 Policy background of Socio-economic dimensions of fisheries activity 169.20 Kb
Socio economic advice
The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries provides that States should ensure that the economic, social, marketing and institutional aspects of fisheries are adequately researched and that comparable data are generated for ongoing monitoring, analysis and policy formulation. It also states that in order to ensure sustainable management of fisheries and to enable social and economic objectives to be achieved, sufficient knowledge of social, economic and institutional factors should be developed through data gathering, analysis and research.
In line with the requirement from the FAO Code of conduct that also require to base management decision on the best scientific evidence available, the European Union has set up the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture (ACFA) and the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF). The ACFA was originally created by the EU in 1971 but renewed in 1999 (Commission Decision No. 1999/478/EC) and in 2004 (Commission Decision No 2004/864/EC) and is composed of representatives of the fishing industry – catching, processing, trading, aquaculture and organizations representing consumer, environmental and developmental interests. The STECF was established in 1993 (Commission Decision No. 93/619/EC) and renewed in 2005 (Commission Decision No. 2005/629/EC); the STECF is composed of highly qualified scientific experts and produces an annual report on the current status of the fisheries resources, their development and any consequent economic implications.
Still until recently advisory systems in EU fisheries were focusing on the biological sciences and little quantitative advice was available about the social and economic impact of alternative management strategies. The systematic collection of economic fisheries data on a Community basis by Member States has only begun in 2004 (see below the section on data collection). Still, reflecting the growing importance of economics in management decision, the DG Fish has recently created a new unit in charge of the economic analysis that has been instrumental of the production of the Communication for the Commission on improving the economic situation of the fishing industry of the European Union (COM (2006) 103 final.
Impact assessments
Sustainable exploitation of living activities resources requires the consideration of its environmental, social and economic dimension as stated in the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (Council Regulation (EC) 2371/2002). Fishing is an economic activity that while of limited overall importance compared to its share of GDP has an important regional value to many coastal areas in the EU, as a source of employment for example. As any economic activity, fishing needs to be profitable as fishermen are first of all involved in fishing activities in order to make a living. So the impact of management measures such as quotas, technical measures or closed seasons or areas must be carefully be assessed in order to determine their compatibility with socio economic viability of fishing activities. Even more so as inappropriate management measures will not be understood and hence respected by fishermen with a risk it will lead to unsustainable fishing practices.
The European Union, has recognized at the Göteborg European Council in June 2001 and the Laeken European Council in December 2001 the importance of considering the effects of policy proposals in their economic, social and environmental dimensions.
Within the framework of the Better Regulation package and the European Sustainable Development Strategy, the Commission has taken several concrete actions to improve the way it designs policy. One of these is impact assessment, for which the Commission introduced a new method in 2002, integrating and replacing previous single-sector type of assessments (Commission's Communication COM(2002)276 of 5 June 2002 on Impact Assessment).
Impact assessment (IA) is a process aimed at structuring and supporting the development of policies. It identifies and assesses the problem at stake and the objectives pursued. It identifies the main options for achieving the objective and analyses their likely impacts in the economic, environmental and social fields. It outlines advantages and disadvantages of each option and examines possible synergies and trade-offs.
Further, by providing a careful and comprehensive analysis of likely social, economic and environmental impacts, both direct and indirect, it also contributes to meeting the specific commitments of the Lisbon and Sustainable Development Strategies.
Reduction of overcapacity
In the context of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and its overall objective of sustainable fisheries, the issues of excess fishing capacity in world fisheries is an increasing concern. Excessive fishing capacity is a problem that, among others, contributes substantially to overfishing, the degradation of marine fisheries resources, the decline of food production potential, and significant economic waste. The Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries provides that States should take measures to prevent or eliminate excess fishing capacity and should ensure that levels of fishing effort are commensurate with sustainable use of fishery resources.
The adoption and endorsement of an International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity (IPOA-capacity) has been a recognition by the international community of the need to move in that direction and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development has reinforced the necessity of developing national and, where appropriate, regional plans of action to reduce fishing capacity.
In this context socio economic research plays a major role first of all in order to asses the impact of potential measures on the European catching sector by analyzing the cost and benefits of different management options and second in providing advice to decision makers on possible ways of mitigating the consequences of the painful measures that will have to be taken.
Data collection
In order to assess impact to give socio economic advice or to take the best management decision, one needs accurate information on the problematic and on the situation. Data is of utmost importance to research and decision makers alike and has therefore been the subject of a specific Council regulation ( (EC) No 1543/2000) that lays down the basis of the requirements of data collection and transfer by member States. This regulation details the type of information that needs to be collected and provided by the MS (volume of catch, prices, discards levels, income derivated from fishing activities, production costs, employment levels) as well as the frequency of their collection. The application rules of the regulation 1543/2000 are laid down in the Commission regulation (EC) No 1581/2004 of 27 August 2004.
Since then the Community has accepted greater responsibility for the collection of the data needed to operate the common fisheries policy. Whereas data collection had previously been the responsibility of Member States with some ad hoc funding by the Community, the Community is now putting in place programmes to enhance cooperation and coordination of data collection, with standardised procedures and criteria with special emphasis on socio economic data.
Summaries
The summaries (Technical Leaflets) relating to long-term management and recovery plans include
This section has been abridged from these different sources:
-
Council Regulation (EC) 2371/2002. 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy. Official Journal of the European Union, L358(31/12/2002) (2002) 59-80.
-
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on Improving the economic situation in the fishing industry (COM (2006) 103 final).
-
Communication from the Commission on Improving scientific and technical advice for Community fisheries management (2003/C47/06).
-
-
-
FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
-
Plan of Implementation, World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg 2002.
|
Policy 
