Subject: European regulation on recreational fishing
A number of EU small-scale and artisanal professional fishers’ organisations have repeatedly stressed the impact of recreational fishing and the proliferation of related informal business activities on their catch quotas. For this reason we have always called for some order to be brought to the pursuit of recreational fishing at EU level to regulate concerns such as the issuing of permits, providing a definition of recreational fishing as well as the periods in which it can be carried out, catch opportunities, accurate catch identification and landing and control procedures. France has already taken a number of initiatives in this regard, such as the adoption on 30 January of a decree regulating the recreational fishing of bluefin tuna in the context of the 2020 multiannual management plan for this species.
1. Does the Commission share the fishers’ organisations concerns about the impact of recreational fishing on the professional fishing sector?
2. Does the Commission intend to make a proposal to resolve this matter during the current legislative term?
Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius on behalf of the European Commission (24 April 2020)
The Commission is aware and equally concerned that recreational fisheries can have an impact on the state of some stocks. This is the case e.g. for Baltic cod, Atlantic sea bass or European eel, where in some instances recreational catches are more important than the commercial ones. The Commission is monitoring the situation closely and proposes measures for recreational fisheries on a case- by-case basis, as was the case for recreational catches of sea bass and European ee l (1). Reliable and uniform data collection remains vital for the Commission to assess the impact of recreational fishing on specific stocks and to set appropriate measures.
The new Technical Measures Regulation (2) foresees that certain provisions apply to recreational fishing (3) and, in cases where recreational fishing has a significant impact in a particular region, the Commission has the power to adopt, on the basis of a joint recommendation submitted by the relevant Member States having a direct management interest, delegated acts to establish minimum conservation sizes for specific recreational fisheries. The Commission wrote in 2019 to the Member States regional groups and other stakeholders, urging them to come up with such joint recommendations.
The Commission’s proposal for the revision of the Control Regulation (4) contains a licensing system for recreational fishermen and compulsory reporting, to improve control and monitoring. Support of the European Parliament is of importance in this matter. The Commission is also implementing a pilot project developing an IT tool to better monitor and control catches of recreational fisheries (5) and plans to organise a workshop on recreational fisheries targeting a wide range of stakeholders (December 2020).
⋅1∙ Council Regulation (EC) 2020/123 of 27 January 2020 fixing for 2020 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Union
waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters
⋅2∙ Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on the conservation of fisheries resources and the protection of marine
ecosystems through technical measures, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1967/2006, (EC) No 1224/2009 and Regulations (EU) No 1380/2013, (EU) 2016/1139, (EU) 2018/973, (EU) 2019/472 and (EU) 2019/1022 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 894/97, (EC) No 850/98, (EC) No 2549/2000, (EC) No 254/2002, (EC) No 812/2004 and (EC) No 2187/2005 ⋅3∙ According to Article 2(2) of the regulation, the following provisions apply to recreational fishing: Article 7 (Prohibited fishing gear and methods), Article 10
(Prohibited fish and shellfish species), Article 11 (Catches of marine mammals, seabirds and marine reptiles) and Article 12 (Protection for sensitive habitats including vulnerable marine ecosystems).
⋅4∙ Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, and amending Council Regulations (EC)
No 768/2005, (EC) No 1967/2006, (EC) No 1005/2008, and Regulation (EU) No 2016/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards fisheries control, COM/2018/368 final
⋅5∙ In the adoption of the EU budget for 2018, the European Parliament approved a pilot project aimed at introducing a monthly reporting scheme for seabass catches.
