Ahead of the European Parliament’s public hearing on the implementation and future perspectives of the Common Fisheries Policy  tomorrow, NGOs are calling on EU institutions and Member States to better follow and enforce the rules of the policy, rather than considering any reform at this stage.

Vera Coelho, Senior Director of Advocacy at Oceana in Europe, said “The Common Fisheries Policy is fit for purpose – but Member States and EU institutions fail to properly implement it. Engaging in a new reform would distract from taking real action to deliver on the CFP’s commitments to end overfishing, manage fisheries according to ecosystem limits and promote socio-economic benefits. In the current ecological crises and while severe overfishing continues, we have no time for such distractions.”

While it has been in force since 2014, poor implementation of the CFP by the EU and its member countries is preventing its objectives for sustainable fisheries in Europe from being achieved. For example, 43% of fish stocks in the North-East Atlantic and 83% of those in the Mediterranean are still subject to overfishing¹.

NGOs are calling for concrete solutions to urgently address the challenges of implementing the CFP. For example, the EU Council, national governments and fishers must work together and follow scientific advice to end overfishing, transition fairly (in terms of socio-economics) to low-impact fisheries to mitigate negative impacts on ecosystems (e.g. bycatch of endangered species), and include a climate component in fisheries management (e.g. lessen the impact of the fishing sector on global greenhouse gas emissions).

Rebecca Hubbard, Programme Director of Our Fish said “While the EU’s fisheries legislation does not mention climate change, it calls for environmental impacts of fishing to be minimised, which clearly includes climate impacts, of which the EU fishing fleet has many. So at this point, we need more delivery of already-made good laws from EU Member States and MEPs, and less blah blah about potential improvements.”

Before considering any reform of the CFP, NGOs state that the European Commission and EU Member States should use the tools already available in the policy and in other legal instruments to properly implement and enforce its rules. The Commission, for example, should use its power to initiate legislative and political action, including legal sanctions against countries who do not abide by the rules.

Antonia Leroy, Head of Ocean Policy at WWF European Policy Office added: “It would be premature to consider the CFP’s objectives as inadequate when some of these objectives, and certain key tools to achieve them, remain generally overlooked. For instance, it is time to dedicate specific quotas to fishers striving to minimise their impact on marine ecosystems, while also making sure that they enjoy a fair standard of living, as called for by the CFP.”