NFFO focusses on 2nd round of EU/Norway negotiations

The NFFO (National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations), recently represented the interests of English, Welsh and Northern Irish fishermen at the crucial 1st round of EU/Norway Negotiations which opened 5th November in Bergen.  The NFFO representatives ensured that the concerns and priorities of their members were listened to, however the outcome hangs on of the 2nd round, 21-25th November, in Brussels.  The NFFO will strive to ensure that these final negotiations will result in practical solutions which fishermen can live with.

During the 1st round, negotiations focused on the 4 fisheries which are most controversial within the EU/Norway agreement - cod, whiting, plaice and herring:  

Cod

The Commission appears to have avoided the problems of last year when DG Environment’s involvement caused confusion due to mismanagement of the negotiating process.  This year, conflict is focussed on Norway’s hard line approach, in contrast to a slightly less purist stance from the Commission.  A significant factor this year is that the most recent ICES advice, from October, confirms that fishing mortality is lower and the biomass higher, than the May assessment suggested.

At the current time, the Commission has declined to state their position on TAC level, until STECF (European Commission’s Scientific and Technical Committee on Fisheries) has reported on this – the report will be available in time for the 2nd round and will obviously play a critical role in the negotiations.

The member states however, did state their position, with the UK arguing for a 15% increase on the cod TAC, both to reduce discards and to encourage the sector to adopt the various cod avoidance initiatives.  This approach was supported by Denmark, Belgium and France, with only Sweden against.

Norway recognised the substantial improvement in the North Sea cod stock, but with ICES advice calling for a further reduction in fishing mortality and with unaccounted removals running at an estimated 44,000 tonnes, they decided to argue for a small reduction in the TAC, with additional technical measures to reduce fishing mortality, especially discards.

Whiting

Despite their lack of commercial interest in this fishery, the Norwegians indicated that they would want to follow the ICES science – an 80% reduction in TAC. The Commission argued that a cut of 80% was too restrictive and that a lesser reduction in the TAC, along with measures to improve selectivity was a better solution.  

Conflict surrounded technical proposals and a dedicated working group will be convened, to resolve these issues.  The Commission proposed square mesh panels of 120mm, and this was rejected by all. A subsequent proposal from the Commission for a mesh size increase from 80mm to 100mm is likely, at least for the directed whiting fishery.  Worryingly, if adopted, this would impact on the nephrops fishery with a 100mm mesh or 120mm square mesh panel becoming a requirement, however member states were clear in their criticism of this blunt and disproportionate response.

Plaice

Despite the fact that Norway has a negligible interest in plaice, again, the Norwegians argued that the ICES science should be followed, despite the existence of an EU flatfish management plan which requires a 3.5% reduction in the TAC.  Whilst this plan, in Norway’s view, was “promising”, an alternative Norwegian draft plan, which called for a much greater reduction in TAC was offered.  The NFFO feels that this is negotiating tactics – by making the EU work harder for a higher TAC than the ICES advice, Norway will extract concessions elsewhere in the agreement.

Herring

ICES advice is for a 50% cut in the North Sea herring TAC, however, the Commission has indicated support for the Pelagic RAC view that the reduction should be moderated to 35%.