COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL Establishing a multiannual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea
Date: 2018-03-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Subjects: Mediterranean Sea, authorised catch, catch by species, catch quota, conservation of fish stocks, deep-sea fishing, fishing area, fishing rights, sea fish, sea-bed

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.3.2018  SWD(2018) 59 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL Establishing a multiannual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea {COM(2018) 115 final} - {SWD(2018) 60 final}  
 
 
Impact assessment on a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a 
multiannual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea 

Executive Summary Sheet 

Why? What is the problem being addressed? 

A. Need for action 

There are two major problems in the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean. These 
are  the  high  levels  of  overfishing  and  the  ineffective  regulatory  framework.  The  excessive  use  of  fishing 
capacity (i.e. high amount of vessels and fishing effort) has been identified as the leading cause of overfishing. 
At the same time, the current regulatory framework is ineffective because of its limited scope of application, the 
slow and poor implementation and the lack of stakeholder ownership. These two problems have resulted, directly 
or indirectly, in the alarming state of demersal stocks (i.e. over 80 % of the assessed stocks are overfished and 
the biomass of some of them is very low, indicating that there is a high probability of collapse), socio-economic 
implications for the fishermen and the fishing sector, and impacts on the marine environment. 

The problems described above primarily affect fishermen fishing for demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean, 
meaning  EU  fleets  from  Italy,  France  and  Spain.  According  to  the  data  reported  under  the  EU  fisheries  data 
collection framework (DCF), around 13 000 vessels would be potentially affected by this initiative. 

What is this initiative expected to achieve? 

The  general  objectives  are  as  follows:  to  achieve  the  objectives  of  the  CFP  (Article  2)  in  the  western 
Mediterranean  demersal  fisheries,  namely  with  regards  to  ensuring  that  fishing  activities  are  environmentally 
sustainable  in the long-term and  are managed in a way that allow  economic, social and employment benefits; 
and to improve the regulatory management framework of these fisheries. 

The specific objectives are as follows: (i) to achieve and maintain fishing mortality at the maximum sustainable 
yield  for  all  demersal  stocks  by  2020;  (ii)  to  increase  the  selectivity  of  bottom  trawls,  particularly  to  exclude 
juvenile  individuals;  (iii)  to  ensure  a  sustainable  fishing  sector;  and  (iv)  to  provide  an  effective  management 
framework, which is simpler, more stable and provides stakeholders with greater ownership. 

What is the value added of action at the EU level? 

Demersal fish stocks and fishing vessels are trans-boundary, so action at Member State level alone is unlikely to 
be effective in achieving the objectives. To be effective, measures should be coordinated and apply to the whole 
area of distribution of the stock and to all fleets concerned; hence the need for an action at European level. 

B. Solutions 

What  legislative  and  non-legislative  policy  options  have  been  considered?  Is  there  a  preferred 
choice or not? Why? 
Three  policy  options  were  considered:  Option  1  ‘No  policy  change’  –  The  first  option  is  the  status  quo,  or  no 
policy change (i.e. the existing regulatory framework would continue to apply). It is used as a benchmark against 
which  the  alternative  options  will  be  compared;  Option  2  ‘Amending  the  current  management  framework’  – 
Under this option the current management tools, namely the national management plans, would be reviewed to 
include  the  CFP  objectives.  The  main  aspects  to  be  considered  in  the  review  would  be:  amendments  to  the 
current scope (in terms of fish stocks, fisheries and area covered); new conservation objectives such as MSY; 
quantifiable  targets  and  timeframes;  and  new  safeguards;  and  Option  3  ‘Adopting  a  multi-annual  plan  at  EU 
level’  –  This  option  would  aim  at  ensuring  that  EU  fishing  fleets  targeting  demersal  stocks  in  the  western 
Mediterranean are regulated by a single and integrated regulatory framework at the EU level. 

The preferred option is Option 3: a multi-annual plan at EU level, as it performs best on all the environmental 
and  socio-economic  objectives.  It  is  also  more  coherent  with  the  reformed  CFP,  streamlined  (one  main 
regulatory framework), more stable (it considers the long-term perspective) and more transparent (as the three 
Member States concerned would jointly adapt current fishing mortalities to sustainable levels through a Council 
Regulation) than options 1 and 2. 

1 

 
 
 
Who supports which option? 
All of the consulted stakeholders agreed that the current management framework (Option 1 or baseline) would 
not be sufficient to meet the objectives of the CFP. The consultation also found that most stakeholders do not 
agree  with  the  alternative  of  amending  the  current  management  framework  (Option  2)  because  the  problems 
previously described would still persist. On the other hand, the large majority of stakeholders (i.e. MEDAC, public 
administrations, NGOs and scientific community) regard an EU multi-annual plan (Option 3) as the best possible 
long-term solution. In their view, this approach is justified by the multi-species nature of the fisheries, the various 
Member States involved and the interactions between the different gears and types of fisheries. 

C. Impacts of the preferred option 

What are the benefits of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)? 

From  an  environmental  viewpoint,  the  modelling  suggests  that  approximately  70  %  of  the  assessed  stocks 
would recover to SSB levels above the BPA precautionary reference point by 2025. However, the probability of 
achieving fishing mortality targets for all stocks would remain low, at around 36 %. The simulations suggest that, 
under the multi-annual plan, neither indicator would be fully met. Nevertheless, this option produces substantially 
better  results  than  the  baseline  and  also  than  Option  2  in  relation  to  change  FMSY.  From  a  socio-economic 
viewpoint, only 1 fleet segment would be at financial risk by 2025 (eight fleet segments less than the baseline). 
The affected fleet segment (i.e. Spanish netters between 12 and 18 metres in overall length) has 52 vessels. 

The multi-annual plan would also be streamlined (one main regulatory framework), more stable (it considers the 
long-term perspective) and more transparent (as the three Member States concerned would jointly adapt current 
fishing mortalities to sustainable levels through a Council Regulation) than the amended framework. 

What are the costs of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)? 

The  multi-annual  plan  would  imply  greater  transitional  employment-  and  profitability-related  costs,  as  a 
consequence of the substantial reductions needed to attain fishing mortality targets. This option would put 8 fleet 
segments at financial risk by 2022 (three fleet segments more than the baseline). They are the French, Spanish 
and Italian bottom trawlers between 18 and 40 metres in overall length and some Spanish passive gears (e.g. 
longliners between 6 and 12 metres). The 8 fleet segments have 1 415 vessels, 6 193 FTE fishermen and 3 100 
jobs in ancillary activities at risk. However, under the multi-annual plan, socio-economic performance is expected 
to improve across all fleets by 2025, with 25 of 26 fleets in profit. 

How will businesses, SMEs and micro-enterprises be affected? 

All of the impacts described above are expected to be especially relevant to SMEs, as the large majority of fishing 
firms involved in exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea are micro-enterprises (on average, 
89 % of the French, Italian and Spanish enterprises in the fishing sector have only 1 vessel). There is therefore 
no basis to exclude them from the scope of the initiative, as otherwise the initiative would be aimless. The multi-
annual plan would therefore most likely apply to all enterprises including SMEs, to a varying degree depending 
on how Member States will decide to allocate the necessary reductions on the different fleet segments. 

Will there be significant impacts on national budgets and administrations? 
As  for  the  Member  States,  putting  in place  the  multi-annual plan and  the  new  effort  management regime  may 
lead to some additional administrative costs, but this could be catered for through EMFF support (Article 36 of 
the EMFF). After a transitional period, it is expected that the administrative costs (equivalent to maintaining the 
established regulatory framework) would fall and be more in line with the benefits of achieving the goals set. 

Will there be other significant impacts? 
No. 

When will the policy be reviewed? 

D. Follow up 

The plan, and its impacts, would be assessed by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries 
(STECF) five years after its entry into force. The Commission would then report to the European Parliament and 
Council on the results. 

2