional  basis  on  the 
management  of  certain  fisheries.  Participants  in  these  meetings  included  the  regionally 
involved  Member  States,  the  industry,  scientists  and  economists.  These  meetings  may 
form  the  basis  for  the  establishment  of  a  regularly  conducted  regional  consultation 
process. 

Three  such  meetings  took  place  in  1997; the  subjects  were North  Sea  flatfish  fisheries, 
Northeast  Atlantic  pelagic  fisheries  and demersal  fisheries  in the Celtic  Sea and western 
Channel. 

10. Further integration  of fisheries  and environmental  policies 
(Sections  19 and 20 of Statement of Conclusions) 

The  Commission  is endeavouring  to have a recognised  scientific  body establish  a work 
program  for research activities on the biological  impact of fisheries. 

The  Commission  is aware  of  international  developments  as regards the concept  of the 
precautionary  approach.  The  Commission  attended  meetings  on  this  subject  organised 
by.  inter  alia,  ICES,  NAFO  and  NASCO.  The  Commission  intends  to  evaluate  the 
output  of these meetings. 

I<  poolcl  rapports  minister cloc2K2't:ii.doc 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(98) 326 final 

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03  14  06 

Catalogue number  :  CB-C0-98-333-EN-C 

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