ANABAC, OPAGAC and ORTHONGEL, representing the European distant-water fleet fishing tropical tunas, have warned EU institutions for several month about the impossibility for them to comply with the control regulation on margin of tolerance. This rule imposes that there is a difference of no more than 10% per species between the estimates on board and the actual landed catches.

The sector argues that operating under temperatures above 30°C, skippers only have a few minutes to sort and freeze their catches before the apparition of histamine in the tuna, which makes fish unfit for human consumption. Furthermore, similar target tuna species cannot easily be distinguished from each other in such a short time. Technological solutions are currently being studied by the fleet but will take several years to develop.

Anne-France Mattlet, Europêche Tuna Group Director, stated: “That’s why tropical tuna fleet requests to be able to apply this 10% margin of tolerance not per species but of the whole catch on board. While the European Parliament has adopted a position that takes into account the specificities of the fishing operations in the purse seine fishery, the European Commission refuses to bring any flexibility to the rule. As a consequence, ships and skippers are being sanctioned again and again, accumulating points on their licences. This will unequivocally lead to the suspension of the fishing licences and the immobilization of EU vessels. On the meanwhile, non-EU vessels will keep fishing since they are not subject to the same control, environmental, health and social rules. Some non-EU countries do not even apply the catch limits decided at international level.”

ORTHONGEL, representing the French tuna purse seine fleet, commissioned the Rinzen firm, specialized in independent economic analysis, to evaluate the socio-economic consequences of those sanctions. The verdict is inambiguous: if nothing changes, by 2026, the weight of the sanctions on the turn-over will be so unbearable that ship-owners and 1,600 jobs can simply disappear. Ms Mattlet concluded “the situation might be even worse since the study does not consider the increasing costs of fuel nor the deficit accumulated during COVID. Even during these crisis periods EU tuna vessels kept fishing without being able to generate profit to supply canning factories and maintain employment.”

Those conclusions are equally valid for the Spanish fleet. The jobs of over 2,500 fishers are hanging on by a thread since Spain is currently applying heavy sanctions that are forcing many of their units to stop for over 2 months in port. This is a direct effect of the impossibility for the EU tropical tuna distant water fleet to apply this rule. The Europêche Tuna Group is firmly asking to have a 10% margin of tolerance for the whole catch, at least until technology can solve the complicated sorting of tropical tunas by species.

Rinzen study: http://www.orthongel.fr/special/MargeTolerance/Rinzen_Orthongel_2022_EN.pdf

Press contacts:

Daniel Voces, Managing Director of Europêche: +32 2 230 48 48 daniel.voces@europeche.org

Anne-France Mattlet, Europêche Tuna Group Director : anne-france.mattlet@europeche.org

EP Press Release – Europeche MoT sanctions

The European fisheries sector has thanked Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, for the quick call for a meeting gathering all the stakeholders in the fisheries value chain affected by the situation. At the meeting, the sector, represented by Europêche and by the European Association of Fisheries Producer Organizations (EAPO), has reiterated to the Commissioner the need to adopt urgent measures in view of the turn of events, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the impact that the war is already having on the activity of the European fishing fleets.

The President of Europêche, Mr Javier Garat, declared during the meeting that: “For months the sector has been facing a difficult economic situation enduring a steep increase in gas and electricity prices and logistic costs. Now, fuel prices are reaching an all-time high, exceeding €1/litre in many EU countries. 60 cents per litre, was already the price limit for our vessels to remain profitable. The situation is even worse than the fuel crises of 2008”. He continued: “For many vessels it is impossible to go to sea. Fishing vessels in all the Member States are tying up as a consequence of the sharp increase of energy costs. If the stoppage of the activity becomes a generalised problem, there could be problems with the supply of fishery products in a matter of weeks, even more so if sanctions are imposed on those of Russian origin.”

The sector has expressed to the Commissioner the need for an urgent reaction from the EU, similar to that adopted to face the consequences of Brexit and COVID. The fishing industry proposed action on five priority axes: use the EU Fisheries Fund to compensate operators for the additional costs, help fishers who have to temporarily cease their activities and support producer organizations for the temporary storage of fishery products. Likewise, it was requested to increase the aid within the state aid framework up to 300,000-500,000 € per vessel, and to increase the year-to-year quota flexibility from 10% to 25%.

The sector has also pointed out the need for additional measures in coordination with the EU Member States, such as the reduction of social security contributions, the suspension of fish auction taxes, an extension period for COVID loans or a suspension/reduction of VAT on fish and shellfish aimed at alleviating the situation.

Sinkevičius emphasised that the Commission is taking the situation very seriously and working around the clock on solutions. He committed to study the measures urged by the sector and proposed to hold another meeting once the package of measures is more clearly defined.

Esben Sverdrup-Jensen, President of EAPO, concluded: “All efforts should be focused, where possible, on the continuation of the fishing activities to secure seafood supply as well as on providing financial assistance to those fleets forced to stop operations. Financial aid is critical, but flexible fisheries management is equally important. For instance, providing fishers the option to carry over more than the existing 10% of their fishing quotas to next year is a key free-of-charge measure”.

The sector firmly believes that the EU should focus on how to strengthen the seafood supply produced by EU companies, and not seeking for additional imports from anywhere in the world to fill the fish market gap. The second option cannot be a solution for an EU that wants to become more independent from 3^rd country’s resources.

Press contacts:

Daniel Voces, Managing Director of Europêche: +32 2 230 48 48  daniel.voces@europeche.org

Emiel Brouckaert, Secretary General of EAPO: +32 59 43 20 05  info@eapo.com

EP and EAPO Press Release – Energy Crisis

In the context of the ongoing revision of the EU fisheries control system,¹  the fishing industry association Europêche² and the EU IUU Coalition³ have released a joint statement addressed to EU decision makers.

While acknowledging the clear contribution of the current Control Regulation to improve compliance with fisheries rules, they call on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and EU fisheries Ministers to resolve the shortcomings.⁴ Particularly, the current lack of harmonised sanctions for infringements, insufficient data exchange, ambiguity of legal provisions, and disparities in the level of scrutiny in the implementation of control measures and traceability across Member States are creating a complex and uneven playing field for operators, leaving the system open for abuse. These issues highlight the need for simplification and harmonisation, and must be addressed in the future Control Regulation. The upcoming votes on the Regulation in the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers happening towards the end of the year are important opportunities for change.

 The organisations call on EU decision makers to enhance and digitise traceability of seafood products, simplify and better align control measures, require additional information for imported fisheries products, require tracking and electronic catch reporting for small-scale fishing vessels (taking into account the specifications of the fishery), and provide more public information on the implementation of enforcement measures by Member States. This will create a true level playing field on EU control efforts so all fishers are fairly and equally treated.

Daniel Voces de Onaindi, Managing Director at Europêche said: “The current EU fisheries control system is one of the most advanced in the world and has undoubtedly contributed to step up compliance with the Common Fisheries Policy and to the sustainable management of our fish stocks. Now, both Europêche and NGOs call for improvements to modernise and simplify the existing framework and overcome implementing flaws to render the system more effective. Our fishermen need clear and efficient rules uniformly applied across the EU to guarantee equal treatment, reduce bureaucracy and make their life easier.”

The EU IUU Coalition said: “It is critical that the revision of the fisheries Control Regulation ensures the sustainability objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy are met. The revised rules must strengthen compliance, modernise data management, intensify the fight against illegal fish products and guarantee a level playing field for all stakeholders in the EU. A powerful signal is being sent to EU decision makers today, with NGOs and Europêche united in proposing solutions for effective rules on fisheries control, monitoring and enforcement. We are counting on EU decision makers to ensure that the legal and implementation deficiencies are addressed, and that the future Control Regulation creates a harmonised system that secures sustainable fisheries in Europe.” 

Notes:

1. The current fisheries Control Regulation has existed since 2010 and aims to create an EU-wide control system that ensures the sustainability objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy are met. Legal and implementation flaws of the current control system, however, make clear the need for necessary improvements to modernise and simplify the way in which fishing rules are monitored and complied with in the EU. The current revision is: 2018/0193(COD) Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, and amending Council Regulations (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 1967/2006, (EC) No 1005/2008, and Regulation (EU) No 2016/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards fisheries control.
2. Europêche is the representative body for fishermen and fishing vessel owners in the European Union.
3. The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Oceana, The Nature Conservancy, The Pew Charitable Trusts and WWF are working together to promote EU leadership in improving global fisheries transparency and governance to end illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
4. European Court of Auditors, special report No 08/2017, EU fisheries controls: More efforts needed and Commission Staff Working Document Impact Assessment SWD/2018/280 final.

Press contact:

Rosalie Tukker, Policy Advisor, Europêche | Rosalie.tukker@europeche.org |+32 2 230 48 48

Irene Campmany, Communications Officer, Oceana Europe, on behalf of the EU IUU coalition | icampmany@oceana.org |+34 911.44.08.80  and +34 682.622.245

EP and Environmental NGOs Press Release – Modern, Effective and Simplified EU Fisheries Control Rules