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The National Federation of Fishermens Organisations said last night it welcomes the European Commission’s clarification over the definition of the term “overfishing”.
Commenting on the eve of the CFP reform announcement, the NFFO said that in the public mind the term was associated with 'extinction or collapse' . The Commission has not been careful in the past to make clear that its use had been changed to indicate failure to exploit to full potential. This latest statement was an important clarification.
The NFFO statement adds: "We also welcome the Commission’s acknowledgement that fish stocks in European waters are improving. Important progress has been made in the Atlantic zone and, although we agree with the Commission that this is good news and that it shows that “determined action makes a difference”, we probably do not share with the Commission the same view as to which measures have made a difference.
Turning to the issue of maximum sustainable yield, it said the RACs (regional advisory councils) have submitted advice to the Commission explaining that the current Commission's approach to achieving maximum sustainable yield by 2015 was flawed, principally because it failed to take account of the implications of exploitation in multi-species fisheries. "We await the Commission’s response to the points made by the RACS and the alternatives proposed," the NFFO adds.
The Federation said that in various places within the Communication the Commission indicated that the total allowable catches (TACs) adopted in previous years exceed scientific advice by a range of percentages, in what appears to be an implicit criticism of the Council of Ministers, the advisory councils and the fishing industry.
The NFFO statement also covers current concerns such as poor stock data, fishing effort, long term management plans and North Sea herring and saithe.
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