Den 15 Mars nådde Europaparlament och Europeiska Rådet en politisk överenskommelse om en flerårig plan för de viktigaste fiskbestånden i Östersjön, i enlighet med ett förslag från Kommissionen från 2014.
Detta är den första i en ny generation förvaltningsplaner som implementerar EUs reformerade fiskeripolitik (CFP) som syftar till att göra förvaltningen av fiskbestånd mera flexibel och regionalt baserad:
In keeping with the CFP’s emphasis on regionalisation, the agreed plan empowers regional decision-making on technical issues that are best decided at the level of the Baltic sea basin. Member States will also be able to decide on how best to implement the landing obligation – a key part of the CFP’s drive for greater sustainability.
While Member States get a greater say on managing fisheries in their sea basin, the plan stays true to the fundamental objective of the CFP: a commitment to reach fully sustainable fisheries by 2020 at the latest. To this end, the plan not only aims to meet maximum sustainable yield (MSY) targets for cod, herring and sprat, but also contains a number of ”safeguard measures” that will be triggered in case stocks fall below certain thresholds. Such additional management measures to reach MSY could, as a last resort, include a full closure of fisheries to allow fish stocks to recover.
In line with the precautionary approach, the plan also allows Member States to agree on conservation measures for flatfish, which are unavoidable bycatch in cod fisheries in the Baltic Sea and for which MSY advice is not available.
Miljöorganisationen Oceana menar för sin del att planen inte är tillräcklig och möjliggör ett fiske som inte är långsiktigt hållbart:
Last night the European Parliament, Council of Ministers and Commission reached a disappointing political agreement on the multiannual management plan covering the stocks of cod, herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea. The plan in its current form allows for the continued overfishing of the most important Baltic stocks essentially making the CFP’s commitment to the restoration of fish stocks back to healthy levels redundant.
”The Fisheries Ministers of the European Member States have yet again proved that EU conservation law exists on paper only by choosing to continue ignoring the obligation to manage our fish stocks sustainably,” explains Lasse Gustavsson, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe. ”Ending overfishing by 2020 has to be our top priority and the decision makers had the power to do this. Yesterday’s proposal is a lost opportunity to achieve that”
Oceanas kritik av den nya förvaltningsplanen är inte den enda existerande kritiken utan det har regelbundet framförts kritik under hela tiden som förslaget till plan tagits fram. Kanske inte alltid med fog.
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om Förvaltningsplan, Östersjön, MSY, Oceana, CFP, Fiske, Östersjön, EU
