The use of effort as a management tool July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic Experiences in the Baltic Michael Andersen Danish Fishermen’s Association

FISHING EFFORT BRUSSELS 5 JULY 2012

July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic Regulation by days-at-sea – not kWdays Also by closed seasons and areas Present effort regulation in the Baltic introduced to reduce overfishing West: closed from 1. April to 30. April East: closed from 1. July to 31. August Spawning areas in East closed from 1. May to 31. October

Characteristics of cod fishery in the Baltic Sea July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic ”Clean” cod fishery Very low discards Resident fleet as well as migratory fleet

Experiences July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic Real effort reduction ”No” overfishing Growing problem for small scale fleet STECF concludes that effort regulation is not needed

July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic ICES considers that, in 2008 and 2009, the enforcement of fishing control led to a significant reduction of non-reporting; the available information suggests that unreported landings in 2009 were only 6% of the reported landings. In 2010 and 2011 the unreported landings are assumed to be zero. From ICES Advice 2012 ”No” overfishing

July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic All from: COM (2012) 278 final Western Baltic Eastern Baltic Real effort reduction

July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic Development in Days-at-Sea and TAC West East

July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic Problem for small scale fleet The large vessels just leave - if they have historical rights Only with historical rights Not as efficient as…

July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic Council regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 of 18 September 2007: Article 8, 5: Where the fishing mortality rate for one of the cod stocks concerned has been estimated by the STECF to be less than10 % above the minimum fishing mortality rates defined in Article 4, the total number of days where fishing with the gear referred to in paragraph 1 is allowed shall be equal to the total number of days allowed in the current year, multiplied by the minimum fishing mortality rate defined in Article 4 divided by the fishing mortality rate estimated by STECF. X Target x 10 % above Article 8,4 Article 8,5 F’ometer

Quote from letter from BSRAC to COM in 2011 July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic For the western Baltic, the number of days at sea in 2011 is 163. The target mortality is 0.60 and the estimated mortality is We calculate the number of days at sea for 2012 as follows: 163 x 0.6 ÷ 0.57 = 172 For the eastern Baltic, the number of days at sea in 2011 is 160. The target mortality is 0.3 and the estimated mortality is Our calculations give: 160 x 0.3 ÷ 0.23 = 209

Quote from COM answer July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic … the cod plan does not foresee the possibility to increase fishing effort if fishing mortality (F) is below target !?!?!?!?!?!? In ICES’ advice from 2012, the interpretation of Article 8, 4 is similar to that of the BSRAC

July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic Fishing mortality Days-at-Sea F target time X X Not to be continued …

July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic As effort regulation does not provide any benefits to the management, as long as TACs are efficiently controlled (according to STECF) – it should be removed as a management tool. - a closure of a spawning area – in the spawning period - is a meaningfull way of restricting effort on bad fisheries - do not micromanage, when stock is not in immediate risk Closed periods are not usefull if they affect other fisheries

July 5th 2012Effort management in the Baltic Problem solved… …your’e welcomme Thank you for listening