COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on establishing a multi-annual plan for demersal stocks in the North Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks and repealing Council Regulation (EC)676/2007 and Council Regulation (EC)1342/2008
Date: 2016-08-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Subjects: North Sea, authorised catch, catch by species, catch quota, conservation of fish stocks, deep-sea fishing, fishing controls, fishing rights, sea fish, sustainable development

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 3.8.2016  SWD(2016) 267 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on establishing a multi-annual plan for demersal stocks in the North Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks and repealing Council Regulation (EC)676/2007 and Council Regulation (EC)1342/2008 {COM(2016) 493 final} {SWD(2016) 272 final}  
 
 
This document comprises a report of an impact assessment for a proposal for a multi-annual 
management plan covering demersal stocks in the North Sea. Multi-annual management plans 
have  shown  to  be  very  valuable  for  the  sustainable  management  of  fishery  resources.  By 
establishing rules for the exploitation of the stocks and associated measures as needed for the 
management  of  a  fishery  with  regard  to  a  specified  target,  they  provide  stability  and 
predictability while ensuring that fish stocks are exploited within the agreed limits. 

Currently, North Sea demersal fisheries are regulated with two management plans that are not 
compatible  with  the  new  CFP  established  the  new  Basic  Regulation  (Regulation  (EU) 
No 1380/2013) in 2011. It has inflicted burdensome rules on demersal fishermen in the North 
Sea  (predominantly  SMEs  and  micro-businesses).Affected  Member  States  and  stakeholders 
have been asking for a  new management framework since 2011.  The plans have undergone 
ex-post  evaluation  with  negative  results,  also  since  the  new  set  of  rules  established  in  the 
Basic Regulation, i.e. an obligation to land all catches and to manage all stocks sustainably in 
accordance  with  the  principle  of  MSY,  promises  to  be  more  successful  in  preventing 
overfishing and discarding. However, without adopting additional measures that alleviate the 
negative effects of the landing obligation in a mixed fishery, the Basic Regulation would lead 
to under-exploitation of fish stocks as soon as the landing obligation enters into force in the 
North Sea demersal fisheries and thus threaten the economic viability of the concerned fishing 
enterprises. 

In  order  to  address  the  problems  identified  above,  this  initiative  shall:  (i) reduce  the  risk  of 
underfishing,  (ii)  establish  target  fishing  mortality  ranges  as  FMSY,  (iii)  establish  biomass 
safeguards  in  order  to  build  on  the  precautionary  approach  prescribed  by  the  Basic 
Regulation,  (iv)  facilitate  the  application  of  the  landing  obligation,  (vv)  establish  the 
framework necessary for the implementation of regionalisation within the North Sea area and 
(vi) remove the days at sea regime.  

By  adopting  one  single  plan  applicable  to  all  demersal  fisheries  in  the  North  Sea,  this 
initiative shall provide a more concrete, transparent framework for achieving the sustainable 
fisheries  management  prescribed  in  the  Basic  Regulation  and  simplify  the  very  complex 
legislation currently in place. 

Four  legislative  options  have  been  considered.  Two  of  these  options  ("No  policy  change  at 
EU  level"  and  "Amendment  of  the  existing  management  plans")  were  discarded  at  an  early 
stage. 

Two  other  options  (Option  1  -  to  manage  using  the  Basic  Regulation  and  Option  2  -  to 
establish a single mixed fishery multi-annual plan) have been analysed in more depth. Several 
sub-options  for  Option  2  have  been  considered,  concerning:  (i)  the  delineation  of  the  areas, 
(ii)  the  choice  of  method  for  facilitating  the  introduction  of  the  landing  obligation,  (iii)  the 
choice of the FMSY ranges, (iv) the choice of the species covered by the plan, (v) the date by 
which FMSY shall be achieved, and (vi) the timeframe for rebuilding stocks to precautionary 
levels.  The  preferred  choice  for  the  first  4  variables  could  be  made  based  on  a  qualitative 
analysis. The latter two variables were examined through a quantitative impact analysis and 
compared to Option 1. 

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The preferred choice is Option 2 (a single mixed fishery multi-annual plan), wherein FMSY is 
achieved  by  2020  at  the  latest  and  stocks  are  rebuilt  to  within  precautionary  levels  quickly 
(within 5 years). Once FMSY has been reached for any particular stock, exploitation should 
not exceed FMSY for that stock. 

The stakeholders who actively participated in the Public Consultation are representatives from 
fisheries organisations, scientists, environmental NGOs and administrations of Member States 
concerned  by  the  plan.  The  vast  majority  of  stakeholders  and  Member  States  concerned 
support  Option  2  -  a  single  mixed  fishery  plan  for  North  Sea  demersal  fisheries.  There  is 
strong stakeholder support for this option because the new multi-annual plan will provide the 
framework  for  a  flexible,  regional,  results-based  management  approach.  There  is  broad 
consensus that the existing plans are not fit for purpose.  

The  preferred  option  (a  single  mixed  fishery  multi-annual  plan  for  North  Sea  demersal 
fisheries)  is  much  more  effective  in  reaching  any  of  the  objectives  of  this  initiative  than 
Option  1  (Basic  Regulation).  The  preferred  option  has  positive  environmental  impacts 
compared  to  Option  1.  On  average,  the  economic  and  social  impacts  are  also  positive 
compared  to  Option  1.  The  positive  environmental  effects  are  further  enhanced  by  the 
preferred sub-options "reaching FMSY by 2020 at the latest" and "5 year recovery period". In 
concrete terms, the risk of stock collapse will be reduced and the average biomasses will be 
higher.  Economically,  on  average,  profitability  will  be  increased,  mostly  due  to  reduced 
variable costs and due to availability of fishing resources. Socially, the administrative burden 
on SMEs will decrease and jobs will be preserved.  

The preferred sub-options  "reaching FMSY by 2020" and  "5  year recovery period" have no 
new economic and social costs.   

The vast majority of the businesses in the North Sea demersal catching and processing sector 
are SMEs or micro-enterprises (98%). The current  system  imposes heavy  economic  cost  on 
businesses and especially SMEs; those losses are being caused by overly-complex regulation 
and will be avoided in future (direct benefits of simplification). Sustainable exploitation will 
give  higher  profitability  leading  to  improved  economic  performance.  Fishermen  will  have 
more liberty to decide where and when to fish. All costs for implementation of the new CFP 
are eligible for financing under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.  

Legislation  will  be  simplified  due  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  current  management  plans  and 
replacement  by  one  single  plan.  Stakeholder  and  Member  States'  involvement  will  be 
increased  as  the  new  plan  makes  the  innovative,  results-based  instrument  of  regionalisation 
operational.  

It  is  important  that  the  policy  be  subject  to  a  revision  after  5  years  and  only  after  the  full 
implementation of the landing obligation to take account of the impact that it may have on the 
coherence between the policy provisions and the CFP objectives. 

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