Abstract
Since January 2014, the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) of the European Union is legally binding for all Member States. It prescribes the end of overfishing and the rebuilding of all stocks above levels that can produce maximum sustainable yields (MSY). This study examines the current status, exploitation pattern, required time for rebuilding, future catch, and future profitability for 397 European stocks. Fishing pressure and biomass were estimated from 2000 to the last year with available data in 10 European ecoregions and 2 wide ranging regions. In the last year with available data, 69% of the 397 stocks were subject to ongoing overfishing and 51% of the stocks were outside of safe biological limits. Only 12% of the stocks fulfilled the prescriptions of the CFP. Fishing pressure has decreased since 2000 in some ecoregions but not in others. Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea have the highest percentage (>60%) of sustainably exploited stocks that are capable of producing MSY. In contrast, in the Mediterranean Sea, fewer than 20% of the stocks are exploited sustainably. Overfishing is still widespread in European waters and current management, which aims at maximum sustainable exploitation, is unable to rebuild the depleted stocks and results in poor profitability. This study examines four future exploitation scenarios that are compatible with the CFP. It finds that exploitation levels of 50–80% of the maximum will rebuild stocks and lead to higher catches than currently obtained, with substantially higher profits for the fishers.
Highlights
Overexploitation of fish stocks occurs at global scale [1], and some stock depletions have received prominent media coverage
This study examines four future exploitation scenarios that are compatible with the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
Rebuilding the biomass (B) of stocks above the MSYlevel (Bmsy) requires further reduction of fishing pressure, i.e., F must be smaller than fishing pressure that can produce MSY (Fmsy), but the extent of this reduction is left unspecified in the CFP and is a matter of controversy among fisheries scientists and managers [7]
Summary
Overexploitation of fish stocks occurs at global scale [1], and some stock depletions have received prominent media coverage (e.g. cod Gadus morhua in Canada: [2]). Despite this overall overexploitation pattern, current exploitation and biomass trends differ between few well-managed regions where stocks are recovering, and many badly managed regions where stocks continue to decline [3]. Three possible indicators for helping in the selection of adequate fishing pressure are the time required for rebuilding, the expected catches, and the profitability of the fisheries during and after the rebuilding phase These indicators are functions of the current status of the stocks (B/Bmsy), the remaining level of exploitation
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