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Melanie GomesBirdWatch Ireland

Ending Overfishing: the Setting of Total Allowable Catches for 2015

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Ending Overfishing: the Setting of Total Allowable Catches for 2015

• The situation now • What are the consequences of ignoring the

scientific advice ecologically and economically? • The tools we have to implement change • Recommendations to the committee

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The Situation Now

4Biomass of table fish in 1900

Christensen et al. 2003, Fish & Fisheries Slide from Professor Jeremy Jackson Scripps UCSB

Biomass of table fish in 1900

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and in 2000

Christensen et al. 2003, Fish & Fisheries Slide from Professor Jeremy Jackson Scripps UCSB

and in 2000…

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Current state of European stocks

• Increase in overfished stocks from 39% to 41% in the NE Atlantic since last year.

• Rate of overfishing has also increased.• In 2014 TACs were set at 35% above scientific

advice (over 3 times that from 2012 - 11% above the advice).

• Overfishing has led to reduced profitability of the sector with a rate of employment loss of 4 to 5% per annum.

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Percentage of Fixed Quota Allocation per vessel of 117 vessels in N. Ireland

1 2 3 4 56 7 8 9 1011 12 13 14 1516 17 18 19 2021 22 23 24 2526 27 28 29 3031 32 33 34 3536 37 38 39 4041 42 43 44 4546 47 48 49 5051 52 53 54 5556 57 58 59 6061 62 63 64 6566 67 68 69 7071 72 73 74 7576 77 78 79 8081 82 83 84 8586 87 88 89 9091 92 93 94 9596 97 98 99 100101 102 103 104 105106 107 108 109 110111 112 113 114 115116 117

58.5% One vessel

7.8%

6.2%

6.2%

Remaining 113 ves-sels all have under 2% of quota

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What are the consequences of ignoring the scientific advice

ecologically and economically?

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Ecosystem services from biodiversity

• Atmospheric gas assimilation & climate regulation • Resilience • Waste assimilation capacity & nutrient recycling • Food provision and productivity • Biodiversity for social & cultural values (e.g. marine

tourism)

• “Marine biodiversity loss is increasingly impairing the ocean’s capacity to provide food, maintain water quality, and recover from perturbations”. Worm et al. (2006)

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Overfishing

• “Ecological extinction caused by overfishing precedes all other pervasive human disturbance to coastal ecosystems, including pollution, degradation of water quality, and anthropogenic climate change” (Jackson et al. 2001)

• “Today, the synergistic effects of human impacts are laying the groundwork for a comparably great Anthropocene mass extinction in the oceans with unknown ecological and evolutionary consequences” (Jackson, 2008)

11Dr Daniel Pauly UBC Fisheries Centre

Photo: www.habitas.org.uk

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Economic lossThe New Economics Foundation published a report in 2013

which showed that: • Restoring 43 overfished European stocks to a biomass that

supports their Maximum Sustainable Yeild (MSY) would deliver:

• 3.5 million tonnes more fish landed each year• An additional £2.7 billion (€3.5 billion) in revenues each year • 100,000 new jobs (31% more in the EU fishing sector)

Sunken Billions report (2008) stated that economic losses in marine fisheries resulting from poor management, inefficiencies, and overfishing add up to a staggering US$50 billion (€40 billion) per year

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The tools we have to implement change

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Legislation• Common Fisheries Policy – reformed and into force on

the 1st January 2014 • According to Article 2(2) of the CFP, fishing

opportunities must be set with the objective of progressively restoring and maintaining populations of fish stocks above biomass levels capable of producing MSY.

• This needs to be achieved by 2015 where possible and progressively and incrementally for all stocks no later than 2020.

• TAC decisions are set at the December Council – onus on the Minister to achieve the 2015 deadline.

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Additional legislation

• Additional marine protection requirements under EU environmental legislation:

• The Habitats Directive• The Birds Directive• The Marine Strategy Framework Directive

• Changes to management of fisheries activities may be necessary for Member States to meet these requirements

• Article 11 of the reformed CFP outlines the processes for adopting conservation measures to meet these environmental requirements.

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Marine reserves (NTZs) & their benefits

• Increases of up to 100% of commercial scallops from the Isle of Man mobile gear closure of 2 km2 in 1989 as well as a greater abundance in upright seabed fauna that has been linked to increases in the collection of scallop spat (juvenile scallops).

• Marine reserves can have a very positive effect on local tourism, for example, the 5.5 km2 Leigh Marine Reserve, in New Zealand, attracts over 100,000 visitors per year. This brings approximately NZ $20 million to the local economy each year.

17Distribution of fishing effort around Georges Bank closed areasSource: Fogarty et al. (2007) Slide from Prof Steve Gaines

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Lundy Island No Take Zone (NTZ)

• Set up in 2003, the UKs first marine reserve or NTZ• Lundy NTZ allows stocks of commercial species to regenerate

quickly. • There has been a significant increase in the abundance of

lobster and crab inside the NTZ: over seven times as many. • More breeding lobsters are also found inside the protected area

than outside. • Other studies report that lobsters and their larvae ‘spillover’

into surrounding waters, where it is permitted to catch them, which is beneficial to local fisheries.

• Refs: Wootton et al. 2012; Hoskin et al. 2011.

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Recommendations to Committee1. Total Allowable Catches (TACs) must not exceed the scientific

advice. - ICES advises a level of catch consistent with MSY - if the catches set by Fisheries Ministers exceed this, stocks will not recover and grow, ultimately hitting the fishing industry's bottom line.

2. TACs in line with scientific advice on MSY have to be set for all stocks by 2015, where possible, and by 2020 in any event.

- Delays in achievement of this beyond this year's TAC decisions in December Council are only possible if the social and economic sustainability of the fleet is seriously jeopardised.

3. If the 2015 deadline is not achieved, evidence of this “serious jeopardy” must be provided, and TACs that do not exceed MSY advice must be implemented progressively and incrementally before 2020.

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Recommendations to Committee contd.4. Any increase in TAC for stocks subject to the discards ban

(the landing obligation), must be subject to supporting evidence from ICES and limited in scope to ensure the total out-take will not jeopardise the CFP's MSY objectives.

5 We need to allow for both natural and anthropogenic (human induced) threats, unknown ecosystem interactions and mismanagement.

- This is known as the Precautionary Approach – TACs should be even more precautionary when there is more uncertainty.

6. Ireland’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) network needs to be implemented as a matter of urgency.

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Thank you

Melanie Gomes BirdWatch Ireland