HOOK, LINE AND SINKER EUROPE S COD ON THE BRINK OF RECOVERY OR COLLAPSE?

Transcription

1 HOOK, LINE AND SINKER EUROPE S COD ON THE BRINK OF RECOVERY OR COLLAPSE? 1

2 For the first time since 2002, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the scientific body advising the European Union, has not recommended a zero quota for North Sea cod for the upcoming fishing season due to a small increase in the number of juveniles. However, scientists have told EU Fisheries Ministers that extremely careful management of the stock is needed to secure its recovery. Currently EU Fisheries Ministers plan to increase quotas for North Sea cod by 11%, with little sign of adequate effort reduction (days at sea) and concrete measures to secure the much needed avoidance of cod in the first instance and of cod bycatch is critical for North Sea cod and presents a huge challenge to the European Commission and EU Member States. There are the first signs of recovery for years and this should be managed to secure the recovery of the stock but if handled wrongly, the result will be to plunge the population into decline and potential collapse yet again. > The choice is there to make the right decisions will the Commission and Member States get it right? > Have we learnt the lessons from the 90 s with the Grand Banks collapse in Canada and previous signs of recovery in Europe, which have ended in disaster? Only the decisions made in December will answer these questions 2

3 NORTH SEA COD : LET S GET IT IN PERSPECTIVE REALITY CHECK Despite improvements this year, current levels of cod in the North Sea are still well below the minimum 70,000 tonnes considered safe for the population. In recent years approximately 85% of international landings in numbers of this fishery have been juvenile cod, aged 1 to 3 years. On average 95% of a year class is taken out before it has spawned for the first time. This has got to change if cod in the North Sea is to stand a chance of recovery. WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE ADVISING > The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) is advising that total removals of cod from the North Sea should not be greater than 22,000 tonnes (including landings, unaccounted removals and discards). > The Scientific and Technical Committee for Fisheries (STECF) recommends that, in addition to any agreed Total Allowable Catches (TAC), accompanying direct fleet-based effort reductions in combination with improved control and enforcement also be implemented. STECF recognises however, that the immediate and short-term economic and social implications of any drastic reductions in fishing opportunities may be huge and will no doubt be of prime concern for fishery managers. Nevertheless, if exploitation rates are not reduced sufficiently, there is a high probability that stock rebuilding will not occur, thereby maintaining or increasing the risk of reduced reproductive capacity of the North Sea cod stock, and prolonging the future risk of even greater economic and social consequences. ICES Advice 2007, Book 6, Cod in Subarea IV (North Sea), Division VIId (Eastern Channel), and Division IIIa (Skagerrak) (See also update 6.4.2b) 3

4 WILL WE EVER LEARN FROM PAST EXPERIENCE? IN EUROPE THE LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED The last time there was a promising year class of cod in the North Sea was in 1996 when better than average recruitment occurred. In 1997 the year class was evident on the fishing grounds and pressure for higher TACs increased. Discard rates in the fishery shot from 14,300 tonnes to 33,600 tonnes in 1997 and to 40,500 tonnes in 1998 leaving the stock in a state of decline thereafter, as shown in Figure 1.0. Adequate measures to fish more selectively or to avoid catching cod were not taken. A dead fish is a dead fish When a fish is caught in a net and brought onboard the vessel, there are usually two places it will end up either landed on the quayside for sale or discarded back to sea for any number of reasons (the fish is over quota, undersize or has too low value). Either way, the fish is dead. Which is why avoiding the capture of the unwanted fish is essential. This is critical with respect to current cod stocks. A fisheries management tool that only increases legal quota to allow more fish to be landed simply to avoid discards is not making a difference to the overall number of dead fish. WHERE WE ARE NOW We have a repeat of the situation in 2007 whereby the 2005 year class provided a higher than normal abundance of cod on the ground in The result was higher discard levels in the cod associated fisheries in 2006 and substantially higher in 2007, leading to a call by the industry and government for an increase in quotas to combat the discard problem. But the problem is not only discarding, it is the capture of too many cod in the first place. The way to secure more cod surviving to reproduce will not be achieved by allowing more fish to be landed instead of discarded a dead fish remains a dead fish. There need to be substantial measures to avoid the capture of cod by using more selective gear and avoiding areas where high levels of cod are found. It is not difficult there are ways of achieving this and it can be done if the political will exists. Most stakeholders, from fishermen, non-governmental organisations, Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) to fishery managers, are in agreement that what is needed is a reduction in cod mortality to secure recovery. Changes to quotas and effort that make no difference on how selective the fishing gear is or to where fishermen are fishing both major factors affecting discard levels - will not have the desired impact on the recovery of the stock. 4

5 The last time there was any promise of a recovering cod population in the North Sea, fishery managers failed to take precautionary measures to avoid the capture of cod on the ground. As a result, fisheries experienced massive levels of discarding as they continued to catch undersize fish and the juveniles (mainly 1 year-old population) was fished out. The result of this was to plunge the cod population into a point of near collapse and created the need for a recovery plan. NORTH SEA COD SUMMARY Contribution of the 1996 year class Strong decrease due to increase in quota in response to the 1996 year class - high levels of discarding - weak recruitement Contribution of the 2005 year class Increase in 1998 TAC - and increase in discarding of the 1996 year class juveniles Increase in TAC - without measures to reduce bycatch of cod, this would lead to added fishing pressure on the 2005 year class Figure 1.0 North Sea Cod Summary based on ICES data (Total Biomass, TAC & Spawning Stock Biomass), C. Phua - WWF European Policy Office (November 2007) 5

6 In Canada Europe runs the risk of looking like a case study of how not to manage cod recovery. The ongoing tragedy in the Grand Banks Northern cod fishery could repeat itself in Europe. Whenever there were signs of recovery in the northern cod stock in Canada the fishery was reopened, as depicted in Figure 2.0. While not identical (a recovery plan was never introduced in Canada for example), there are many alarming similarities failure to follow scientific advice, failure to reduce pressure on the stock, premature setting of quotas at small signs of recovery, failure to avoid capture of cod with time/area closures or use of selective gear. It took only two decades to devastate a 500-year cod fishery off Canada s east coast. In the northern cod stock alone, 8.6 million tonnes were taken from , mostly by foreign (non- Canadian) fleets. Quotas and landings continued to exceed sustainable levels despite evidence of declines through the 1970 s and 1980 s. Finally in 1992, the fishery was closed as the stock had fallen to less than 1% of its historic level. In 1998, with apparent evidence of a return of inshore cod, a small tonnes fishery was opened but was closed again in 2003 due to further declines in the stock. This experiment is currently being repeated with the opening of an even smaller inshore fishery in Dr. Robert Rangeley Vice President Atlantic WWF Canada 1968 Peak of Canadian and international landings 1977 Canada claims EEZ 1992 Moratorium on directed fishing 1998 Inshore fishery re-opened 2003 Inshore fishery closed 2006 Inshore fishery re-opened Figure 2.0 Source: DFO Assessment of cod in NAFO Sub-Division 2J3K (April 2006) 6

7 WHAT NOW? The first indications from ICES on the state of North Sea cod [ ] confirm that our efforts and sacrifices are paying off with certain stocks [ ] The worse thing we could do at this stage would be to slacken our efforts by trying to cash-in immediately on the first positive signs. This would be the quickest road to ruin. Commissioner Joe Borg, in response to the ICES advice, October The time has come to make the right choice and the EU Fisheries Ministers have to face up to this. WWF urges the Commission and EU Member States to take measures that will ensure the survival of the 2005 juvenile cod or the European Union will be held responsible for the demise of North Sea cod again is a critical year for North Sea cod and a major challenge to how it is managed. There is a real opportunity for long term recovery and business as usual is not an option. Real recovery will only be achieved if fishermen start fishing more selectively and leave young cod in the water long enough to reproduce. We can t afford to repeat the mistakes of the previous years by fishing out cod before it has a chance to recover. Helen McLachlan Senior Marine Policy Officer WWF Scotland WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN The quotas set for 2008 : > need to be able to take account of the total amount of cod removed from the sea, and > need to be accompanied by measures that will ensure a significant reduction of cod bycatch in the first place The proper management of the fishery will also involve avoiding fishing in areas that are important for cod to spawn and grow, through the following measures : > Effective implementation of real time closures and area closures during spawning periods > More selective fishing gear to avoid catching large numbers of young fish and avoid catching (bycatching) cod where possible through comprehensive use of sorting grids and escape panels in prawn fisheries and use of separator trawls in whitefish fisheries > Representative observer programmes across the fleet catching cod will be necessary to provide confidence in levels of total cod removed from the sea (landed and discarded) > Adequately address the overcapacity of the fishing fleet. Currently, there is a huge mismatch between fishing pressure and the cod quotas, with effort in the region of three times greater than what is considered sustainable 7

8 COD: FACTS AND FIGURES «It s ludicrous to put extra pressure on dwindling cod stocks, when there are so many other fish choices out there for consumers. The increase in the cod as we have seen in the North Sea may be because the fishermen realised they could not carry on fishing cod. Now just because a little pressure has come off the cod and the stock has risen it does not mean we should increase the quota until we have the proof and understanding that this is the real case. I fully understand the frustrations of the fishermen at chucking away cod because of the quota system and the bycatch but what is in its place is empty promises and maybe more harm.» Tom Aikens, British Chef What is Cod Cod is a temperate bottom dwelling species that ranges in average marketable size from around 500g to over 6kg. It is mainly targeted by fleets from the UK, Denmark and the Netherlands and caught by towed gears in mixed demersal fisheries, which include haddock, nephrops, whiting, plaice and sole. They are also taken by static gear such as bottom set gill nets. Cod is classified as vulnerable on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species, which means that the species is considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. Cod Market According to Eurofish (part of the Fish Info Network), the EU is the world s largest importer of seafood, ahead of the USA and Japan. Whereas more than10 years ago 55% of white fish came from the EU s own waters, around 84% of demand is now satisfied by imports from third countries. Cod, pollock, and hake account for one third of all seafood imports into the EU. In the case of cod, Western Europe claims about 70 to 80% of world supply. Nowadays, around 80% of the cod consumed in Europe comes from non-eu waters. The major supply countries are above all Russia, Norway, Iceland and, recently, China. An example - UK Business According to Seafish, the UK Fish Industry Authority, cod is the UK s most popular fish sold in fish and chip shops, which accounts for 61.5% of fish sold, followed by haddock at 25%. In order to satisfy its domestic demand, the UK is importing around 92% of its cod, mainly supplied by Icelandic, Norwegian, Faroese and Russian sources. In 2006, China became the number one supplier of frozen cod fillet to the UK, overtaking Denmark. The same year, 12,841 tonnes of cod were landed into the UK by UK vessels, down 7% from 2005, while 303,876 tonnes of cod were imported. Cod Consumption In the UK, cod accounts for 21% by weight of fish sold in retail, as well as a sizeable amount sold in foodservice, including fish and chip shops. Fish and Chips shops sell million meals a year, that s seven meals from a Fish & Chip Shop each year for every man, woman and child in the UK. Cod is also featuring on UK s top restaurants menus. But for how long? 8

9 References Photos WWF-Canon / Bruno ARNOLD WWF Spain / Luis de AMBROSIO WWF-Canon / Quentin BATES Published December 2007 by WWF, World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund), Brussels, Belgium. Any reproduction in full or part of this publication must mention the title and credit the above-mentioned publisher as the copyright owner. text 2007, WWF. All rights reserved. Layout: Imprimerie Editions Européennes 1986 Panda symbol WWF World Wide Fund For Nature (Formerly World Wildlife Fund) WWF and living planet are Registered Trademarks WWF is one of the world s largest independent conservation organisations, with almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries. WWF s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by: conserving the world s biological diversity ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. WWF European Policy Office Avenue de Tervurenlaan 168, Box Brussels Belgium Tel Fax wwf-epo@wwfepo.org 9