UK could double its fish catch if quotas allowed stocks to recover, says study

Following scientific advice on rebuilding overfished species would double British catches within a decade creating thousands more jobs, study suggests
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 13 Mar 15;

Fishermen in the UK could benefit from doubled fish catches within a decade and an expanded industry, if European Union fishing quotas were in line with scientific advice, a new study has found.

British fleets would be able to land 1.1bn tonnes of fish a year – up from about 560m at present – within a decade if scientific advice on re-stocking overfished species were heeded, according to estimates from the New Economics Foundation.

Larger catches, with the revenue that would accrue to them – an extra €500m (£356m) a year in the UK alone, based on current prices – and thousands of extra jobs could become available if stocks were allowed to recover, because this would bring about higher yields.

Larger catches will only come at the cost of short-term gain, however: if the UK’s quota were to be re-balanced immediately, more than a tenth of current levels would have to be sacrificed. This could be much higher for other member states.

This is one of the major reasons why quota negotiations are strongly tilted towards a short-term view.

Griffin Carpenter, of the New Economics Foundation, said: “Our analysis shows that rebuilding fish stocks can result in more jobs, more profits and higher wages. Ministers are squandering significant economic potential through their failure to sustainably manage a vital environmental resource.”

Fishing quotas are set using historical quotas and records, and the size of the fleet in each EU member state. Ministers meet in Brussels each December to wrangle over quotas, but are not under an obligation to manage fish stocks without overfishing.

Under recent reforms to the EU’s common fisheries policy quotas should be moved to a “maximum sustainable yield”, bringing scientific advice to the fore in setting quotas. However, the obligation to work towards a maximum sustainable yield will be phased in gradually over the next five years.

There is dispute over what a maximum sustainable yield is, as scientists and fishermen disagree about the size of fish stocks in European waters.

Last December ministers set quotas above scientifically advised limits for nearly two-thirds of the EU’s fish stocks, according to the New Economics Foundation report.

Cod and whiting, which are the main species in most of the UK’s fishing areas, have good potential for recovery, the report found, and if they were well-managed the stock may rise to levels at which better catches are possible, while the UK would keep its share of the quota. British fleets would benefit from taking the same share of a larger pie.