More work needed for holistic approach to fisheries, EU-project suggests
Although formally adopted in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy in 2002, the switch from a traditional approach to fisheries policies that focuses on the protection of fish populations to a holistic ecosystems approach has not yet been fully implemented. This is the key conclusion drawn by the EU-funded IBEfish project in a policy brief published as the project came to a close. The project tries to provide a synthesis of past European research projects in the field. It recognises that industrial fisheries pose a serious ecological threat to the marine environment, and points out that changes in the environment - for instance, a growing population of fish-eating animals such as seals and cormorants - might have an impact on fisheries. 'If fisheries are to be sustainable in the future, new decision-making approaches and structures are needed for ecosystems threatened by fisheries and for regions in which environmental changes threaten the profitability of fisheries,' project partners state. According to IBEfish, the following points impede implementation of the ecosystems approach and need to be overcome in order to achieve a more participative and encompassing management approach: - high knowledge and information processing requirements; - participation of stakeholders in balancing different interests and values; - coordination across vertical and horizontal administrative boundaries; - other uses of the sea (wind energy, protected areas, etc.) have to be taken into account, introducing a range of new actors into the debate. As public authorities, user groups and the general public all have a stake in these issues, the IBEfish researchers indicate that it might be necessary to establish new institutions to address the needs of all stakeholders in different sectors and in different levels. The IBEfish project was funded under the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). Four research institutes from Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the UK contributed to the research coordinated by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). Two more detailed papers by researchers involved in the project and dedicated to an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management are set to be published in 2008.