Dutch beam trawl fishery COBECOS

Beam trawl fleet Beam trawlers > 1500 HP Fishing outside 12 mile zone in the North Sea Target species: flatfish (sole and plaice); by-catch of other flatfish (turbot, brill, dab, flounder), cod, whiting Beam trawlers < 300 HP Allowed to fish within 12 miles zone Target species: switch between flatfish (sole, plaice) and shrimp according to season and quota

Fleet Number of vessels Engine power (1000kW) Tonnage (1000GT) Crew (FTE) Beam trawlers < 300HP Beam trawlers > 1500HP Total beamtrawl fleet ,470 % of Dutch fleet78%68%43%65%

Economic performance % change Value of landings (mEUR) % Gross Value Added (mEUR) % Net profit (mEUR) Crew (FTE) %

Quota SpeciesQuota (tonnes) % UptakeQuota (tonnes) % Uptake PlaiceNorth Sea34,120 23,215 Other490 1,183 total34, , SoleNorth Sea16,100 13,578 Other total17, , CodNorth Sea Other 13, , total13, ,

Management Licensing (only licensed vessels are allowed to fish for quota species) ITQ’s for sole, plaice, cod, whiting National quota for other species Input restrictions (days at sea) Technical measures (minimum mesh size)

Co-Management Since 1993 part of quota management responsibility has been devolved to co-management groups Membership of co-management groups is voluntary Group members have certain benefits: Extra days at sea, Possibility of renting quota from other group members The group system has its own (private) rules; Groups can impose sanctions in case of offences Group system rules include Obligation for members to draw up a fishing scheme Private auction duty: all landed fish in NL has to be sold at one of 11 auctions Maximum number of landings abroad (five times per year)

Co-Management (2) The group management board of the co- management groups is responsible for: management of the pooled flatfish quota individual quota of group members. the monitoring of the private auction duty the implementation of fishing schemes of the group members Groups can impose sanctions in case of offences against group system rules

Enforcement of fisheries legislation Monitoring and enforcement is exercised by the AID, the General Inspection Service. The AID is assisted by the police and custom officers. Target group of AID is not only Dutch vessels. Also Reflagged vessels (ex-Dutch) that land catches in the Netherlands Vessels from other EU Member States in the Dutch zone; fish traders and fish processing companies Inspection is exercised from the air, at sea, in 13 harbours and 11 auction halls. Fishing vessels are continuously monitored (VMS)

Enforcement and co-management Enforcement of group rules is shared responsibility of the groups and the AID Management boards are entitled to impose sanctions in case of infringements concerning group system rules: pooled quota; the auction duty; maximum number of landings abroad (five times); the days-at-sea regulation Possible sanctions include Fines Closing of a fishery for a group member or the whole group

Compliance Co-management is believed to have increased compliance with quota restrictions Most common offences concern technical measures: Fishing with inlets (illegal gear) Fishing in closed area or 12 mile zone

Sanctions Sanctions for offences against public fisheries legislation may include Fines Seizure of catch or gross earnings Seizure of vessel Detention (max. 6 months) Fines differ for different offences; General objective is to take away the benefit of the offence Sanctions by group management board may include: the closure of a fishery for individual group members fines suspension of membership withdrawal of membership reduction of allocated sea-days.

Specific challenges How does co-management influence compliance and (how) can this be modelled Enforcement statistics usually do not distinguish between fishing methods; Analysis might be extended to the whole Dutch cutter fleet fishing in the North Sea (including shrimp fishery)

The End © Wageningen UR