Commission aims to reduce overexploitation of fish stocks
Fish stocks throughout EU waters are overexploited and significant reductions in fishing effort are required to remedy this situation. These are the recent findings of the Lassen Group, a group of independent experts charged by the Commission to evaluate the state of the stocks exploited by the European fleets in view of the application of the multiannual Guidance Programme IV (1997-1999). The Lassen report points out the need for substantial reductions in fishing mortality, in almost all of the stocks examined. The group advocates a progressive approach in which significant but not extreme reductions in effort are accompanied by a continuous monitoring of the state of the stocks. On the basis of this report, the Commission considers that the reductions in fishing effort needed on each of the stocks must be translated into a policy for the fleets that exploit them, taking into account the views of the fishing industry collected during the course of more than 30 regional consultations throughout Europe. The socio-economic impact of the measures to be taken must also be considered, especially concerning the rapidity with which the required reductions in fishing effort can be achieved. The primary aim of the multiannual Guidance Programme is to reduce fleet capacity to a level that will ensure the long-term balance between fishing effort and resources, thus improving or returning to profitability the companies operating in the fisheries sector. The Commission will examine all the information available to formulate a proposal that will represent a step in the right direction over the three years of the multiannual Guidance Programme IV.