Brussels/London
- While today scientists from the International
Council for the Exploitation of the Sea
(ICES) have announced that cod stocks continue
to be chronically overfished in almost all
European waters and recommended again zero
catches, the Council of the European Union
has been given further reign to ignore scientific
advice and set too high fishing quotas for
this species, says WWF.
WWF was refused entry
to the European Court to challenge the Council
of Ministers on the legality of quota decisions
which are being clearly set outside the
scientific advice.
Carol Hatton, WWF-UK’s
Solicitor, said: “It’s incredibly frustrating
that whilst we are arguing over access to
the Court, cod stocks are still under pressure.
We believe it is important to appeal this
judgment to establish that NGOs can access
the Court to ensure that in the future fishing
quotas take heed of scientific advice and
are not set at a level that has serious
consequences for the marine environment”
In March 2007, WWF-UK
applied to the Court of First Instance to
challenge the 2007 cod quota levels set
by the Council of the European Union. If
the number of mature cod in the sea falls
below a certain level, EU law requires the
Council to reduce the quotas by more than
15 per cent. In December 2006, the European
Council failed to do this, ignoring scientific
advice and prompting WWF to take legal action
for a breach of Article Seven of the Cod
Recovery Plan.
WWF-UK asked the Court
to order the Council to review its decisions
on cod quotas, with a view to setting them
at a level which will allow stocks to reach
precautionary levels as soon as possible.
Yet, the Court of First Instance has refused
to give WWF-UK access to the Court to challenge
the legality of the quota levels, a blow
for dwindling cod stocks, showing that the
Council can continue to ignore scientific
advice without repercussion, putting fragile
cod stocks at further risk from over fishing.
And the same old story
continues. ICES advice published today shows
that cod stocks continue to be overfished
in almost all EU waters due to high levels
of discards and overexploitation in 2007.
Scientists report that discarding of North
Sea cod has increased to 40% in 2007 and
is expected to remain high in 2008. The
high quantity of juveniles caught last year,
amounting at 84% of international landings,
is considered a big hinder to recovery potential
of this stock.
For almost all cod stocks
ICES recommend zero catches for 2008.
“Last year the EU has
missed a real opportunity to do the right
thing by increasing the North Sea Cod quotas
while the stock was still under a recovery
plan,” says Carol Phua, Senior Fisheries
Policy Officer at WWF.
“The science is clear, give cod a break
now, and protect the juveniles, or there
will be no future for cod. Ignoring this
advice again and setting wildly inappropriate
fishing quotas without mandatory measures
to reduce the bycatch of juveniles will
continue one of the greatest European environmental
injustices.” The final decision on the quotas
is expected at the EU Fisheries Council
in December, based on a proposal presented
by the European Commission.
Notes to editors
• This year ICES recommends zero catches
for 2008 for the following cod stock in
the North Sea, Kattegat, Skagerrak, Eactern
Channel, West of Scotland and Irish Sea
The North Sea. ICES has also recommended
measures which will improve the survival
of young cod such as the Eliminator Trawl
(WWF Smart Gear winner) and the Scottish
Credit Conservation Scheme should be encouraged.
• In 2007, for the first time since 2002,
Ministers have conceded an 11 % increase
of quota for North Sea cod, about 22,000
tonnes, the double of what indicated by
scientists. The quota increase was based
on early signs of stock recovery but Ministers
failed to put in place compulsory measures
that mean young fish stay in the sea to
reproduce. Only voluntary measures put forward
by the fishing industry were agreed as a
means of reducing the dramatic amount of
unwanted cod removed from the sea and discarded
in a range of associated fisheries.
• The Council defended the action on the
basis that WWF did not have “standing” or
admissibility before the Court, claiming
that WWF was neither “directly or individually
concerned” by the EC Regulation setting
cod quotas for areas such as the North Sea,
Irish Sea and waters off the West Coast
of Scotland. WWF argues that it is directly
and individually concerned by the Regulation
because of its role in the Regional Advisory
Councils, established under a separate EC
regulation to provide advice on the management
of fisheries in the North Sea.
Stefania Campogianni,
Press Officer
WWF European Policy Office
Carol Phua, Senior Fisheries Policy Officer
WWF European Policy Office
