The European Commission had proposed in May 2018 a revision of the methods of control of fishing activities, but the Twenty-Seven had taken three years to decide on their position before engaging in long talks with MEPs, stumbling in particular on the authorized margins of error.

Reached overnight between the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU – which was negotiating on behalf of the states – and the European Parliament's negotiators, the compromise provides for increased surveillance for all ships.

All fishing vessels, regardless of size, will gradually have to be equipped with systems allowing States to control their position and track their movements and will be required to record their catches on electronic logbooks. Vessels of 18 metres or more deemed to be at risk will have to be equipped with on-board cameras.

The aim is to "ensure compliance with the landing obligation": fishermen are already required to land all catches on land instead of throwing away incidental or unwanted catches at sea, but this measure - which aims to check whether they are not catching too many vulnerable species - is currently applied in a very incomplete way.

-Flexibilities-

Negotiations have long stalled over the maximum margin of error tolerated between the quantities assessed by skippers-fishermen in their logbook and the quantities actually landed.

MEPs had pleaded for a time for a tolerance of 25%, leading the Commission to threaten to withdraw its text in case of too lax compromise encouraging "under-reporting".

Finally, the margin of tolerance currently set at 10% per species is maintained, but it may be increased to 20% for species whose total catch does not exceed 100 kg.

Arrangements are planned for "small pelagic [fish]" (herring, sardines, anchovies, etc.), industrial fishing and tropical tuna (which French and Spanish vessels will fish as far as the Indian Ocean), with a tolerance margin of 10% calculated on the total quantity recorded, and not by species, in return for "stricter controls" in ports whose list Brussels will draw.

"These long and difficult discussions were worth it," said EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius. The law will put the EU at the "forefront of digital fisheries control," insisted Socialist MEP Clara Aguilera, who defended the text in Parliament.

Sanctions, which have so far varied greatly between countries, will be harmonised, with fines calculated according to the value of the offending vessel's catches. Recreational fishing will also be more strictly regulated.

Europêche, the fishing industry lobby, welcomed "the flexibilities and transition periods planned", but said it was waiting to have the detailed text. The organization had expressed concern about the prospect of overly "intrusive" control devices.

It will be necessary to check whether the agreement allows "a level playing field" that does not disadvantage European fishermen, said Daniel Voces, director general of Europêche.

-'Solid traceability'-

Environmental NGOs, who feared that the talks would stall, welcomed the compromise with relief.

"It's not the most ambitious agreement, but at least the negotiations have come to an end," said Arthur Meeus of ClientEarth, deeming it "essential" to have precise figures on the volumes fished "to assess the amount of fish remaining in the ocean and set more sustainable fishing limits". An allusion to the annual quotas that the EU determines according to species and fishing areas.

The monitoring obligations will enable "robust traceability for all seafood, helping authorities identify those from illegal fishing, whether they come from EU waters or are imported," said Vera Coelho of Oceana.

According to the adopted text, information on the origin of fresh and frozen fish marketed, but also processed products, will have to be accessible through a digitised traceability system, while imported seafood will be provided with "digital catch certificates".

The text still needs to be formally approved by member states and all MEPs.

© 2023 AFP