REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL on the implementation of the Polish National Action Plan under Regulation No 338/2008 providing for the adaptation of cod fishing quotas to be allocated to Poland in the Baltic Sea (Subdivisions 25-32, EC waters) 2008-2011
Date: 2012-11-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Baltic Sea, Poland, action programme, catch quota, fishing fleet, fishing regulations, sea fish

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 28.11.2012  
COM(2012) 706 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation of the Polish National Action Plan under Regulation No 338/2008 
providing for the adaptation of cod fishing quotas to be allocated to Poland in the Baltic 
Sea (Subdivisions 25-32, EC waters) 2008-2011 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation of the Polish National Action Plan under Regulation No 338/2008 
providing for the adaptation of cod fishing quotas to be allocated to Poland in the Baltic 
Sea (Subdivisions 25-32, EC waters) 2008-2011 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

2.4. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

3.6. 

4. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4 

National action plan on Control ................................................................................... 4 

Strengthening the legal framework .............................................................................. 4 

Establishment and operation of a single authority ....................................................... 4 

Improvements in the field of inspections ..................................................................... 5 

Improvements in administrative control ...................................................................... 5 

National Baltic Fleet Restructuring Plan...................................................................... 6 

Trends in the Polish fishing fleet ................................................................................. 6 

Reduction of the number of special cod fishing permits ............................................. 7 

Permanent cessation of fishing activities ..................................................................... 7 

Modernisation measures (transfer to pelagic sector) ................................................... 8 

Introduction of Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQ) ................................................ 8 

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

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
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 required to evaluate and report to 
the  Council  annually  on  the  implementation  of  the  Polish  National  Action  Plans  on  control 
and fleet restructuring. This is the final report on the three-year period. 

The  National  Action  Plan  on  control  is  designed  to  overcome  difficulties  that  have  been 
identified  regarding  inspections  and  enforcement  and  to  address  the  underlying  causes  of 
illegal  fishing  and  breaches  of  EU  law  for  cod  fisheries  in  the  Baltic  Sea  comprehensively. 
The  content  of  the  Plan  was  discussed  and  agreed  by  the  Polish  authorities  and  the 
Commission services at a meeting in Warsaw on 18 March 2008. The National Action Plan 
on control is outlined in the Agreed Record of that meeting. 

The National Action Plan on Baltic Fleet Restructuring, which also covers the period 2008 to 
2011,  was  designed  to  identify  what  measures  needed  to  be  taken  to  ensure  sustainable 
exploitation of the cod quotas granted to Poland from the conservation and economic points 
of view as part of the Operational Programme co-financed by the European Fisheries Fund. 
The Restructuring Plan was agreed between the Commission and the Polish authorities on 26 
March  2008.  The  National  Baltic  Fleet  Restructuring  Plan  was  adopted  in  April  2008,  and 
Poland adopted the Fishing Effort Adjustment Plan (FEAP) in January 2009. 

As provided for in Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EC) 338/2008, Poland has adopted and 
implemented  both  plans.  As  required,  Poland  has  sent  implementation  reports  to  the 
Commission. This information, together with information the Commission inspection services 
have  collected,  supports  the  evaluation  set  out  in  this  report.  The  report  is  divided  into  two 
parts: control and 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.  Apart  from  one  deadline  specified  in  the 
Action Plan, Poland was to have addressed all issues by October 2009. Poland was required to 
send the Commission a progress report on each point of the Plan every six months. 

2.1. 

Strengthening the legal framework 

In  2008,  Poland  set  its  legislative  procedure  in  motion  so  as  to  adopt  new  national  rules  to 
address the weaknesses in the control and enforcement system identified in the Action Plan. 
The  Fisheries  Marketing  Act  has  been  adopted  and  has  entered  into  force,  but  the  draft 
Fisheries  Act  has  yet  to  be  adopted.  From  1  January  2012,  a  new  ministerial  decree 
strengthens  cooperation  between  local  and  regional  sea  fisheries  inspectors  and  the 
agricultural  and  food  quality  inspectors  relating  to  fisheries  products  at  all  stages  of 
production, processing and distribution, from catching or harvesting to the retail stage. Poland 
is currently drafting a new Fisheries Act that must comply with Council Regulation (EC) No 
1224/2009 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011. 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
 
2.2. 

Establishment and operation of a single authority 

A  single  authority  to  coordinate  monitoring,  control  and  surveillance  (MCS)  was  set  up  in 
2008 and is the sole responsibility of the Deputy Director for Fisheries Control in the Ministry 
of Agriculture and Rural Development. 

Since the end of 2011, the inspection benchmarks and the inspection targets are established by 
the  single  authority  based  on  comprehensive  risk  analysis.  A  new  common  computerised 
system for monitoring the results of inspections has been available since early 2011, but is not 
connected or cross-checked with the catch registration database. 

Commission inspection services still noted discrepancies between the practices and working 
methods  of  different  regional  inspection  offices,  which  can  only  be  partially  explained  by 
regional differences in the fisheries. 

2.3. 

Improvements in the field of inspections 

Poland  has  been  gradually  addressing  the  issues  with  a  view  to  overcoming  control  and 
enforcement  difficulties.  Although  the  deadline  laid  down  in  the  memorandum  of 
understanding was missed and only limited improvements were observed between 2008 and 
2009, there were significant steps in 2010 and 2011 towards solving the outstanding issues: 

•  Inspectors in the port offices and mobile teams received shock- and waterproof laptops in 
2010  with  online  access  to  VMS  and  prior  notifications.  In  2011,  inspectors  received 
online access to the new catch registration system and electronic logbook data. 

•  Since 2011, inspectors have received prior notifications by SMS. 

•  Since October 2011, the 100 % inspection benchmark has been abolished for cod landings, 
and a new risk-based inspection planning system has been applied. The strategy is worked 
out  by  the  Ministry  (the  single  authority)  in  cooperation  with  the  regional  inspectorates. 
The  fisheries  monitoring  centre  (FMC)  prepares  the  comprehensive  risk  analysis  and 
provides the basis for inspection planning. 

•  The  new  risk-based  strategy  makes  it  possible  to  allocate  inspection  resources  to  areas 
other than cod landings. Other fisheries, such as salmon, and other segments, such as post-
landing activities, are now inspected more frequently.  

Although the inspectors’ technical equipment is very good, as of the beginning of 2012, it was 
being  used  only  to  a  limited  extent.  Inspectors  from  different  regional  inspectorates  do  not 
interact, and there is no established system for the exchange of best practices. As a first step, a 
monthly coordination meeting with regional sea fisheries inspectors has been set up. 

2.4. 

Improvements in administrative control 

In the first years of implementing the National Control  Action Plan, no significant progress 
was  made  and  Poland  failed  to  meet  the  deadlines.  Nonetheless,  in  2010  and  2011,  most 
problems that required attention were solved: 

•  The  new  inspection  database  (OSIRIS)  makes  it  possible  to  record  all  inspections  and 
infringements for all vessels in Poland. The database can be used for extended queries. The 
inspection  and  infringement  history  for  individual  vessels,  harbours  or  species  can  be 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
retrieved; and any infringements by vessels from other countries are communicated to the 
Flag state. The missing link in the database is the possibility of following up prosecutions 
for infringements. 

•  There is a risk analysis team in the FMC team that provides inspectors with a list of high-
risk  vessels,  based  on  historical  data.  However,  the  system  cannot  provide  real-time 
monitoring and hence define possible targets for inspection. 

•  The Fisheries Market Act has been adopted and provides a higher level of control for high-
risk species. But the national legislation providing for penalties for breaching the Market 
Act  has  still  not  been  adopted.  This  makes  it  difficult  to  assess  how  effectively  the 
Fisheries Market Act is being enforced. 

•  Nonetheless, the new condition that vessels with infringements may not receive additional 

quota at the end of the year has proved a significant deterrent. 

3. 

NATIONAL BALTIC FLEET RESTRUCTURING PLAN 

The  National  Baltic  Fleet  Restructuring  Plan  was  adopted  by  Poland  in  April  2008  and 
contains the following main measures: 

•  reduction in the cod fishing fleet, 

•  adjustment of fishing capacity to stocks, 

•  distribution of national quotas, 

•  modernisation of fishing vessels (transfer to the pelagic sector), 

•  aid for the temporary cessation of fishing activities. 

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,  Poland  adopted  the  Fishing  Effort  Adjustment 
Plan  (FEAP)  in  January  2009,  following  negotiations  with  the  European  Commission.  The 
content  of  these  plans  were  also  considered  as  national  action  plans  for  fleet  restructuring 
under  the  terms  of  Article  3  of  Regulation  (EC)  No.  338/2008  for  the  period  of  its 
implementation. 

3.1. 

Trends in the Polish fishing fleet 

According  to  the  Community  Fishing  Fleet  Register  (the  Fleet  Register)  the  capacity  of  the 
Polish  Baltic  Sea  fishing  fleet  was  considerably  reduced  over  the  period  1.4.2008  to 
31.12.2011.  The  biggest  reduction  was  in  the  fleet  segment  with  an  overall  vessel  length 
between  24 m  and  40 m.  This  is  a  polyvalent  fleet  segment,  which  is  also  involved  in  cod 
fishing. 

Table 1: Polish fishing fleet from 1.4.2008 – 31.12.2011 

Number of vessels* 

Capacity in kW 

Capacity in GT 

Vessels by LOA 

On 01.04.2008  On 31.12.2011 

Difference in No 

On 

EN 

6 

   EN 

 
  
01.04.2008 

On 31.12.2011 

Difference in kW 

On 01.04.2008 

On 31.12.2011 

< 8 m 

258 

8 to 12 m 

337 

12 m to 24 m  185 

24 m to 40 m  80 

246 

345 

150 

45 

-12 

5983.39 

5552.87 

-430.52 

592.18 

568.64

8 

18957.7 

18336.69 

-621.01 

2286.54 

2441.23

-35 

30391.4 

25552.13 

-4839.27 

6929.15 

5870.9

-35 

30921.3 

17493.2 

-13428.1 

11327 

6615

Total 

860 

786 

-74 

86253.79 

66934.89 

-19318.9 

21134.87 

15495.77

*  Vessels  above  40 m  are  considered  as  belonging  to  the  long-distance  fleet  and  are  not 
included in this table. 

Figures  in  the  table  include  both  exits  and  entries  into  the  Polish  Baltic  Sea  fleet,  with  and 
without public support. They cover all Baltic Sea fleet segments, including vessels that are not 
involved in direct cod fishery. 

3.2. 

Reduction in the number of special cod fishing permits 

To manage the reduced cod quota, for the period 2009-2011, Poland introduced a new system 
for  allocating  quotas  to  individual  vessels.  This  was  based  on  the  national  quota  and 
individual  economic  fishing  quotas  in  specific  segments  of  the  cod  fishing  fleet.  The 
individual  economic  fishing  quotas  were  set  not  allowing  vessels  holding  special  fishing 
permits to generate excessive profit, though they would remain economically viable.  

Under  this  system,  the  number  of  vessels  holding  a  special  cod  fishing  permit  was 
significantly  reduced  over  a  period  of  three  years  to  around  a  third  (between  147  and  158 
vessels depending on the year) of the number of vessels in 2008 (456 vessels).  

The temporary reduction in the number of vessels holding special fishing permits for cod was 
intended to balance out the quota deductions applied in 2008-2011 for earlier overfishing of 
cod. 

It was assumed that the system described above would reduce the number of vessels holding 
special cod fishing permits in 2012 to no more than 233.  

Nevertheless,  in  2012,  after  the  cod  quota  deductions  had  expired,  Poland  increased  the 
number  of  vessels  holding  special  cod  fishing  permits  to  443,  almost  as  many  as  in  2008. 
Thus, Poland failed to prevent part of the fleet returning to directed cod fishery. Furthermore, 
the annual quotas for individual vessels are reduced significantly compared to previous years 
under the payback scheme, which casts doubt on the economic viability of the cod-dependent 
fleet segments. 

Table 1: Special permits for cod and cod quotas in Poland in 2008-2012 

EN 

7 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008

2009-2011 

2012 

Number  of  vessels  with  special  permit 
for cod 

Quota for Baltic cod (tonnes) 

Average quota per vessel (tonnes) 

456

12146

26.64

147-158 

433 

11866-15440 

21871 

80.70 – 97.80 

50.51 

3.3. 

Permanent cessation of fishing activities 

Poland  has  set  the  target  of  reducing  the  capacity  of  the  cod  fishing  fleet  by  approximately 
50 %.  This  should  be  achieved  through  the  permanent  decommissioning  of  cod  fishing 
vessels, the transfer of part of the multi-purpose fleet segment to direct pelagic fishery only, 
and  the  introduction  of  the  Individual  Transfer  Quota  (ITQ)  system.  The  permanent 
decommissioning objective was a reduction of 6 000 GT and 20 000 kW by the end of 2011. 

According  to  information  available  to  the  Commission,  a  total  of  69  vessels,  representing 
4 961.29 GT and 14 524.58 kW, were removed from the Fishing Fleet Register as a result of 
permanent  decommissioning.  This  total  also  includes  not  cod-dependent  vessels  that  could 
potentially catch cod. The permanent decommissioning scheme continues in 2012 on the basis 
of contracts signed by the end of 2011. 

3.4.  Modernisation measures (transfer to pelagic sector) 

Poland  foresaw  envisaged  modernisation  of  51  of  the  biggest  fishing  vessels  with  a  total 
capacity of 7 832 GT and 21 714 kW during 2009-2011 and the permanent transfer of those 
vessels  from  direct  cod  fishing  to  directed  sprat  and  herring  fishing  only.  But  low  levels  of 
public  support  and  poor  financial  conditions  in  the  sector  were  among  the  reasons  why 
owners were not interested in modernisation or permanently transferring from directed cod to 
pelagic fishery only. Nevertheless, many pelagic vessels were decommissioned during 2009-
2011. The indicators and targets set out in the FEAP for modernisation and capacity removal 
from the direct cod fishery were not achieved. 

3.5. 

Introduction of Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQ) 

Poland planned to introduce the ITQ system for the management of the cod fishing fleet from 
2012.  This  was  seen  as  an  important  advance  in  efficiency  that  would  contribute  to  further 
adjustment  of  the  fishing  fleet’s  capacity  to  the  fishing  opportunities.  Though  the  Polish 
authorities  conducted  a  broad  political  debate  and  consultations  with  the  sector,  it  proved 
impossible to implement the ITQ in the face of strong resistance from stakeholders. 

4. 

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

Over recent years, Baltic Sea cod stocks have significantly  improved, resulting in increased 
quota allocations to the Member States concerned. In addition, Poland has paid back in full 
the  cod  quotas  that  had  earlier  been  overfished  through  a  four-year-long  quota  deduction 
scheme. 

Most  of  the  requirements  set  out  in  the  National  Action  Plan  on  control  had  been 
implemented  by  the  end  of  2011.  The  national  monitoring  and  control  system  and  the 

EN 

8 

   EN 

 
  
reliability  of  the  catch  and  effort  reporting  system  improved  over  the  period  2008-2011, 
resulting  in  a  system  that  can  ensure  effective  control  and  inspection  as  envisaged  in  the 
agreed  record  on  the  Polish  fisheries  control  system.  Some  minor  elements  still  need  to  be 
addressed, and the national authorities might need to make some adjustments to be able to use 
the  new  MCS  system  to  its  full  potential.  It  is  therefore  very  important  to  continue  making 
improvements to the system. 

It  is  essential  for  Poland  to  adopt  all  necessary  measures,  with  special  regard  to  the  new 
national Fisheries Act. As for all other Member States, the Commission services will continue 
to  monitor  the  state  of  play  closely,  and,  where  appropriate,  follow  up  any  failure  in  the 
implementation of the measures required.  

The  Commission  notes  that  the  permanent  decommissioning  scheme  and  the  system  of 
temporary  cessation  of  cod  fishing  activities  of  some  vessels  have  not  enabled  Poland  to 
achieve its target of reducing capacity by 50 %. This is the case in spite of the significant costs 
of such schemes, which have proven to be largely ineffective and inefficient across the EU. 

Against this background, considering the dynamic changes taking place in the Baltic Sea fish 
stocks and fleets, Poland should continue to assess the performance of the fleet regularly to 
determine  whether  a  balance  has  been  achieved  between  fishing  capacity  and  available 
resources.  

Where  necessary,  measures  should  be  introduced  to  address  any  obvious  imbalance  in  a 
particular fleet segment or fishery. Public resources should be used to facilitate the transition 
to more sustainable, selective and low-impact fishing. 

EN 

9 

   EN