REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL on the implementation of the Polish National Action Plan in the framework of Council Regulation (EC) 338/2008 of 14 April 2008 providing for the adaptation of cod fishing quotas to be allocated to Poland in the Baltic Sea (Subdivisions 25-32, EC waters) from 2008 to 2011
Date: 2010-08-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Baltic Sea, Poland, catch quota, fishery management, fishing regulations, sea fish

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 16.8.2010 
COM(2010) 434 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation of the Polish National Action Plan in the framework of Council 
Regulation (EC) 338/2008 of 14 April 2008 providing for the adaptation of cod fishing 
quotas to be allocated to Poland in the Baltic Sea (Subdivisions 25-32, EC waters) from 
2008 to 2011 

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CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

2.4. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

3.5. 

4. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

National Action Plan on control................................................................................... 3 

Legal framework .......................................................................................................... 3 

Single authority ............................................................................................................ 4 

Enforcement and inspection......................................................................................... 4 

Administrative control ................................................................................................. 4 

National Baltic Fleet Restructuring Plan...................................................................... 5 

Evolution of the Polish fishing fleet............................................................................. 5 

Reduction of the number of special cod fishing permits.............................................. 6 

Public aid for permanent cessation of fishing activities............................................... 6 

Modernisation measures (transfer to pelagic sector) ................................................... 7 

Public aid for temporary cessation of fishing activities ............................................... 8 

Conclusion and recommendations ............................................................................... 8 

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1.  INTRODUCTION 

Under Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/2008 of 14 April 2008 providing for 
the adaptation of cod fishing quotas to be allocated to Poland in the Baltic Sea (Subdivisions 
25-32,  EC  Waters)  from  2008  to  2011,  the  Commission  is  to  evaluate  and  report  to  the 
Council  on  the  implementation  of  the  Polish  National  Action  Plans  on  control  and  fleet 
restructuring  on  an  annual  basis.  The  first  report  was  presented  to  the  Council  on 
18 November  2008.  The  National  Action  Plan  on  control  is  designed  to  overcome  current 
control  and  enforcement  difficulties  and  address  comprehensively  the  underlying  causes  of 
illegal fishing and breaches of EU law for the cod fishery in the Baltic Sea. The content of the 
Plan was discussed and agreed by the Polish authorities and Commission staff at a meeting in 
Warsaw on 18 March 2008 on the Polish fisheries control system in the context of financial 
aid for fisheries control. The National Action Plan on control is outlined in the agreed record 
of that meeting.  

The National Action Plan on the Baltic fleet restructuring, which also covers the period 2008 
to 2011, was designed to identify measures needing to be taken in order to ensure sustainable 
exploitation of the cod quotas granted to Poland from both a conservation and an economic 
point  of  view  as  part  of  the  Operational  Programme  co-financed  by  the  European  Fisheries 
Fund for the period 2007-2013. Following the negotiations between the Commission and the 
Polish  authorities,  the  National  Baltic  Fleet  Restructuring  Plan  was  adopted  by  Poland  in 
April 2008 and the Fishing Effort Adjustment Plan (FEAP) was adopted by Poland in January 
2009. 

As provided for in Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EC) 338/2008, both plans have been 
adopted  and  are  being  implemented  by  Poland.  In  line  with  the  plans,  Poland  has  sent 
implementation  reports  to  the  Commission.  This  information,  together  with  information 
collected  by  the  Commission’s  inspectors,  supports  the  evaluation  presented  in  this  report. 
The report is divided into two parts: the Action Plan on control and the Action Plan on fleet 
restructuring.  

2.  NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON CONTROL 

The National Action Plan on control establishes a schedule for improving the Polish fisheries 
control system gradually over a two-year period. In the framework of the Plan, Poland is to 
submit  to  the  Commission  a  progress  report  on  each  point  of  the  Plan  half  yearly.  In  2009 
Poland submitted an inspection report on 2 April and the third progress report on 14 July.  

2.1. 

Legal framework 

In  2008  the  legislature  began  the  process  of  adopting  new  national  rules  that  address  the 
weaknesses in the control and enforcement system as stated in the Action Plan by drafting the 
new Fisheries Act and Fisheries  Market Act. However, these acts have not been adopted to 
date.  The  new  law  on  the  organisation  of  the  fisheries  market  is  currently  before  the 
Constitutional  Court,  and  the  draft  of  the  new  law  on  fisheries  is  currently  pending 
consideration by the Parliament. 

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2.2. 

Single authority 

In 2008 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development created a post and designated the 
Deputy  Director  for  Fisheries  Control  to  act  as  the  single  authority  and  to  coordinate 
monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) at national and international level. The post was 
filled and is operational. 

The Single authority is responsible, among other tasks, for drafting the annual national control 
programme  that  establishes  the  strategy  and  sets  priorities  and  targets.  The  Single  authority 
chairs the monthly meetings of the Inspectors’ Coordination Council.  

2.3. 

Enforcement and inspection 

Together  with  some  positive  structural  improvements  made  in  Poland  in  2008  to  overcome 
control and enforcement difficulties, the Commission report for the year 2008 still lists some 
outstanding difficulties.  

Further improvements have been observed in 2009:  

•  The new fisheries patrol vessel is fully operational.  

•  The  requirement  to  inspect  100 %  of  cod  landings  instead  of  the  20 %  benchmark  was 

introduced.  

•  The inspection manual has been issued to all Polish fisheries inspectors.  

•  Inspectorates have been equipped with mobile scales. 

Although  the  100 %  inspection  benchmark  has  been  established  for  cod  landings,  the 
inspection priority and strategy is not based on comprehensive risk analysis. Concentration of 
the  inspection  resources  may  limit  control  and inspections  in  areas  other  than  cod  landings. 
Consequently,  other  fisheries  and  post-landing  actors  such  as  buyers,  sellers  and  processors 
are  not  subject  to  an  effective  control  system.  This  may  have  been  one  of  the  factors  that 
influenced the overfishing of the Western Baltic herring quota for 2009 by 17.4 %. 

The  Polish  authorities  have  informed  the  Commission  that  by  November  2009  regional 
inspectorates will be equipped with mobile workstations for access to the VMS. 

However,  only  limited  progress  has  been  observed  in  development  of  the  Fisheries 
Information  System.  Under  the  memorandum  of  understanding,  an  electronic  system  for 
online  access  to  VMS  data,  effort  reports,  catch  reports,  prior  notifications  and  entry/exit 
messages had to be introduced and made accessible for inspectors in ports and at sea by the 
second quarter of 2009. By end-2009 the Commission was informed that only access to VMS 
data had been made available. 

2.4. 

Administrative control 

The  main  obstacle  to  progress  in  this  field  is  stagnation  in  development  of  the  legal 
framework, and in the implementation of the Fisheries Information System. The consequences 
are the following:  

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•  Online  access  to  and  exchange  of  information  on  inspection  activities  among  local, 

regional and central levels is not available.  

•  A  specific  data  analysis  team  with  responsibilities  for  real-time  monitoring  and  risk 

analysis of fishing vessels has not been established. 

•  Post-landing  actors  such  as  buyers,  sellers  and  processors  are  not  subject  to  an  effective 

control system pending the adoption of the new Fisheries Market Act.  

3.  NATIONAL BALTIC FLEET RESTRUCTURING PLAN  

The  National  Baltic  Fleet  Restructuring  Plan  was  adopted  by  Poland  in  April  2008.  As  a 
follow-up  to  this  action  plan  and  in  line  with  Article  22  of  Council  Regulation  (EC) 
1198/2006 on the European Fisheries Fund, the Fishing Effort Adjustment Plan (FEAP) was 
adopted  by  Poland  in  January  2009  following  negotiations  with  the  European  Commission. 
The  FEAP  updates  the  description  of  the  elements  contained  in  the  Action  Plan  and 
establishes  more  ambitious  targets  for  capacity  reduction  in  the  cod  fishing  fleet  as  well  as 
adding new items, such as the introduction of property rights and the accompanying control 
measures. 

3.1. 

Evolution of the Polish fishing fleet 

The table below shows an overall reduction in capacity expressed in number of vessels, GT 
and KW between 1 March 2008 and 1 December 2009 in the Baltic Sea fishing fleet. 

Table 1: The Polish fishing fleet during the period 01.03.2008–01.12.20091 

Number of vessels 

Capacity in kW 

Capacity in GT 

by 

Vessels 
LOA* 

< 8 m 

8 to 12 m 

12 m to 15 m 

15 m to 18.5 m 

8
0
0
2
.
4
0
.
1
0

n
O

258 

265 

74 

54 

9
0
0
2
.
2
1
.
1
0

n
O

257 

251 

85 

53 

e
c
n
e
r
e
f
f
i

D

o
N
n
i

8
0
0
2
.
4
0
.
1
0

n
O

9
0
0
2
.
2
1
.
1
0

n
O

e
c
n
e
r
e
f
f
i

D

W
k

n
i

8
0
0
2
.
4
0
.
1
0

n
O

9
0
0
2
.
2
1
.
1
0

n
O

-1 

5 985 

5 689 

-296 

592 

574 

-14 

19 044 

18 144 

-900 

1 398 

1 303 

e
c
n
e
r
e
f
f
i

D

T
G
n
i

-18 

-96 

+11 

6 366 

6 505 

+139 

895 

999 

+104 

-1 

14 864 

12 777 

-2 087 

1 224 

1 260 

+36 

18.5 m to 25.5 m 

131 

111 

-20 

15 750 

13 509 

-2 241 

5 707 

4 859 

-848 

25.5 m to 40 m 

> 40 m** 

Total 

80 

3 

65 

4 

-15 

24 333 

19 876 

-4 457 

11 325 

9 327 

-1 998 

+1 

10 105 

18 415 

+8 310 

8 737 

21 276 

+12 539 

865 

826 

-39 

96 446 

94 914 

-1 532  

29 878 

39 597 

+9 719  

1 

According to the Community Fishing Fleet Register. The dates chosen for comparison correspond to the dates of 
the Polish snapshots. 

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Total  without long-
distance fleet 

 * LOA: length overall. 

862 

822 

-40 

86 341 

76 499 

-9 843 

21 141 

18 321 

-2 820 

** Vessels above 40 m are considered as long-distance fleet. 

The  European  Union’s  Fisheries  Fleet  Register  does  not,  however,  make  it  possible  to 
establish whether those vessels that permanently ceased their fishing activity were involved in 
the cod fishery. Consequently, the level of fishing effort reduction on the cod stocks cannot be 
evaluated without assessing the fishing effort used by these vessels because Poland has never 
submitted data on effort utilisation.  

It should also be noted that figures in the table are the result of both exit and entry of vessels 
into the Polish Baltic Sea fishing fleet. In total 81 vessels with a capacity of 557 GT and 2 788 
kW entered the fleet. Entries were mainly due to a change in the vessel’s activity but 4 vessels 
were imported and 26 vessels were newly built. The entries mainly concerned small vessels 
with an average length of 8 metres, which are not covered by the cod plan. 

As far as exits from the Polish Baltic Sea fleet are concerned, there were no exports of vessels 
during this period. In total 106 Baltic Sea vessels with a capacity of 3 512 GT and 12 133 kW 
left the  Polish  fishing fleet,  37  vessels  with an  average  LOA of 21  m  resumed  their fishing 
activity and 69 vessels changed their activity.  

It should be noted that Poland did not submit data for the annual report from the Commission 
to the European Parliament and the Council on Member States’ efforts during 2009 and data 
provided for 2008 do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about balancing available fishing 
opportunities with the fleet capacity. 

3.2. 

Reduction of the number of special cod fishing permits  

As  a  result  of  the  reduction  in  the  number  of  special  cod  fishing  permits,  two  thirds  of  the 
fleet  had  to  stop  fishing  cod  in  2009.  Only  one  third  of  the  Polish  Baltic  fishing  fleet  (147 
vessels) received a special cod fishing permit in 2009. This system provided for economically 
proportionate use of the cod quota throughout the year2 and contributes to the increase in the 
compliance culture.  

Reduction of the number of vessels holding special fishing permits for cod fishery could be 
considered as immediate action to restrict access to the cod fishery as required by Regulation 
(EC) 338/2008. 

It is not possible to draw any conclusion on the actual fishing effort reduction since the data 
on effort utilisation have not been submitted either to the STECF for assessment in 2009 or to 
the FEONT database over the years. 

3.3. 

Public aid for permanent cessation of fishing activities 

The National Plan on fleet restructuring assumes the scrapping by 2011 of around 2 500 GT 
and 9 000 kW of the vessels targeting cod (12-24 segment and 24-40 segment).  

2 

The uptake of the Eastern Baltic cod quota by Poland was 97.3 % in 2009. 

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The objective of the Fishing Effort Adjustment Plan adopted by Poland is to reduce the size of 
the Polish cod fisheries fleet by 6 000 GT and 20 000 kW by end-2011.  

Considerable progress can be noted in permanent cessation of fishing activities in Poland with 
the assistance of the EFF according to the table below:  

Table 2: EFF aid granted for scrapping of vessels in Poland in 20093  

Vessels undergoing scrapping with EFF support (No of grant decisions) 

Vessel length 

Number of vessels 

0-8 m 

8-9.99 m 

10-11.99 m 

12-14.99 m 

15-18.49 m 

18.5-20.49 m 

20.5-25.49 m 

25.5 m and more 

Total 

2 

5 

2 

3 

22 

13 

19 

66 

kW 

44 

275 

114 

342 

2 723 

3 470 

8 421 

15 388 

GT 

4 

27 

20 

67 

824 

1 255 

3 178 

5 375 

3.4.  Modernisation measures (transfer to pelagic sector) 

The Restructuring Plan provides for modernisation of fishing vessels over 24 m in length, as 
well  as  their  transfer  to  the  pelagic  sector  by  the  end  of  2011  (51  vessels  according  to  the 
FEAP).  A  total  of  40  applications  for  EFF  co-financing  for  modernisation  of  vessels  were 
received by the beginning of November 2009; 20 contracts were signed by the end of January 
2010 for modernisation of vessels with EFF support. 

This  segment  of  the  fleet  represents  a  significant  share  of  the  cod  fishing  fleet  in  terms  of 
capacity expressed in kW and GT. Permanent transfer of these vessels to pelagic fishery has 
to be balanced with the fishing opportunities, the state of the pelagic stocks and the expected 
developments in the management system for these stocks. 

3 

According to information provided by the Polish Fisheries Department at the meeting of the Monitoring 
Committee for the EFF Operational Programme held in Warsaw on 27 January 2010. 

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3.5. 

Public aid for temporary cessation of fishing activities 

In line with the National Baltic Fleet Restructuring Plan and in order to mitigate the adverse 
socio-economic effects of reducing the number of special cod fishing permits, it was decided 
that part of the fishing fleet that did not receive the cod fishing permit for 2009 (but had it in 
2008)  would  be  granted  compensation  for  temporary  cessation  of  fishing  activities.  Such 
compensation  is  to  be  granted  to  a  decreasing  number  of  fishing  vessels  banned  from  cod 
fishing  until  the  end  of  2011  at  the  latest.  In  total  258  grant  decisions  were  adopted  in 
November 2009. 

The reduction in the number of cod fishing permits coupled with increased control of landings 
has resulted in a more proportionate use of cod quota throughout the year and in an increased 
compliance culture among Polish fishermen. 

However, the fleet restructuring process is far from being complete despite the fact that EFF 
assistance has been used as planned. Out of the (approximately) 450 vessels comprising the 
Polish  fleet,  more  than  half  have  been  forced  to  stay  out  of  fishing  over  the  period  2009  to 
2011 thanks to temporary cessation aid. As a consequence we can expect that after this period 
about 200 vessels will be ready to re-enter cod fisheries. 

4.  CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

Over a period of two years Poland has made definite progress in improving the efficiency of 
fisheries management in the Baltic Sea, in particular in relation to implementing the planned 
EFF measures to support temporary and permanent cessation.  

The reduction in the number of cod fishing permits coupled with increased control of landings 
has resulted in a more proportionate use of cod quota throughout the year and in an increased 
compliance culture among Polish fishermen.  

Despite  the  initial  delays  in  launching  the  permanent  decommissioning  scheme  co-financed 
by the European Fisheries Fund, the process of permanent cessation of fishing activities with 
EFF support is now well on track and the results achieved so far are generally in line with the 
targets. This process should be stepped up to adjust the size of the cod fleet in line with the 
fishing opportunities.  

Nevertheless,  the  full  benefits  of  restructuring  the  national  system  in  the  context  of  control 
and fleet management provided for in the National Action Plan and the National Baltic Fleet 
Restructuring  Plan  require  all  necessary  measures  to  be  taken  in  due  time.  The  reforms 
implemented  cover  only  part  of  the  National  Action  Plan  and  the  improvements  observed 
cannot  yet  guarantee  the  full  reliability  of  the  control  system.  Furthermore,  the  structural 
imbalance of the Polish fleet has not been corrected to the necessary extent and due to lack of 
data it its impact on cod fisheries cannot be evaluated.  

It is essential  for Poland to adopt all  the necessary measures in line with the predetermined 
schedule. Special attention has to be paid to the following issues: 

•  The legal framework has to be adopted in order to fully transpose the EU legislation. 

•  Fishing effort data have to be duly transmitted to the Commission. 

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•  A  compliance  culture  has  to  be  developed  through  an  economically  viable  fishery 
addressing  the  problem  of  overcapacity  and  where  illegal  fishing  is  no  longer  profitable 
and tolerable. The system of deterrence should be reviewed and ensure that sanctions are 
proportional to the nature of the offence so as to deprive offenders of the benefit thereof. 

•  Appropriate measures still need to be taken to ensure an effective and efficient control and 

enforcement system, and in particular:  

•  The  inspection  system  and  procedures  must  ensure  appropriate  follow-up  of 

inspections. 

•  All  fishing  sectors,  including  the  post-landing  sector,  should  be  subject  to 

inspection and control and resources should be allocated accordingly. 

•  The  Fisheries  Information  System  has  to  be  modernised  in  order  to  meet  the 

requirements of EU legislation. 

•  A specific data analysis team should be established with responsibilities for real-

time monitoring and risk analysis of fishing vessels. 

The Commission invites Poland to identify and proceed immediately with implementation of 
appropriate corrective measures so as to comply with the memorandum of understanding. The 
list of corrective measures should be submitted in writing to the Commission by 1 November 
2010.  

At the same time the Commission reserves the right to exercise its powers as guardian of the 
EU Treaties. 

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