June 2022

Recreational Angling: finally on the radar of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)?

Did you know that around 9 million Europeans practice recreational fishing at sea every year, with a total economic impact amounting to 10.5 billion Euro and almost 100,000 jobs…? This is far bigger than the income and employment which are generated by the commercial sea fisheries in Europe… 

Don’t feel embarrassed if you were not aware of these facts… even the European Parliament (EP) and European Commission (EC) have taken a long time to realize the important role the recreational fishing sector can play in achieving a sustainable blue economy...

Until now there is one, only one (!) mention of ‘recreational fisheries’ in the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which reads:

“Recreational fisheries can have a significant impact on fish resources and Member States should, therefore, ensure that they are conducted in a manner that is compatible with the objectives of the CFP.”

But how do you ensure compatibility with the CFP without having the data and information needed to do so? Well, you can only guestimate and try to make sure that all stakeholders – recreational and commercial fishers first and foremost – are equally happy or equally unhappy. Unfortunately, based on our past experience it is clear that recreational angling and the dependent businesses have most to be unhappy about…

• Anglers have experienced declining fish stocks and lack of bigger fish. Warnings against this development have been in vain, for many years already. Instead, anglers’ fishing access have been restricted or even banned.

• In this way we have also seen that the sea bass and Baltic cod catch restrictions have hurt the recreational fishing community and the dependent businesses a lot, unnecessarily.

   

Recent years have shown that the only clause on recreational fisheries in the CFP is not helping, but rather working against the angling interests:

• If recreational fisheries had been included into the CFP a long time ago already, the recreational fishers’ access to catching bass and Baltic cod most likely would not be as restricted as it is today. 

• Moreover, if recreational fisheries’ stake was secured by a proper CFP inclusion, on an equal footing with commercial fisheries and aquaculture, then it would be mandatory for our decision-makers to give much more weight to the recreational angling’s huge socio-economic value than it is given today. 

To raise awareness of this imbalance between commercial and recreational fisheries – EFTTA, together with the European Anglers Alliance (EAA), has intensively lobbied over the past years for a full and fair inclusion of recreational angling in the CFP. 

A recent seminar facilitated by EFTTA and EAA showed a strong support of the Members of the European Parliament to the inclusion of recreation fisheries in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). 

EFTTA has made concrete proposals of to the European Parliament to ask the European Commission:

• to improve the collection of data on the environmental, social and economic impacts of marine recreational fishing in Europe

• to evaluate the role of marine recreational fisheries in the CFP, in order to safeguard and foster the sector’s growth, development and contribution to the sustainable blue economy

• to fully and fairly include the recreational fisheries sector in the CFP as a distinct sector alongside commercial fisheries and aquaculture

• to make EMFAF funding available for specific aspects of recreational fishing, to ensure the development of the sector and depending activities and to further their contributions to the sustainable blue economy

This will hopefully feature in the European Parliament’s report on the CFP implementation. The European Commission will be obliged to reply by means of a CFP evaluation before the end of this year.

Follow EFTTA’s NewsLines: we will keep you informed if our CFP inclusion efforts for more than two decades bear fruit this time! Our hopes are high!

This is just one of the aims EFTTA is fighting for: the inclusion of Recreational Angling in the CFP. Together with EAA we are engaged with the CFP evaluation through various means and channels. For example: 

• by giving input to the parliament’s CFP report* 

• by arranging a seminar in the European Parliament**

• via bodies which give advice to the EU Commission and the member states*** 

• by attending dedicated CFP evaluation consultations**** and seminars*****…

* The European Parliament, Rapporteur MEP Mato (pending)
** Webinar 23 March:“Exploring the inclusion of marine recreational fisheries in the Common Fisheries Policy: Opportunities and challenges”
*** Cutting from the Baltic Sea Advisory Council’s CFP White Paper published earlier this year: “Recreational and sports fisheries play a key role in the fishing community and in the exploitation of several stocks, and as a consequence, they should be part of the CFP and be clearly defined within the CFP.”
**** CFP consultation -  deadline 14 March
***** The EU Commission has invited stakeholders to attend this event on the common fisheries policy 10 June.EFTTA and EAA will be there!

• See also news release of 27 April by the European Anglers Alliance (EAA):
  “2022 is the year of the Common Fisheries Policy”