The management system of the Common Fisheries Policy of the EU has not been very effective. It has been unable to reverse the overfishing. This is because the instrument of catch quotas and its scientific support are inadequate. A thorough reform of the system is therefore required, stated Prof. dr. Adriaan Rijnsdorp upon his acceptance of the post of Professor by special appointment of Sustainable fishery management at Wageningen University. Managing the system in accordance with fishery activities, for example according to the number of days that fishing boats are allowed on the sea, could repair this flaw, he believes.
Indeed, there are still fish in the sea , stated Professor Rijnsdorp in his inaugural address: "De lege zee: feit of fictie?" (The empty sea: fact or fiction?) Besides reflections on sustainable fishery management, scientific observations show that the composition of fish populations have changed: large fish species have declined, and have disappeared at some locations, while small fish species have increased. The world food organisation FAO has calculated that worldwide more than one-fourth of fish populations are being overfished or have even become exhausted, and that the ceiling for fish production has been reached. Overfishing takes place when the fishing pressure is so high that mostly small fish are being caught that have not grown to maturity; If the fishery pressure increases still further, then a fish population can collapse, where the number of adult fish becomes too low to produce a normal quantity of young fish.
Catch quota
Sustainable fishery management is a difficult task, explained Rijnsdorp, but it is absolutely essential. Closing off areas to fishing, permanently or temporarily, can contribute to sustainable management. But Rijnsdorp believes that limiting fishery activities yields the best results. This requires necessary political measures. Throughout the world, various forms of fishery management have come about. But these have not always been effective against overfishing. In 1982, after years of difficult negotiations, the Common Fisheries Policy within the European Union was established. This has the aim at arriving at sustainable exploitation, good socio-economic conditions and a healthy ecosystem. The core of this policy is the distribution of fishing rights. These fishing rights are allocated annually in December for the coming year during marathon sessions of the European fisheries ministers, based on the recommendations of the joint European fisheries biologists.
In practice, however, the quota system has not led to limitation of fish catches, especially for flatfish species such sole and plaice. In fact, the quota system looks at the fish that are landed and not at the fish that are caught. The catch quotas force fishermen to throw valuable fish back into the sea once their quota is filled, and these fish usually die. This leads in turn to errors in the scientific estimates, and this undermines the quality of the recommendations of the fishery biologists. And this undermines the credibility of the parties involved – fishermen, scientists and the government. Professor Rijnsdorp therefore believes it is time for a thorough reform of the system; the flaw of the fish quotas could be repaired if, for example, the number of days that fishing boats are allowed on the sea is used as the basis of fishery management.
Evolutionary Changes
In his inaugural address, Rijnsdorp discussed many effects of the fishery, for example on the ecological system in the seas and oceans. In addition, he referred to a possibly unexpected effect of the fishery: evolutionary changes in the sense of genetic adaptation of fish to the fishery. For various fish species it has been shown that they are maturing at a younger and younger age, and are becoming smaller. It is very plausible, said Rijnsdorp, that this is the result of changes in the inheritable properties in the fish population. The outcome is that the productivity declines because the physical growth of the fish decreases. Rijnsdorp ascertained that this places sustainable management in a different light, because the speed with which the properties of fish change under the influence of the fishery is many times faster than the rate of recovery. He referred to this neglect of the evolutionary dimension as 'incurring a Darwinian debt’.
Note to the editor
For more information, please contact Prof. dr. Adriaan Rijnsdorp, tel. 0317 487 191, e-mail adriaan.rijnsdorp@wur.nl, or Bouke de Vos, Wageningen UR press and science information officer, tel. 0317 480 180, e-mail bouke.devos@wur.nl