Paving the way for a New Fisheries Policy

8th October 2009, Ministers from Denmark, Germany, UK and Scotland in a joint statement agreed that a New Fisheries Policy must be developed. A policy based on catch quota management (CQM) where the fisher account for all the fish he removes from the sea and not just the fish he choose to land.

New Fisheries Policy must be based on incentives and documentation instead of regulation and control. Fishermen should be given the choice of increased catch quotas on the condition that they account for all catches – including any discards, and that they through CCTV cameras and E-logbooks provide a reliable documentation of all catches.

Now, getting the highest sustainable output from the stock is one side of the coin. The other factor deciding the economic result from fishing is the capital input – how much money or fleet capacity is used to harvest the output. While the CQM is instrumental in bringing about he maximum sustainable yield of the stock the use of an ITQ-model offers to national fisheries management an instrument not only suitable for adapting fleet capacity to catch opportunities but also capable to shaping national policies to balance economic performance with societal priorities.

While the primary function of this site is to promote the CQM, the widespread interest in the Danish ITQ experiences has led this second pillar of a comprehensive fisheries management to be included in the site.