SECTION A. CURRENT FISHERIES SITUATION
1. INTRODUCTION

Throughout this review of fisheries in Europe, two groups of countries are distinguished. The first is the group termed European Industrialized Countries¹ comprising highly developed countries of the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which together make up the European Economic Area (EEA), as well as other European countries such as the Faeroe Islands and Malta. Most of these countries are members of OECD but GDP per capita varies to a very marked extent between the richest countries, such as Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries, at one extreme, and relatively poorer countries, such as Greece and Portugal, at the other. In general, however, people in these countries have, at the minimum, an adequate supply of food and level of nutrition.

The second group, termed European Transition Countries², comprises the formerly centrally-planned economies of Eastern Europe and the European Republics of the former USSR, including all of Russia. Although these countries are classified as developed, they are in the process of changing to market economies and are less prosperous than the Industrialized Countries. Indeed two Transition Countries, Albania and Macedonia FYR, are classified as Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries (LIFDC).

2. THE ROLE OF FISHERIES IN THE ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

2.1 The role of fisheries in the economy of the region

2.1.1 Industrialized Countries

Fish production from capture fisheries and aquaculture in the Industrialized Countries amounted to about 6 million tonnes in 1950 and grew to about 11 million tonnes in the late 1960s and has remained at about that level ever since. In 1994 production amounted to over 12 million tonnes, representing about 11% of world production. Four countries are placed within 20 biggest world producers of fish, these being Norway (11), Denmark (13), Iceland (15), and Spain (16) and these countries alone accounted for more than 7 million tonnes in 1994. On average, 62% of the harvest of these countries was destined for human consumption, but this ranged from only 46% for Iceland to over 90% for Spain.

The total value of landings for the European Industrialized Countries in 1995 was in the region of US$ 11 billion. Fisheries are extremely important to the economies of some European Industrialized Countries (Table 1). The value of Norwegian fish landings is about US$ 1200 million, roughly the same as for Canada. As a proportion of GDP, Iceland ranks highest and is by far the world's most fishery-dependent country with fishery landings representing 12% of GDP. About 330,000 people³, are employed (full time or part time) in the primary fisheries sector in the European Industrialized Countries, and fisheries have a particular social importance in remote coastal communities where alternative employment is often very limited. The European Union has about 300,000 fishery workers of which Spain alone accounts for about 78,000.

2.1.2 Transition Countries

Fisheries play a significant role in the economies of the Transition Countries. They supplement the agricultural food production but also benefit national economies by generating foreign currency export earnings and providing employment for a considerable number of people. The economic and political changes which take place in the region have significantly affected the economies of all the Transition Countries. Economic instability, changes in ownership structure, loss of access to subsidies and the breakdown of the distribution system have caused a tremendous impact on their fisheries sector. In particular, distant water fishing declined markedly due to higher oil prices and loss of access to distant-water fishing grounds. Between 1989 and 1994 fish production in these countries fell from about 12 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes. With the exception of Estonia, the fall in marine fish production was greater than the fall in meat production. The most dramatic drop was observed in Romania (93%), Lithuania (88%) and Bulgaria (86%).

Irrespective of the decline, the fisheries sector has held its important position in national economies of the region giving employment to 690,000 people. The situation of the fishing sector remains difficult, although in some countries there appear to be the first signs of recovery. Since 1992, the Polish fleet has overcome problems linked to economic transition and stabilised catches at around 400,000 tonnes; the fluctuations are entirely due to the to distant-water access problems and restrictions on cod fishing in the Baltic Sea.

Between 1991 and 1994, landings by the Russian Federation fell by 46% from 7.0 million tonnes to 3.8 million tonnes, and production in the important canned fish sector dropped by 71%. However, signs of recovery were evident in 1995 with a fish catch increase of 16% to 4.4million tonnes. Fisheries employment in Russia accounts for 550,000 jobs and generates foreign currency export earnings. In Russia's Black Sea ports, the number of fishery cooperatives increased by about 50% between 1992 and 1995 due to privatisation, although the numbers of fishery workers has declined markedly. Also in Latvia, the sector was previously a leading one in the country's economy with the employment of about 48,000 people. In Estonia, the employment in the sector amounts to 12,000 people and, in some areas, fisheries is the most important source of employment. Also in other countries of the region, fisheries still constitute an important source of employment (Poland - 30,000, Ukraine - 24,000, Lithuania - 14,000, Romania - 12,000) even if the fisheries share of the national economy is not as pronounced. In Bulgaria the distant water fleet, which employed over 3,000 fishermen in the early 1980s, has completely disappeared, and the Black Sea fleet of stern trawlers has halved during the same time period. Similarly, employment opportunities in related activities ashore have dropped markedly.

2.2 The role of regional fisheries in the world fisheries

From 1950 to 1980 countries in this region accounted for 30-40% of world fishery production, but this subsequently declined steadily and in 1994 only accounted for 16% of global production (Figure 1). The Northeast Atlantic was the area in which fisheries developed earliest and production peaked in the mid-1970s at about 13 million tonnes and has subsequently declined to about 11 million tonnes in 1994. In addition, European Industrialized Countries were amongst the earliest to develop distant-water fisheries and the Transition Countries followed with a major distant-water fishery expansion in the 1960s, so that the region as a whole caught a further 4-6 million tonnes in distant waters during the 1970s and 1980s, corresponding to about 75% of all distant water fishery production. With the collapse of the distant water fishing industry in the Transition Countries, Europe now accounts for 2 million tonnes of distant water catches, or about 50% of the total.

In terms of first sale value, fish, crustacean and mollusc production of Europe was worth an estimated US$ 21 billion in 1993, or about 20% of the world total (Figure 2). Capture fishery production accounted for about US$ 17.6 billion and aquaculture for US$ 3.5 billion in the same year, or about 23% and 12% of the value of world capture fishery and aquaculture production, respectively. Demersal fish landings accounted for about half of the total production value (US$ 10.2 billion), followed by small pelagic landings worth about US$ 3 billion. Production of salmonids (worth US$ 2.4 billion), carps (US$ 714 million), mussels (US$ 335 million) and oysters (US$ 320 million) was dominated by aquaculture production.

As discussed in Section A.3.6, the region is also a major fish trader and a net fish importer. Through its influence on international fish markets and its important near-water and widely dispersed distant-water fisheries, Europe has a major role in world fisheries.

3. THE FISHERIES SECTOR - SITUATION AND TRENDS

Total fishery production of countries in the region from inland and marine waters is shown in Figure 3; from 1984 onwards aquaculture statistics have been collated by FAO and it is possible to distinguish capture fishery and aquaculture production. Figure 4 shows fishery production distinguished for the major producing countries. Figures 5 and 6 show production for the major fishing areas and major species categories.

The European Industrialized Countries' production is overwhelmingly dominated by one area, the Northeast Atlantic, which accounts for about 80% of production and provides harvests of a diverse range of species groups (Figures 7 and 8). In contrast, a diverse range of species has been exploited in many widely spread fishing areas by the European Transition countries with their extensive distant-water fleets (Figures 9 and 10). A major component is Alaska pollock in the Northwest Pacific, landings of which amounted to nearly 4 million tonnes in 1986 but fell to about 2 million tonnes in 1994.

3.1 Marine fisheries

3.1.1 Russian Pacific Fisheries

Economic restructuring of the Russian fishery in the North Pacific has led to fisheries being driven increasingly by export markets, and this is particularly the case for directed fisheries on roe, Alaska pollock, king crab and salmon. However, the over-exploited state of the Alaskan pollock fishery, especially in the Okhotsk Sea and Nemuro Strait areas, has become more apparent, and the trend towards an increasing proportion of landings consisting of low value, undifferentiated fish has continued. Some resources may still be underexploited, and the potential for further development of fisheries for Pacific cod, plaice, herring, saury and some crab species remains to a certain extent uncertain. Crab fisheries undertaken by US as well as Russian vessels are under licence and quota control, and there are indications that most grounds are now fully exploited.

3.1.2 Northeast Atlantic

Total reported catches in 1994 were 11.1 million tonnes, similar to the two previous years but lower than the catches of about 12 million tonnes taken in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Most of the demersal groundfish stocks remained at a low level and some continued to exhibit long-term downward trends due to various factors, as discussed in FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 335 "Review of the state of world marine fisheries resources" (1993) and FAO Fisheries Circular C884 "Review of the state of world fisheries resources: marine fisheries" (1995). In general, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) provides scientific advice on stock status in this area except for the Mediterranean Sea. ICES expressed serious concern with deterioration of the quality of data for most fisheries, which, in turn, is a consequence of the prevailing management measures which appear to encourage misreporting.

North Sea and Western Scotland

The main North Sea demersal stocks harvested for human consumption purposes (cod, haddock, saithe, whiting, sole, and plaice) continue to be intensively exploited. The recent fishing mortality rates (F) for all the stocks are the highest in their respective historical time series, although, with some exceptions, effort trends now appear to be downwards for most fisheries. Thus the size of stocks and catches continue to be dependent on the irregular occurrence of abundant year-classes. Less than one third of the fish alive at the start of the year survive to the end of the year and few individuals of greater than age two are present. If the current level of fishing mortality is maintained in the future, all these stocks are expected to remain dangerously close to or outside safe biological limits for long periods, possibly interrupted by short temporary periods of recovery when a good year-class is produced.

The North Sea cod spawning stock seems to have stabilised at well below the level of 150,000 tonnes which is considered the lowest desirable biological level. Only two year-classes (1985 and 1993) recruited since the strong 1985 year-class have been above average. With the slow decline in fisheries begun in recent years, the spawning stock-size will probably remain close to an historical low level which, in conjunction with the recent series of poor recruitment, gives rise to serious concern that stock recruitment is affected.

Since the record low in spawning stock size of haddock in 1991 a slight increase is indicated due to the recruitment of year-classes that have been average or above average, and the stock is now considered within safe biological limits. The spawning stock will continue to be dependent on the size of year-classes recruited and on the present fishing mortality being maintained. Sequences of poor year-classes are common in the time series of recruitment to the haddock stock and must be expected to occur regularly in the future.

Whiting is part of a mixed fishery also for cod and haddock, and the state of the stock is uncertain but is probably within safe biological limits. Whiting is a predator on other commercial species and a large whiting stock might therefore have a negative impact on these.

The situation with saithe is that the spawning stock was at a historical low in 1990 and 1991 but seems to have improved due to good recruitment and is probably within safe biological limits. The prospects for the stock are uncertain due to lack of recruitment data and due to unpredictable migrations in and out of the North Sea, but fishing mortality should not rise above present levels.

The North Sea sole stock is considered to be within safe biological limits, although fishing effort by beam trawlers has increased. The spawning stock size is well above the minimum level due to recent recruitments of strong year-classes. However, with the present level of fishing mortality there is a risk that landings and spawning stock size will decline.

The plaice stock has declined steadily since 1990 the spawning stock size is estimated to be outside safe biological limits and there has been a decline in catches by all fleets, and fishing mortality is fluctuating around record high levels.

North Sea mackerel is still at a very low level and maximum protection is recommended by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), although advice on this stock is now offered in combination with other mackerel stocks in the Northeast Atlantic. For all stocks combined, a considerable reduction of fishing will be needed to restore spawning stock biomass.

The status of the North Sea herring stock has not been as poor since the virtual commercial extinction of the stock in the 1970s resulted in the closure of the fishery from 1977 to 1981. A modest recovery in the early 1980s resulted in SSB levels climbing briefly to above minimum biologically acceptable level of 800,000 tonnes from 1987 to 1992. While the agreed TAC was within a few percent of the advised TAC from 1987 to 1992 inclusive, actual catches were typically 40% higher. In subsequent years, catches were consistently much higher than advised TACs. If it were not for recent recruitment being at average levels, it is probable that ICES would have advised the fishery be closed in 1996. Given the variability in recruitment to this stock, it is clear that if fishing mortality is not reduced and SSB is not rebuilt rapidly, the probability that another prolonged period of effective commercial extinction may occur is high. The incidence of the fungus Ichthyophonus sp which was identified in 1991, seems to be declining.

The main stocks of sandeels and Norway pout targeted by the small mesh fishery are found in the North Sea. The North Sea Norway pout stock is considered within safe biological limits, but high bycatches of juveniles of other demersal species, particularly whiting, remain a concern. The North Sea sandeel stock is considered within safe biological limits, and it is exploited with little bycatch of protected species. The fishery on the smaller Shetland stock, closed completely in 1991 following seasonal closures in 1989 and 1990, was re-opened in 1995 after the recruitment of a strong 1991 year class. A multi-annual (3 year) TAC of 3,000 tonnes is set for the stock, which is considered to have recovered to within safe biological limits.

The overall situation in the North Sea gives rise to major preoccupation and only haddock and, to some extent, saithe seem to have shown some improvement over previous years. After a brief period of recovery, herring stocks are again also outside safe biological levels. The TAC mechanism has not succeeded in reducing fishing mortality to levels that allow stock recovery, and catches do not correspond to the scientific advice which is to considerably reduce fishing mortality through significant cuts in fishing effort.

Baltic Sea

Cod in the Baltic has been exposed to a high and steadily increasing fishing mortality. Since 1989 the fishing mortality has been over 1.0. The spawning stock size of the large stock in the central Baltic has declined from over 800,000 tonnes in 1980 to under 100,000 tonnes in 1992 and has been below the minimum biological acceptable level (MBAL) for several years, although, with a recent slight improvement in environmental conditions, stock size has risen slightly, given a favourable 1991 year class The agreed TACs have, in the past, generally been higher than those recommended by ICES, and ICES recommended a total cessation of cod fishing in the central Baltic in 1995. Earlier poor recruitment seems to have been caused by a low spawning stock and poor environmental conditions. New strong inflows of North Sea water since 1991 have improved the salinity and oxygen conditions in the Baltic and hence survival of cod eggs. The spawning stock size might, however, be too small at present to take full advantage of this, in terms of producing good recruitment, and there is no way at present of predicting recurrences of favourable environmental conditions. Effort should therefore be reduced by some 30% relative to the 1994 level.

The pelagic stocks in the Baltic (herring and sprat) are exploited at a low-to-medium level, and stocks are above long-term average levels with no immediate risk of depletion.

Northeast Arctic and the Barents and Norwegian Seas

The Northeast Arctic cod stock was depleted in the 1970s and first half of the 1980s, but a significant reduction in fishing mortality occurred from 1989 to 1990 due to a low TAC, and a strong 1983 year-class and good growth have rebuilt the stock to a healthy level. The catches increased to about 770,000 tonnes in 1992 and continue to rise. Fishing mortality has doubled since 1990, but the spawning stock is within safe limits. Capelin is an important food item for this cod stock and the good growth was based on high abundance of capelin. The capelin stock is low and has continued to decline, and it is uncertain how the growth of cod will be affected, but increased cannibalism on young cod will be a probable consequence. This effect on growth/cannibalism might not be large because the Norwegian spring spawning herring stock has partly recovered and might replace capelin as food for cod.

The Barents Sea capelin stock has again declined. After a partial recovery in 1990, when the spawning stock exceeded 1.5 million t, the spawning stock has now decreased to well below a safe size. There was no fishery on this stock in 1987-90. In 1991 and 1992, about 1 million tonnes were caught each year and roughly half that in 1993. Capelin stocks are now at a low level and the fishery is again closed and its reopening is not expected soon. This will have impacts on cod growth and on cod recruitment as low abundance of capelin leads to cannibalism by larger cod.

The Norwegian spring spawning herring has recovered from collapse and since about 1988 the spawning biomass has been above 2.5 million, and in 1996 it is well above this minimum biologically acceptable level (MBAL). In addition, there are strong indications that the 1991 and 1992 year classes are very good. The stock is therefore expected to increase further, maybe even to former levels. This stock has now begun to be harvested, and TACs will be set in order to ensure that the stock stays above 2.5 million tonnes.

Iceland, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands

The Icelandic cod stock has declined more or less steadily from about 1.4 million tonnes spawning stock size in 1955 to levels close to historical minimum and is expected to continue declining at current effort levels. In the same period, fishing mortality has increased from about F = 0.3 to about 0.9, despite introduction of an ITQ scheme in 1984. The stock is now at or outside safe biological limits. ICES therefore recommended a significant reduction in fishing mortality, but in many years scientific catch advice on this stock has been considerably exceeded, although juvenile catches have received some protection through closure of nursery areas. In some years, large amounts of immature cod of this stock are found west of Greenland where they have supported fisheries in the past. In recent years, however, catches at Greenland went down to almost zero, and it has been recommended that no fishing take place in order to allow a small stock to survive until presently unfavourable environmental conditions improve. The Icelandic saithe stock is considered within safe biological limits, and the agreed TAC has not been restrictive since 1993, partly due to constraints imposed by the strict TACs introduced in the cod fishery.

The saithe, cod and haddock stocks around the Faeroe Islands are all suffering from high fishing pressure and low recruitment, and the stocks are at low levels. ICES recommended that fishing for cod be kept at the lowest possible levels and that fishing mortality for saithe and haddock should not be allowed to increase.

Because of the short lifespan of capelin, the state of these stocks is highly variable. The Iceland - East Greenland capelin stock has increased again from a low in 1989-90. The catches are highly variable depending on recruitment, ranging between 400,000 tonnes and 1.2 million tonnes since 1986. The Icelandic summer spawning herring stock has increased steadily since fishing was banned in 1972-1975, with catches since growing gradually to 100,000 tonnes. The spawning stock is now increasing due to good recruitment and is currently at the highest level observed.

Stocks supporting the traditional redfish fisheries around Iceland, East Greenland and the Faeroe Islands are currently at a low level. The stock structure is uncertain, and there are problems in ageing redfish, which appears to be a long-lived species. Rapid increases of effort are now being directed to oceanic redfish which has continued to expand into deeper waters of the continental slope. Concern has been expressed at the implications of the slow growth of these resources which may not sustain high fishing pressure and are not regulated by TACs.

In this area, incursions of warmer Atlantic water are usually associated with improved fisheries. The winters of 1989 and 1990 were the warmest in 130 years, but the period 1991- 95 has been characterised by cooling trends, and the Barents Sea is expected to drop in production with increased severity of ice conditions, and decreased recruitment of many fish stocks and shrimp.

Other Northeast Atlantic stocks

Hake landings from around the UK and Ireland, the Bay of Biscay, and off the northern coast of Spain and off Portugal have remained fairly stable since 1978 at around 60,000 t, but the stocks have declined since 1987, and have established new record low levels each year since 1992. The stocks are outside safe biological limits and ICES recommends a significantly reduced fishing mortality since stock rebuilding is urgently required, especially in the southern region. A large number of under-sized fish are caught and these are usually discarded. The landings of sardine from the area north of Spain and off Portugal have decreased from about 200,000 tonnes in 1980-1985 to around 130,000 tonnes recently and the stock is considered to be outside safe biological limits. Catches of European anchovy in the Bay of Biscay and off Portugal have fluctuated between 5,000 tonnes and 41,000 tonnes since 1979, and a closed season has been recommended for areas with high abundance of juvenile fish.

Landings of blue whiting in the northern areas dropped from 1.1 million tonnes in 1979-1980 to 455,000 tonnes in 1994. Horse mackerel landings from the Western stock have increased steadily since 1982 to around 400,000 tonnes in 1994 but are still dependent on a strong 1982 year class. The spawning stock for this, the largest of the Northeast Atlantic horse mackerel stocks, was estimated to be 2.5 million tonnes in 1992 and is within safe biological limits, but is declining due to mortality on the 1992 year class.

There has been recent interest in fisheries based on deep-water species found on the North Atlantic oceanic slope. These species include blue ling (Molva diptorygia), roughhead and roundnose grenadiers (Macrourus berglax and Coryphaeonoides rupestris respectively), orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus), black scabbard (Aphanopus carbo), deep-water redfish (Sebastes mentella) and various anglerfish (Lophius spp.). Some of these species are currently exploited at low levels, but there is little available information on which to base assessments. However, given the problems arising in the exploitation of orange roughy in New Zealand, there are concerns regarding the extent to which fisheries based on these vulnerable species (due to relatively low growth rates and long lifespans) can be sustainably exploited.

3.1.3 Mediterranean and Black Seas

The geographical characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea as a series of interlinked basins with generally narrow shelves, strongly influence discussion of management options, and the GFCM approach has been to tackle the problems in each of these subregions separately, since although there are common themes and a need for standard approaches, the state of management science and how it is expressed in the management structure varies subregionally.

With the exception of a few areas such as the Gulf of Gabes, Gulf of Lions, Catalan shelf, Adriatic Sea and some areas of the Aegean, most shelf areas are narrow, and fisheries are largely encompassed by territorial waters. Fisheries in these narrow shelf areas are handled by national authorities, with relatively minor problems of sharing of joint resources between contiguous countries. Most demersal resources, and a significant proportion of small pelagic resources are caught over the continental shelves close to the coast, although in the more heavily fished areas, trawling is now exploiting the slope areas down to 500m or more. The shelf and slope areas that extend beyond territorial seas are those in most need of protection. Judging from stock assessments available, demersal resources are fully to overfished. Small pelagic resources have some potential for further fishing except for anchovy stocks in most parts of the Mediterranean. In other words, the main priority is to protect the demersal resources that lie within some 50 miles of the coast. Several experiences with temporary reductions of effort (for example, in the eastern Adriatic the recent conflict in the former Yugoslavia), and through seasonal closures carried out by Cyprus and Italy, show that such stocks can recover once effort is decreased.

Over the period 1970-1990, fleet expansions averaged approximately 5% per year; being somewhat lower for the Northern Mediterranean, where fleet build-up began earlier, immediately after the Second World War. Fleets fish demersal and small pelagic resources both inside and outside territorial waters, and predominantly consist of small to medium scale vessels fishing from the contiguous coastal State. There is little evidence that vessels from outside the Mediterranean are fishing demersal and small pelagic resources; at the same time, there is little routine exchange of data on local and 'non-local' vessel catch and effort, which would allow a joint assessment of the tuna and swordfish stocks to be made. This will have to be done through the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), since for bluefin tuna, and possibly swordfish, the Mediterranean is an important spawning area.

Catch trends over the same period as the effort built up have also tended to be positive, and there seems to be some evidence that the Mediterranean (and more particularly the Black Sea) have shown the effects of a long term ecological change away from a formerly very nutrient-limited situation, to one where increased runoff of nutrients has increased fishery productivity, as well as introducing some serious problems. The evidence indicates that in recent years the trend towards increased productivity has largely ceased, and any increases in catches have been accompanied by declining catch rates and increased fishing effort. Fishing under such conditions has been sustained by increasing local prices, which, for fresh fish, exceed those in the rest of Europe and are high by world standards.

There seems to be clear evidence now of serious overcapitalisation in fleets, and a number of governments have been obliged to provide subsidies to reduce economic losses in fishing communities. Economically, industrial fisheries have competed poorly with small scale fisheries under conditions of low catch rates, but there is little or poor information on the activities or catches from these. Consideration is being given to setting minimum standards for data collection throughout the Mediterranean as a first step to improving the state of knowledge concerning many fisheries. With regard to management measures, the adoption of a uniform minimum 40 mm stretched mesh size for trawl cod ends is under consideration, but the protection of young demersal fish from overexploitation will also require other measures, of which a significant reduction in fishing effort in many areas is the priority. Given the highly dispersed and diversified nature of the demersal fishery, quota systems have not proven possible, but attempts are being made in various countries to impose input controls and seasonal closures. Among these are temporary closures of nursery areas at the main season of recruitment, and permanent bans on trawling within shallow waters and on Posidonia (sea grass) beds.

Black Sea

The Black Sea ecosystem has shown unprecedented and dramatic effects of man-induced environmental changes and overfishing, that illustrate in an exaggerated form the problems now being faced by other enclosed and semi-enclosed seas around the world. Four main processes appear to have been important in leading to the collapse of the Black Sea pelagic fisheries in the late eighties:

• Inputs of nutrients from the large Black Sea catchment basin, especially the Danube, have increased dramatically since the 1950s, increasing primary production and zooplankton abundance and, by rendering shelf areas seasonally anoxic, contributed to serious declines of demersal stocks.
• Predator control by large pelagic fish (bonito and bluefin formerly entering seasonally from the Aegean) and marine mammals was removed with their stock depletion and, in combination with increased zooplanktonic food, small pelagic fish stocks increased in size.
• In combination, these causes led to heavy fishing on small pelagics, predominantly by the former USSR and later also by Turkey, in a competitive framework without any agreement between the countries on limits to fishing. Depletion of the small pelagic stocks appears to have led to increased opportunities for population explosion of planktonic predators (jellyfish and ctenophores) which compete for food with fish and prey on their eggs and larvae.
• Reduction of water runoff together with pollution from incoming rivers, especially into the Azov Sea, have changed salinities in this subsidiary basin of the Black Sea, completely changing the ecosystem and placing at risk the important sturgeon stocks, which are now largely maintained by hatchery operations.

The seasonal outbreaks of jellyfish in the late 1980s are estimated to have exceeded in biomass the world fish catches, i.e. of the order of 100 million tonnes, and the exotic ctenophore from the West Atlantic (Mnemiopsis leydei) which replaced it, proved even more serious as a predator of fish larvae and of zooplankton, or fish food. This species appears to have been responsible for the collapse in 1989-90 of anchovy stocks which fell from some 1 million tonnes to perhaps less than 100,000 tonnes. Subsequent events show this ctenophore species to be installed in a now eutrophic Black Sea ecosystem, along with other exotic species adapted to nutrient-enriched environments. In 1994-96 there seems to have been some recovery of anchovy stocks since some 200,000 tonnes were harvested in 1995, suggesting that other species in the ecosystem appear to be arriving at an accommodation to the new arrival.

3.2 Inland fisheries

European inland waters have been highly modified by human activities for at least three centuries through channelization, floodplain reclamation and, more recently, through water extraction and transfer to the point that few natural aquatic environments survive. Furthermore many waterways are highly polluted. Modern policies aim at reversing these effects through stringent anti-pollution laws and through rehabilitation exercises. European inland fish stocks are utilised for two main purposes, food and recreation. The recreational fishery is by far the most powerful economically as well as through the political influence of the many practitioners. This means that inland waters are managed primarily for sport fishing and that commercial fisheries are a secondary objective in all but the largest lakes. Because the environment is degraded and the demand for access to the fishery exceeds its productive capacity, most inland fisheries are managed by stocking with selected species. The combined production from formal capture fisheries in Europe has declined from about 650,000 tonnes in 1984 to 420,000 tonnes in 1994, a decline of about 35%. At the same time much of the catch from European inland waters goes unreported as it originates in the recreational fishery and from estimates made at various meetings of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC), it appears that the reported statistics could be doubled if the sport fishery catches were taken into account.

Three major trends can be distinguished in European inland capture fisheries. In European Industrialized Countries, capture fisheries are relatively unimportant economically and have declined from 124,000 tonnes in 1984 to 102,000 tonnes in 1994. Catches are based on cyprinids from the lowland rivers, perches, pike and coregonids from the large lakes and salmonids from anadromous stocks and from upland rivers. In European Transition Countries capture fisheries remain more important and catches are based almost wholly on cyprinids. Catches decreased from about 530,000 tonnes in 1984 to 320,000 tonnes in 1994, much of this decline taking place following the political changes in these countries as the infrastructure supporting the fisheries collapsed. In Russia, capture fisheries in the numerous large rivers, reservoirs and natural lakes have remained an important source of food and have been heavily subsidised through stocking and fertilisation programmes. Nevertheless catches declined from 275,000 tonnes in 1992 to 220,000 tonnes in 1994. Much of this decline can be attributed to Azov Sea sprat, which is exploited in inland waters linked to the Azov Sea and in the Caspian Sea, but other resources have also declined, presumably due to a combination of environmental damage and lack of institutional support to the fisheries. About a third of the Russian inland water catch still comes from the Azov Sea sprat and a further third from cyprinids. Salmonids contribute some 16% and the remainder of the catch is distributed among other species groups.

On the whole European inland water fish stocks are exploited at a high level by the recreational and commercial fisheries. Some increases in production of food fish could possibly be achieved by better management, especially in Eastern Europe and Russia, but the major objective of the fishery is shifting in all areas from food production to recreation and conservation. Many management alternatives for enhancing production are excluded as a result of the increasing conservationist policies with regard to the natural environment throughout much of Europe.

3.3 Aquaculture

In 1994 aquaculture production from within the European region accounted for 6% and 10% of total world aquaculture production in quantity and value, respectively. In 1994, a total of 1.46 million tonnes of finfish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants were produced and these were valued at US$ 3.8 thousand million. The total aquaculture production sector exhibited an overall annual growth rate of 2% by weight and 8% by value from 1984 to 1994. Despite the 7% increase in total production from 1993 to 1994, however, the overall production of aquaculture within the region declined by 12% after reaching a peak of 1.66 million tonnes in 1991. To a large extent this decrease was due to socio-economic changes within the European Transition Countries, associated with the shift from a centrally-planned to a market economy. These changes also affected the aquaculture sector within these countries.

In 1994 the major aquaculture producers within the region were located within the European Union and northern European countries, with production dominated by France, Norway, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and in the Russian Federation. These seven countries accounted for 76% of the total tonnage and 72% of the value of aquaculture production within the region (Figure 11).

The major species groups cultured within the region in 1994 were finfish (826,000 tonnes or 57% total production) and molluscs (623,000 tonnes or 43% total production). Finfish, which represented 79% of the total value of aquaculture production within the region, was by far the most important species group cultured. The major cultivated species groups included:

• Salmonids (549,000 tonnes or 67% of total finfish production and valued US$ 2,091 million in 1994): these species being produced at high stocking densities within intensive cage, tank or pond-based farming systems, and the two main cultivated species including Atlantic salmon Salmo salar (302,000 tonnes - Norway 68%, UK (Scotland) 21%, Faeroe Islands 5%, Iceland 4%) and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (237,000 tonnes - France 20%, Denmark 18%, Italy 16%, Germany 10%, Spain 9%, Finland 7%, Norway 5%, UK (England and Wales) 5%. However, in contrast to the much older trout farming sector which has only grown by a modest average growth rate of 6% per year, farmed salmon production has increased by a staggering average growth rate of 27% per year.
• Cyprinids (220,000 tonnes or 27% of total finfish production and valued at US$ 485 million in 1994): these species are being cultivated at relatively low stocking densities within semi-intensive pond-based farming systems, the principal species including common carp Cyprinus carpio (157,000 tonnes - Russian Federation 31%, Ukraine 18%, Poland 13%, Czech Republic 12%, Germany 8%, Hungary 5% and Bulgaria 4%) and silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (25,0 tonnes). In contrast to the salmonids, these species are mainly grown within the Transition Countries as a low- priced food fish for mass consumption. Moreover, the production of cyprinids within the region has fallen dramatically from 393,000 tonnes in 1984 to 220,000 tonnes in 1994, after reaching a high of 550,000 tonnes in 1991. As mentioned previously, this decrease was mainly due to the economic and social problems faced by the Transition Countries.
• Marine finfish (33,000 tonnes or 4% of total finfish production in 1994): these are high value species being cultivated within intensive cage, tank or pond-based farming systems within the warmer Mediterranean coastal waters, and the major cultivated species are the redfishes (26,000 tonnes or 80% of total marine finfish production in 1994), namely the gilthead seabream Sparus auratus and the European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax. Although the industry is still very much in its infancy, production has increased rapidly from 362 to 13,000 tonnes and 315 to 13,000 tonnes from 1984 to 1994, respectively (Greece 51%, Italy 21%, France 12%, Spain 9%, Malta 3%).
• Although the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) was the top cultured species by weight with a total production of 318,000 tonnes in 1994, mollusc production (i.e. mussels, oysters and clams) within the region remained relatively static, growing by only 4% since 1984 and decreasing from a high of 672,000 tonnes in 1985 to 623,000 tonnes in 1994. The main mollusc producing countries within the region were France (35% of the total), Spain (24%), Netherlands (17%), Italy (16%), Greece (3%) and Ireland (2%).

3.4 Fish utilisation, distribution and marketing

3.4.1 Industrialized Countries

Fish, crustaceans and molluscs are processed in various ways, but different sectors of the handling and processing industries can be recognised, distinguished by the technologies used. Finfish processing is often considered to comprise two sectors, primary and secondary. The primary sector takes wet fish from local markets and carries out simple processing like filleting, sorting and perhaps dressing. Most of the outputs go direct to the retail markets or to wholesale markets for redistribution at the retail level. In some countries, the primary sector prepares frozen fillets which are sent to freezer centres, to multiple retailers (supermarkets - especially under own-brand labels), and to a small extent to the secondary sector. The secondary sector takes frozen fish in various forms as inputs for the manufacture of ready-to- eat convenience products. These include coated portions sawn from fillet blocks, coated fillets, and recipe fish dishes.

Curing of fish, that is processing by salting, drying and smoking, is a well-established processing technology in the EU member States. Curing is no longer needed as a means of preserving fish, but significant amounts of cured fish are still prepared for their particular sensory and culinary properties. Curing can be considered part of the primary processing sector as cured products are usually prepared from fish obtained from local markets, and are often processed in establishments which process other wet fish products. Canning is another traditional sector in many EU countries.

Apart from the freezing of shrimps and prawns, most shellfish is distributed with no processing, other than perhaps sorting and packing, or following simple treatments like beheading of crustacea and cleaning of cephalopods. Table 2 shows the production of canned products based on data from the FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics, Commodities. All countries in the EU, except Austria, have some production of canned fish, with Italy and Spain between them accounting for more than half of the production. Canned tuna is produced in only four countries - France, Italy, Portugal and Spain - and this product accounts for just over 40% of all canned fish products. Italy, Spain and Portugal import tuna for canning. Another group of species which are important to the canning sector are the clupeids including sardines and anchovies, which are canned in the countries bordering the Mediterranean, and herring, which is canned in the countries bordering the North and Baltic Seas.

Most of the EU countries have some production of cured products (Table 2). Almost 40% of the salted/dried production is composed of salted gadoids produced in Denmark, Italy and Spain. Spain accounts for two thirds of this production. Although salted cod - bacalau - is popular in Portugal, little is produced in the country. The next most important cured product is salted herring which accounts for 26% of cured fish production by volume. It is produced in most of the countries bordering the North and Baltic Seas. Salted anchovies are produced in Greece, Italy and Spain. FAO statistics do not show any smoked products being produced in several countries, but there undoubtedly is some such processing in some countries (e.g. Greece and Spain). Germany, the Netherlands and the UK together account for more than half the EU production of smoked products. The UK production consists almost entirely of smoked salmonids, herring and mackerel, and a wider range of species is smoked in Germany. France's production is recorded as being entirely composed of smoked salmonids.

Germany and the UK are major producers of frozen fillets. Generally the southern countries, with the exception of Spain, do not have much frozen fillet production. Almost all of the EU countries freeze whole fish, but Spain is by far the largest producer, mainly freezing tunas, hake, cod, and anchovies. Generally the species utilised for freezing in the various countries reflect the composition of the landings. It is likely that most of the frozen whole fish is produced as stocks for subsequent processing.

Convenience products are prepared by the secondary processing sector and include coated products and fish in recipe dishes. They are sold as convenience foods for domestic use and for catering. Studies on markets for fishery products show that production of convenience food is the fastest growing sector of the fish processing industry in the EU. The growth in production of convenience products is associated with the increasing proportion of sales of fish products in supermarkets. As an example, in 1993, supermarkets and large multiple stores in the UK had 64% by value of sales of all types of fish products and 74% of sales of frozen and convenience products. In France, supermarkets had 63% of the sales of frozen fish products. Most convenience products are presented in the form of coated natural fillets or sections of fillets, or coated portions cut from fillet blocks. A high proportion of these fillets and fillet blocks is imported into the EU or prepared from bulk whole or dressed fish imported into the EU. The proportion of convenience products marketed as fish in sauces and fish in recipe dishes is increasing, and the larger multiple retailers are particularly active in introducing new products onto the market.

Crustaceans and molluscs make an important contribution to supplies in the EU. Catches of shellfish are important in countries bordering the Mediterranean, but the UK also has a significant production, mainly of crabs and Norway lobsters (langoustines or scampi). Shellfish comprises almost half the catch in Italy, and considerable quantities are also imported. Spain is prominent in the processing of invertebrate products. Frozen products include cephalopods - about half the total - shrimps and mussels. Canned products mainly contain cephalopods and mussels. UK production is predominantly of frozen crabs and crabmeat, with some frozen Norway lobsters.

Of the non-EU countries, the Faeroes, Iceland and Norway have centuries of tradition of processing fish for domestic consumption and, more importantly, for exports. Initially based on stockfish and klipfish production, the disposition of catches for export processing has since diversified greatly, with iced fish, fresh and frozen fillets, salted products, smoked and canned products, fish oils and meals being produced and exported, mainly to European markets.

In Norway the fish processing industry is characterised by a large number of small and medium-sized companies, spread along the entire coast, and is vital to local populations in coastal districts. This geographical spread is important for the treatment of the landings of the small coastal fleet, which does not have the capacity to carry catches over long distances. However, in recent years there has been a tendency for very small companies to disappear, either through mergers among small companies, or through takeovers by larger ones. Norwegian frozen fish production consists mainly of cod, haddock and saithe, whole and filleted, farmed salmon and rainbow trout. Pelagic species which are subject to freezing are mostly herring whole and filleted, mackerel and capelin. Norway's seafood industry is not yet orientated towards value-added products. Smoked sprats preserved and canned, and fish meat balls, cakes and sausages are also produced for consumption and exports. Fish for reduction to meal and oil, is now less than 40% of the landings, while it represented up to two thirds of the total not long ago. For instance mackerel, once used almost entirely for reduction, is now frozen and exported either whole, in fillets or canned.

In Iceland during the early 1980s, over half of the demersal catch was frozen at land- based facilities, and saltfish and dried fish were next in importance. More recently in both the on-shore freezing and salting sectors, value-added processing for retail packaged products has gained an important share of the market and product values have consequently increased. In 1991 land-based freezing operations earned 43% of all sea-food export revenues, and on- board-freezing a further 15%. Following considerable financial investment, fishing and processing of pelagic species has shown good returns. Shrimp and demersal fish processing plants have also been upgraded.

In the Faeroe Islands, 65% of the working population derives its livelihood from fishing and its associated industries. The fish processing industry is based on cod, saithe, haddock, and other demersal fish and shrimps, while herrings and other pelagic species are no longer as important as they used to be. The prevailing processing plant operations are filleting and freezing. Factories are scattered throughout the islands and are of great economic importance to village economies. They employ on average 30-40 people and are located close to the unloading places, where fish is landed fresh. Most of the filleted production is exported frozen in blocks or in laminated blocks for the further production of portions, sticks or fish fingers. More recently specialised cuts such as loins and dinner cuts are being produced and these fetch higher prices in overseas markets. However, the high cost of labour on the islands and the need to import many ingredients have impeded the development of secondary processing. At present some surimi, smoked salmon and trout, block frozen and dry frozen shrimp and queen scallop are also produced. In 1994 35% (compared to 50% in 1988) of the catches were used for reduction to oil and meal, mostly for export.

3.4.2 Transition Countries

The change towards market economies in the former centrally-planned economies of the European Transition Countries resulted in serious difficulties for the fish processing sector. However, today the main problems have been partially solved by the rapidly-growing private sector, which found, in market demand and weak competition, the opportunities for fast development. This development was spontaneous at the beginning and in many cases resulted in the creation of small companies which processed fish in rather rudimentary premises, with the intention of making a fast profit. Some of the processors realised, however, that fish processing can be a profitable business in the long term, but this is dependent upon sufficient investment so that processing facilities and technologies can be upgraded to western European standards. As a result today, in Transition Countries, there are a number of modern fish processing plants, particularly in the secondary processing sector, producing value-added products meeting EU standards. There are also a number of private producers satisfying the domestic market for which quality requirements are not so stringent for the moment, but attempts by national authorities to improve the safety and quality of fish products are bringing visible results.

In the past, Central and Eastern European countries have based their processing at sea on large factory trawlers operating in distant waters. These fleets supplied domestic markets with frozen fish, either for sale as frozen fish or for further processing ashore. Recently this supply was drastically reduced.

Now only the Polish long distance fleet is still producing a substantial amount of frozen fillets or other types of frozen products. These products, due to their high quality, have for the last several years been exported mainly to the European Union. Most recent developments indicate that significant improvements have also occurred in the quality of products processed on board of Russian, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian vessels, particularly those operated under joint-venture arrangements and targeting export markets.

Fisheries in the Baltic Sea are undertaken by small cutters which do not process fish on board. The main Baltic species are cod, flatfish, herring and sprat and these are landed whole or, in the case of cod, gutted. Ice is used, although still not in sufficient quantities and wooden fish boxes which are still in use, need to be replaced with plastic ones. As for handling of small pelagic species, the introduction of chilled sea water tanks needs to be promoted, particularly in view of the need to increase the utilisation of these species.

Fish processing ashore in European Transition Countries including Russia is rudimentary. In the past the emphasis was on canned and frozen products, the latter delivered by national long distance fleets (Table 3). Distribution of fresh fish was limited to the coastal areas and to fish from freshwater or aquaculture. This was mainly due to a limited distribution system and to a lack of specialised, well-equipped fish shops or markets. Chains of western type supermarkets promoting fresh fish did not exist. Thus canned fish was very popular as this product did not require chilled transport and storage.

i> As a result of changes in the economic systems and collapse of the Russian market, which was the major change, the canning industry in this part of Europe went through an extremely difficult period which resulted in the closing of a number of plants and restructuring and modernisation of others. However, in 1995 and 1996, with the gradual improvement of the economic situation of the region and progress in privatisation, the canning industry is showing strong signs of recovery.

The most visible progress is observed in the spontaneous development of the secondary processing sector, particularly for marinated, salted and smoked products. With the introduction of new technologies, the market share for these products has expanded significantly, and although there is still room for improvement, it can be said that the sector is on the right path. Most of these value-added products are now produced by the private sector which is investing to upgrade facilities to meet requirements for modern and efficient plants.

Production of value-added frozen fish products like breaded and battered portions and ready-to-eat dishes, has not yet developed and the low demand for these is presently satisfied mainly through imports.

In the past, distribution of fish and fishery products was carried out by state-owned companies which usually had a monopoly for this service. Due to their inefficiency under new market approaches, these companies failed to survive, thereby adding further difficulties to the sector, as the emerging private sector was not yet able to cope adequately. The lack of efficient distribution systems resulted in a vicious circle in which fisherman or processors could not find a market for their products, while consumers were willing to buy the product but could not find it on the market. This was particularly true in rural areas. Although today the problem is still not fully resolved, new private distribution companies and supermarket chains which have quickly emerging through joint ventures, together with the development of the wholesale infrastructure, allow for better distribution and greater sale of fish and fishery products.

3.5 Domestic consumption and nutrition

For the region as a whole, the per caput supply of fish increased until the late 1980s and then declined from about 22 kg in 1989 to 17 kg in 1993 due to the marked decrease in production by the Transition Countries (Figure 12). In the whole region, both the proportion of total protein supply and animal protein supply accounted for by fish declined since 1989 (Figure 13). The quantity of fish utilised for non-food purposes, mainly for reduction to fishmeal and oil has fluctuated without trend since the mid-1970s.

3.5.1 Industrialized Countries Food fish production by these countries has been fairly steady at about 7 million tonnes since the late 1960s, but fish trade has increased markedly with imports growing from about 1.8 million tonnes (live weight equivalent) to about 7.9 million tonnes during the same period, while exports grew from about 2.3 million tonnes to 6.7 million tonnes. Per caput supply of food fish has increased from about 18 kg (live weight equivalent) per year in the 1960s to 22 kg in the 1990s.

Fish protein supply has increased from 5.9g per caput per day in the 1960s to 6.9 g in the 1990s, compared to protein supply from all animals (including fish) which has increased from about 57g to 76 g during the same period. Supply of vegetable proteins has decreased somewhat, but this has been more than offset by the increase in animal protein supply.

Analysis of demand by country shows that the top five fish consuming countries are France, Spain, Italy, UK and Germany, which account for three-quarters of the demand. The countries of the region constitute a highly diverse group in this respect. On the one hand, four countries with high fish consumption (exceeding 45 kg live weight equivalent per caput) are the Faeroe Islands, Portugal, Norway and Spain. On the other hand, four countries with the lowest consumption (less than 13 kg per caput) are Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. At the extreme, average annual per caput consumption in Iceland, at over 90 kg, is almost 8 times that of the Netherlands. Such significant differences are linked to consumption habits rather than to differences in affluence.

3.5.2 Transition Countries

Food fish production by the Transition Countries increased rapidly in the 1960s and early 1970s due to development of distant water fisheries, the production of which grew from 3.4 million tonnes in 1961 to about 10 million tonnes in 1986, since when there has been a major decline to about 5 million tonnes in 1992-1994. Compared to the Industrialized Countries, trade is of minor importance, but it is growing rapidly and in 1993 imports of food fish amounted to about 0.5 million tonnes (live weight equivalent) and exports to 1.6 million tonnes. The major decrease in production has resulted in drastic changes in fish consumption with overall per caput consumption falling from 24 kg in 1986 to about 9 kg in 1993. Fish protein supply accounted for about 13% of all animal protein supply from 1961 to 1989, but it has fallen sharply since then to about 8%.

Decreases in fish consumption since 1989 were apparent in almost all Transition Countries, and fish consumption generally decreased by at least twice as much as meat consumption. Among the most affected countries was Romania with a drop from about 10kg per caput in 1988 to about 2 kg in 1993. In Russia, it decreased from about 23 kg in 1991 to about 16 kg in 1993.

The transition problems have also affected imports and consequently the fish consumption in the three landlocked countries - the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. At present, the market has largely recovered, and in the case of Hungary sales of fisheries products have been rising, almost doubling in 1995 in relation to 1993.

3.6 International trade of fishery products

The value of exports and imports of fishery commodities for countries in the whole region are plotted in Figures 14 and 15, with the major trading countries identified. Equivalent plots by major commodity groups are shown in Figures 16 and 17. More detailed breakdowns by country and processed commodity for 1993 are provided in Figures 18 and 19.

3.6.1 Industrialized Countries

Western Europe is one of the main areas of fish trade. Among the European Industrialized Countries there are both important fish exporting countries (Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands) and important fish importing countries (France, Italy, Spain and Germany). An important share of the imports by Western European countries originates in the region.

Imports by the European Union's twelve member countries in 1994 totalled US$ 16,800 million, or roughly one third of the value of total world fish imports, slightly exceeding Japanese fish imports. In value terms, France is the main fish importer among EU countries with US$ 2,800 million, closely followed by Spain and Germany. As a comparison, ten years earlier, imports of fish and fishery products into the EU were valued at US$ 5,000 million.

Important fishery products imported from outside the region are shrimp, canned tuna, groundfish and cephalopods. The trend is for a general expansion of net-imports by Western European countries. Due to limited fishing quotas in waters of the European Union, more and more fish has to be imported from outside in order to satisfy the increasing demand for fish and fishery products. The EU can only meet half of its requirements with regard to fishery products, and the remainder has to be imported. After fruit and vegetables, fish is the EU's second largest food import. In recent years, canned tuna imports have grown strongly for most markets. Frozen shrimp imports have also expanded in recent years. On the other hand, groundfish imports by Industrialized Countries seem to have stabilised. Shrimp, cod, salmon and tuna together constitute more than half of the EU's edible fish imports.

With regard to fish exports, the EU is much less important, accounting for only 20% of world fish exports, with Denmark and the Netherlands as the main exporting countries. These two countries, plus Ireland, are net-exporting countries for fish and fishery products, while all other EU countries are net-importers in value terms. Norway, however, is a major exporter and its exports have recently developed rapidly due to increased harvests from rebuilt cod and herring stocks. Rapidly developing export markets for Norway include eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and China.

The EU established the "Single Market" in 1993, opening the borders of the Member States for the free movement of products and services. This has necessitated the coordination and harmonisation of the regulations and requirements within the EU. At present, the EU is still going through a period of transition with regard to a harmonised system of quality control on the imported fishery products.

In the past most of the exports of salted and iced fish were direct landings of fishing vessels into foreign ports. A large share of Norwegian exports, for instance, go to Denmark where the fish is further processed for export to other EU members. Japan is the largest importer of Norwegian frozen whole fish, whereas France is the largest market for fresh fish and salmon. Exports of fresh salmon fillets, fresh and smoked salmon are increasing.

In Iceland, fish and fishery product exports represent about 70% of the total merchandise exports. Cod is by far the most valuable resource, but shrimp, redfish, haddock, saithe, Greenland halibut and plaice are also important species processed for exports. The most important outlet for Icelandic products is the EU (which absorbed 65% of the exports in value), with the UK alone accounting for 20%, followed by USA and Japan. Uncured salted fish, salted fillets and bits, whole fish on ice, whole or filleted frozen herrings and capelin, frozen fillets of cod, haddock, saithe, redfish and flatfish, salted herring and frozen and salted or sugar salted roe are among the products exported. Frozen shrimp, of which 30,097 tonnes were exported in 1995, is the highest item in value after fillets; other shellfish frozen for export are lobster and scallop. In 1995 exports of fish oil and fish meal, almost entirely derived from capelin, were 68,000 tonnes and 141,000 tonnes respectively.

For the Faeroe Islands, fish and fishery products earn 95% of all export earnings, the remainder being fishing vessels and fishing equipment. In 1995 half of the exports went to UK and Denmark, while Germany, France and Norway were other main destinations of Faeroese exports, accounting for 24% of all fishery exports. The USA imported a further 3%, mainly of frozen fillets. Salted and dried cod and other gadoids are exported mainly to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Exports to Japan are increasing and in 1995 its share was close to 4% of the total.

3.6.2 Transition Countries

Traditionally, fishery trade of Eastern European countries and the former USSR was characterised by exports of cheap small pelagics to Western African countries, some of which were unloaded as payment for fishing rights. In some cases these cheap small pelagics were not caught off Africa, but were taken off Scotland.

After the discovery of cephalopod resources in the Southwest Atlantic, the Eastern European countries plus the former USSR became important suppliers of cephalopods to the world market. In some years, Poland managed to be the top supplier of squid to the Japanese market. The former USSR and Poland were important suppliers of Illex squid to Spain. The former USSR was an important exporter of canned fish, which was mainly exported to other countries in the COMECON area.

These traditional import and export patterns have changed completely. The important small pelagic exports to West Africa have disappeared almost completely. At present these markets are supplied with small pelagics by the Netherlands, Ireland and Mauritania. Eastern Europe and the former USSR are now exporting high-value species in order to generate foreign exchange. King crab is a very successful export item from the Pacific coast of Russia. Salmon from the same part of the world is also increasing its presence on the world market. The most important export commodities, however, are groundfish products such as Alaska pollock and cod. The latter is mainly sold to fish processing plants in Norway, Iceland and Canada. Alaska pollock is exported mainly to the US market. In recent years, especially in 1995 and in the opening months of 1996, the Republics of the former USSR and the other Eastern European countries have emerged as markets for herring and mackerel. Russia and Poland are the major markets for these species, but Latvia and Lithuania also import large quantities, sometimes re-exporting to Russia. In addition, the Russian Federation has shown demand for high-value products, such as peeled shrimp and smoked salmon

Of the Transition Countries, Poland was the major importer in 1994 with total fish imports valued at US$ 154 million. Imports of the European Republics of the former USSR recovered from their lowest level of US$ 39 million in 1992 to reach US$ 138 million in 1994. During most of the 1980s, imports were over US$ 150 million. The countries of the former Czechoslovakia and the former Yugoslavia lost their importance as importers, but a certain recovery in fish imports is apparent.

The former USSR was a major net-exporter of fishery products in value terms and also in quantity terms. On the other hand, the other Eastern European countries are net-importers of fish products, with the only exception of 1991 when the disruption of the economic system created problems for the importation of fishery products.

In Russia, the liberalisation of fish trade resulted in sharp increase of exports as fish became one of the major earners of foreign exchange. In the former USSR, fish exports usually accounted for 12% of total fish production. In 1994, this proportion jumped to 57%. Also, the three Baltic Republics have maintained their fish exports. In Estonia, the total export earnings of the sector exceed US$100 million annually and constituted 5.8% of total Estonian exports in 1995. Latvia exports 70% of its distant water catches. Lithuania exports the bulk of fresh, frozen and canned fish, as well as carp coming from aquaculture production. Also in Poland, in recent years exports have exceeded imports reaching US$100 million in 1994, out of which 43% were highly processed products.

Norwegian exports to Transition Countries increased strongly in 1995. Total exports to Russia in quantity terms expanded by 60% to reach 125,000 tonnes. Russia is thus the second major importer of Norwegian fish products, after Japan. Exports also increased to Poland, but at a slower rate. Poland imported some 100,000 tonnes from Norway in 1995, 18% more than in 1994. Norwegian exports to Latvia and Lithuania more than doubled in 1995, making these countries respectively the fourth and fifth most important importing countries of Norwegian fish products. Ukraine tripled its imports of fishery products from Norway, and in 1995 imported some 17,000 tonnes. Romania was the only Transition Country reporting stable imports at 11,000 tonnes.

3.7 Technology and infrastructure

The Industrialized Country fleets are generally quite sophisticated in terms of technology which has increased considerably in recent years with a consequent decrease in the manpower levels and an increase in efficiency. This, in addition to the reduction in the number of vessels through the decommissioning scheme has reduced recruitment to the industry significantly and hence there has been a tendency for the average age of the workforce to increase. In addition the change from an open entry fishery to a limited entry scheme has discouraged individuals with no capital from investing in qualifications as a way of entering the industry from the bottom. Both these factors have led to a decrease in the amount of training being undertaken and some fisheries schools have had to close. A further factor adding to this has been the relaxing of the Certificate of Competency requirements under the new international Conventions. In some countries early retirement schemes for fishermen have been introduced in an attempt to make the structural adjustments necessary.

3.8 Investments in the fishery sector

3.8.1 Industrialized Countries

The tonnage of the European Industrialized Countries' fleet amounts to about 2.5 million GRT. This fleet, which represents about 10% of the world fishery fleet in tonnage terms, accounts for about 11% of world fishery production. Spain has by far the largest fleet with a total of over 600,000 GRT, followed by Norway and Italy with over 260,000 GRT each.

Investment in the demersal catching sector has decreased significantly, with vessels being decommissioned and their licences being revoked. A vessel operator has to acquire an existing licence before building a new vessel, hence building tends to be constrained to building vessels to replace those lost at sea or to build "rule beaters", generally under 10 metres long. This has meant that many of the traditional shipyards building wooden vessels have gone out of business. In the future, it is expected that such vessels will be built of steel or fibreglass, and the traditional skills of the shipwright or wooden boatbuilder will become redundant.

The pelagic sector has remained profitable and many larger new vessels are being built although the owners have to sell their old vessels outside the EU. Licence aggregation is also occurring whereby the licence entitlements from two or more vessels are aggregated into one larger vessel, on the grounds of greater efficiency. In many cases traditional fisheries harbours have had to be deepened in order to accommodate these larger vessels.

Despite the downturn in the demersal catching sector, the processing sector investment and infrastructure has increased. There are proposals to increase the amount of processing on shore rather than transhipping or "klondyking" pelagic fish to West African countries.

In recent years, the fleets of these countries have been exposed to structural measures designed to adjust their capacity to the available resources by reducing over-capacity. In 1988 the fishing fleet in these countries consisted of about 140,000 vessels but during the following four years it was reduced to 107,000 vessels. Between 1991 and 1992, there was a further reduction of 1.1% in numbers and 5% in tonnage.

As far as the EU policy is concerned, in December 1992, new targets for fishing fleet capacity reductions were agreed for each EU Member State within the framework of the Multi-Annual Guidance Programmes (MAGP). The MAGP is intended to restructure the sector and achieve a gradual reduction in fishing capacity, without hindering modernisation of fishing units so as to improve safety and enhance the preservation of fish on board, thus creating better conditions to improve the profitability of the remaining vessels. The scope of the MAGP is to reduce fishing effort by 20% by 1996. To achieve this, the EU disbursed up to 1993 a total of ECU 268 million towards fleet rationalisation of its Member States. Covering the period 1993-1995 the programme has been made more flexible; it gives Member States the possibility to limit fishing effort in various ways depending on the specific stock situations and the overall objective of the orientation programme. Most Member States are seeking to address problems arising from overcapacity of the fleet by a combination of decommissioning and effort-limiting measures (i.e. days-at-sea arrangement, limitation of the size of fishing gear). Such a concept, allowing Member States to achieve up to 45% of their targets through a reduction in fishing activity, was introduced for the first time in December 1992.

A recent review of fishing capacity in the EU countries showed that fishing effort needs to be reduced on most fish stocks, in many cases by a substantial amount. The implication of this is that major reductions (i.e. up to 40%) in overall fleet size are needed, and this is likely to further reductions in fleet size under the MAGP in future.

In the case of the Netherlands, such a policy has reduced capacity during the period 1987- 1993 by at least 13%. In addition to the Common Fisheries Policy of the EU, the Netherlands applies special national measures in order to promote responsible fishing and a balanced exploitation of fish stocks. The Spanish fisheries were subject to the profound adaptation according to new conditions imposed by the European Community. Since the major part of the fleet is operating in the international waters and EEZs of the other countries, it has also been strongly influenced by the change of conditions regulating access to the fishing grounds. The depletion of the Northwest Atlantic cod has also strongly influenced the Spanish fisheries resulting in the decrease by 50% of the cod fleet and cod catch. Consequently, the Spanish fleet has been exposed to the drastic reduction which, between 1990-1995 amounted to 120,000 GRT. The UK target is an overall reduction of 19% in the capacity of the fishing fleet by the end of 1996. For Italy the reduction will be 6% compared to 1990.

The Icelandic fleet decreased in 1992 by 40 vessels and 1200 GT (mainly smaller vessels). In order to facilitate the further reduction of fishing capacity as well as that of processing industry, a development fund for the fishing industry has been established.

3.8.2 Transition Countries

The disintegration of the centrally planned economies resulted in the discontinuation of subsidies, and the breakdown of the distribution systems lead to reduced fishing operations in all Eastern European Countries and Russia. The activities of the distant water vessels were particularly strongly affected. All these countries faced serious problems in negotiating and paying for access to resources.

The above situation resulted in underutilisation of these ageing fleets and reductions in their size. The Russian fishery fleet declined from 3,494 decked vessels totalling 3.52 million GRT in 1990 to 1,981 vessels totalling 2.19 million GRT in 1994. No decline in the Ukranian fishery fleet was recorded during the same period, although many of the 366 vessels totalling 890,000 GRT became inactive. The Polish distant-water fleet was significantly reduced (reduction by 10units took place in 1994) and it presently amounts to 36vessels. Poland's Baltic cutter fleet amounts to 423units with an average age of 27years. In Romania, the fleet comprises 22 deep-sea trawlers and 23 small Black Sea fishing vessels and these have not reduced since 1989, but a lack of funds for repairs has resulted in a decrease of the number of active vessels. The average age of the Bulgarian distant-water fleet is more than 15years and it is expected that in the near future their number will be reduced to no more than ten vessels.

Of the three newly-independent Baltic States, Latvia owned by far the largest fishing fleet which in 1991 consisted of 351 vessels (including 60 long-distance vessels) but this has since been reduced to 223. In Estonia, out of 75 distant-water fishing vessels some 15 units are now active, and of the 217 Baltic fishing vessels, 115 are older than 15 years. Similar problems are faced by Lithuania. Out of 186 vessels in the Ukranian fishing fleet, only 86 are active. Credit provided by the Ukranian government has facilitated the construction of five new vessels; however positive this may be, there is not yet any overall improvement in the situation.

Russia is the only country in the region in which the first signs of improvement are seen. Since 1994 a vast programme of fleet renovation started. During the last two years, 800vessels were sent to the shipyards and the fleet was strengthened with the delivery of 72new units. In order to speed up the renovation of its long-distance fleet, the Russian fishing companies have signed leasing contracts with West European shipyards for another 70units. However, according to the Russian authorities, the solution to the problem lies in the provision of about 100 units per year.

4. INSTITUTIONAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK

4.1 Macroeconomic aspects and fisheries sector planning

4.1.1 Industrialized Countries

In western Europe there are about 350,000 fishermen. For some countries, fisheries represents a vital branch of industry and a major source of employment for many local communities. In Iceland the fisheries sector employs some 12% of the working population (14,200 people) and it contributes 15% of the GDP. In Spain it provides employment for more than 80,000 people. Next come Italy with 71,000, Greece with 53,000, Portugal and Norway each with 22,000 people.

For some countries the share of fisheries in their national economies is insignificant. However, irrespective of their economic significance, fisheries often have a social importance at the local level where they provide, a major main source of employment. In France, where the employment in fisheries only constitutes 0.3% of the global employment, roughly comparable to the production of potatoes, the sector remains in the centre of the interest from the point of view of employment. The situation is similar in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium. Within the EU, in addition to national policies, the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) is used to tackle socio-economic problems. It is expected that the Instrument will soon be extended to include an early-retirement scheme for fishermen. In the case of Norway more than 50% of the governmental financial support is directed to support social schemes. A main part of this support is unemployment benefits to the fishermen.

As a result of the above policies, some countries such as Spain, Portugal and France, experienced a decline in the number of fishermen between 1991 and 1992, but the lack of access to precise statistics does not allow for more accurate analysis.

4.1.2 Transition Countries

Before 1989, the nucleus of the fisheries industry comprised State-owned fishing companies and fish-processing enterprises, as well as a State monopoly for fish trade. The situation has changed drastically in recent years. Many of the enterprises are no longer state- owned and some have disolved. Much legislation reflecting the new economical and political conditions has been introduced. Trade has been liberalised, subsidies reduced and foreign investments encouraged. Marketing systems have been developed, including the establishment of fish auctions. Fisheries policy has concentrated on maintaining access to distant-water fishing grounds, improving fisheries management in the national EEZ and, in the case of countries aspiring for EU membership, harmonising national legislation with that of the EU. In all of the Transition Countries, efforts have been made to restructure and privatise the fisheries sector; however this process has a different dynamic in each country. For many countries the main obstacles are high interest rates and difficulty in attracting foreign investors.

In Russia, privatisation of the fishing industry is drawing to a close. In 1995, the first stage of voucher privatisation was completed; the second stage of cash privatisation has begun. To date, about 62% of enterprises have become private property. An ambitious fisheries policy has been introduced in Russia. A new 5-year programme concerning the development and further restructuring of the fisheries industry was recently approved by the Russian government. It involves the moving of a large number of vessels from distant waters closer to the Russian coasts and the restructuring of the industry. It is foreseen that the fleet will take 70% of its catch in the Russian EEZ. All types of aquaculture, will be encouraged. As far as organizational changes are concerned, there are plans to create new public companies, partnerships, regional and sectoral conglomerates.

In Poland, the distant-water fleet belongs to three companies which are only partially privatised, but the Baltic fishing fleet is almost exclusively in the hands of private fishermen. The privatisation of the processing industry is underway and during the past five years, over 350 private fish-processing plants have been established. Efforts are also being made to revive the sector by granting preferential loans to private fishermen and fish processing units. In 1996 a law was passed approving a new policy for sea fisheries. It contains regulations aimed at the improvement of fisheries management in the Polish EEZ, as well as the necessary modifications required for joining the European Union. Support is provided to shipowners in international negotiations for access to distant-water fishing grounds

Romania has introduced laws to promote the privatisation of the fisheries sector. Administration and vessel operations, as well as the processing facilities have been privatised. The most critical problem for Romanian fisheries policy is obtaining access to distant-water grounds, and attracting international assistance and capital to promote the modernisation of the fleet in order to make it efficient. As far as the Black Sea fisheries are concerned, efforts are aimed at protection of stocks from environmental degradation. For this purpose a national strategy was drawn up in 1993 and about 60% of the environmental budget has been directed to aquatic resource management.

In Bulgaria, the State-owned fishing company responsible for all marine fisheries operations was divided into six enterprises. The process of reorganization is still continuing and in the near future these enterprises will be transformed into limited liability companies and then put up for privatisation. Joint ventures are seen as the only way for the distant-water fisheries to survive, and so new legislation and other developments are preparing the ground for various means of cooperation with foreign partners.

Among the Baltic States, Estonia has reached the most advanced stage in privatisation. Under the 1995 Fishing Act, the National Fisheries Management and Sustainable Development Plan was introduced. The new law gives priority to local full-time fishermen. The new licensing system empowers local authorities with extensive rights to carry out fisheries management in coastal waters. A new body, the Estonian National Board of Fisheries, was formed to develop and administer fisheries policy, maintain and protect fish stocks, coordinate research activities, and issue regulations. The major problem is the future of the long-distance fleet and fishing capacity should be adapted to the available fishing opportunities. The country faces the retooling of a "Soviet-scale" quantity-oriented fishery to a smaller, quality-oriented fishery capable of exploiting specialised markets.

In Latvia, distant-water fishing is carried out both by the State-owned and several private companies. In Lithuania at present, deep-sea fishing, fish transportation, and processing plants are mostly State-owned; however, they are profit oriented and deprived of any subsidies. The development of the private sector started in 1992 and based mainly on inland and coastal fisheries.

4.2 Current national policies for conservation and management

North Atlantic

Within European Union waters, the Common Fisheries Policy dictates the fishing strategy adopted by Member States which operate under a common management framework provided by the European Commission, which organizes a series of technical and political committees made up of experts and political representatives of Member States. Other than for inshore resources within territorial waters, national fisheries management measures for fish resources in Community waters are coordinated, and principally consist of establishing total allowable catches (TAC) for the main commercial species. Technical measures such as minimum legal mesh sizes and closed areas are used to protect juveniles. In recent years, measures have been taken to reduce overcapacity of fleets. Formerly, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) coordinated the stock assessment for Northeast Atlantic resources and recommended management actions to the Community. Stock assessment is still performed by ICES which also prepares management options, but recommendations are not made unless a stock is considered to be outside safe biological limits. Following agreement on an overall total allowable catch (TAC) for a stock, national quota allocations are set and these are generally based on a long-standing "key" which was originally based on historical catches. Finally, national quotas can be adjusted as a result of 'quota trading' amongst nations.

Separate policies have been developed by Iceland and Norway for managing their national stocks; these policies include various types of quotas including individual transferable quotas (ITQ's). Norway also has implemented policy designed to reduce discarding through restricting fishing in areas where under-size and non-target fish are abundant and through a prohibition of discarding.

Management of shared stocks in the North Atlantic in recent years has been through bilateral mechanisms between Norway and the EEC, between Iceland and other parties, and in the Barents Sea, through an institutionalised arrangement between Norway and Russia. In this latter area, concern has focused recently on third party fishing within a small area of international waters (the 'Smutthullet') enclosed within the EEZs of Russia and Norway.

Baltic Sea

ICES provides the scientific advice on management of the main finfish resources of the Baltic to the International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission (IBSFC) which deals with fisheries management. Total allowable catches and national quota allocations for the Baltic coastal States are agreed annually and IBSFC monitors quota exchanges and utilisation. Some technical measures such as seasonal or area closures and mesh regulations are also adopted in support of fisheries management. All of the Baltic Sea is divided among national jurisdictions and it is the responsibility of each coastal State to enforce measures within its zone. Virtually all catches are taken by vessels from Baltic coastal States, but occasionally a coastal State grants access to vessels from non-Baltic countries (e.g. Faeroe Islands). Another regulatory body, the "Helsinki" Commission, is concerned with the environment of the Baltic Sea and at present fisheries management and environmental management are conducted entirely separately by the two organizations.

Mediterranean Sea

National policies of EU Mediterranean countries are coordinated through the EU (Directorate General XIV), as for other community waters. However, advisory inputs here are provided through the General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (GFCM), in which EU member States are represented in their individual capacity. The Community is expected to take up full membership in GFCM in the near future, and is working gradually for the standardisation of common measures for its Mediterranean member States. Although no extended jurisdiction has been declared outside territorial waters, shared stocks and fleet interaction problems are relatively limited outside the Gulf of Lions and Adriatic Sea, due to the generally narrow shelves, hence the low incentive in the past to move to coordinated measures.

At present, individual governments establish national policy, which differs among countries, but in general does not involve quota control. Management operates largely through socio-economic measures such as controls on licences and subsidies to the sector. A suite of technical measures is in place, which includes for some countries, minimum landing sizes, minimum mesh sizes (which although not standardised, seem to be converging on a 40 mm stretched mesh for trawl codends), and measures prohibiting fishing within certain depth ranges, distances from the coast or near estuaries. Individual countries place prohibitions on certain types of gear (e.g. midwater or high opening trawls), but a very wide range of fishing methods and target species, as well as a large number of landing places and a diverse and modern small- scale sector, all make a standardised approach difficult to operate.

Black Sea

Fisheries in the Black Sea were formerly coordinated for the ex-communist States through the Black Sea Fisheries Commission, of which Turkey was not a member, and were formerly dominated by the large Soviet fleet fishing anchovies and other small pelagics. No quota or effort controls apply, and there is a considerable degree of overcapitalisation of fleets, which has become a chronic problem since the collapse of the last remaining major resource, the anchovy stock in 1989-91, which has only partly recovered since. Most of the vessels in the fleets of some former communist States have now been transferred to the private sector, but the current prospects for development are not encouraging in the absence of agreements to promote stock recovery. Technical measures are decided nationally, but a new convention for a Black Sea Fishery Commission is now being negotiated amongst all coastal States. Distant-water fleets which operated from Black Sea ports have declined markedly due to reduced fishing opportunities and economic inefficiencies of the vessels.

4.3 International fisheries policy and arrangements

Most of the Industrialized Countries, being members of the EU, are subject to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which has catch limitation as its main control mechanism, although limitations on fishing effort through restrictions on days at sea are also applied. The new regulations of the CFP provide additional management instruments such as the system of licences to be managed by Member States and the possibility of multiannual TACs. Following scientific recommendations, the EU also uses technical conservation measures like seasonal closures or minimum mesh size for nets.

In order to stabilise the markets, provide supply security, and ensure suitable prices for consumers through the principles of unity markets, the EU has introduced the Common Intervention Prices (withdrawals prices) system. When the market is functioning normally, the Community price mechanisms do not have an influence on prices. In times of market disturbances, however, the Community price mechanisms help to limit fall in revenues by preventing prices from falling below certain thresholds.

In order to cope with the shortage of resources in European waters, fishing agreements with third countries have been used increasingly, particularly since the accession of Spain which has a large distant-water fleet. For this purpose, the proportion of the EU Common Fisheries Policy funds committed to these agreements has increased substantially, and in 1996 access agreements amounted to about US$ 360 million, the major ones being with Morocco, Argentina and Greenland. At present the EU has long-term bilateral agreements with Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the three Baltic States (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia) in Europe, with India, Sri Lanka and Japan in Asia, several African countries, Argentina, Mexico, Canada and USA.

Iceland has agreements with Greenland, Norway, Belgium and Faeroe Islands. Norway has agreements with Russia, the EU, the Faeroe Islands, Greenland, Sweden and Poland.

SECTION B. ISSUES

1. DISCARDS

North Atlantic

The level of discards in some fisheries in the NE Atlantic has given cause for concern. In a global review of discards published by FAO, the Notheast Atlantic area was the second highest in terms of the amount of fish that was discarded at sea. It is now believed that this may have been an overestimate as some of the discard data were extrapolated to fisheries that had little or no by-catch. These include the fisheries for herring, mackerel, blue whiting, Norway pout and sandeels. Nevertheless, fisheries that do have relatively high levels of by- catch and discards are the demersal trawl fisheries, particularly those for Nephrops. The discard rate is also affected by the introduction of quotas, under which producers can maximise their earnings by high grading (i.e. discarding smaller fish so that they can land a quota of more valuable larger fish) and by being compelled to discard fish species for which the quota has already been filled. The high variability of recruitment for haddock can, in years of abundance, lead to a saturation of the market, resulting in high rates of discards of haddock in mixed species fisheries. Discard mortality has been taken into account in stock assessments for many years as an important source of mortality for several demersal species.

Norway, as one of the major fishing nations in the area, has introduced a no-discard policy and vessels fishing in the Norwegian EEZ have to retain the by-catch on board and land it. The amount of by-catch is then deducted from the vessels' quota. This is an important development in the reduction of discards and is a policy that should be considered by other countries in the area.

Baltic Sea

Discarding does not appear to be a particularly serious problem in the Baltic Sea.

Mediterranean and Black Seas

2. FISHING ON THE HIGH SEAS

There are three high seas areas in the Northeast Atlantic. The major one is the open ocean area lying between the EEZs of the Azores, mainland Europe, UK and Ireland, and Iceland. By far the most important species taken in that area are tuna and tuna-like species, but in the northern part small quantities of blue whiting and the oceanic stock of redfish (Sebastes mentella) are also exploited.

The second high seas area lies in the Norwegian Sea bounded by the EEZs adjacent to Iceland, Faeroes, Norway, Spitzbergen, Greenland and Jan Mayen. The main catches taken in this area are of blue whiting, the stock of which is distributed throughout the Norwegian Sea during feeding migration and in a large area west of Scotland and Ireland during the spawning season. Historically, the area provided considerable catches of Norwegian spring-spawning herring when feeding and over-wintering migrations occupied the area, but in the late 1960s when the stock collapsed the migration pattern changed and the stock subsequently spent most of the year in the Norwegian zone. With the recent recovery of the stock, there are signs of herring returning to the high seas area. There have also been reports of some catches of salmon in this area in contravention of the Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The third high seas area is the "Smutthullet" in the Barents Sea which lies between the EEZs of Norway and Russia. This is the only high seas area which lies over the continental shelf and is fished with demersal trawls in depths of 200-400 m. Cod is the main species caught there, but small quantities of haddock, Greenland halibut and redfish are probably also taken. Capelin spend very little time in this area. There has been concern that fishing in this area could jeopardise the management of the recovery of the Northeast Arctic cod stock. Neither NEAFC nor the Norwegian-Russian Fishery Commission sets management measures for this area, but fishing is controlled to some extent by a number of bilateral agreements.

As stated earlier, most of the Mediterranean Sea lying beyond territorial seas, still falls within international waters, and as the shelf areas are generally narrow and confined to territorial seas, most catches in the high seas area are of tunas and tuna-like species, with some catches of small pelagics and even less demersal species.

ICCAT establishes management measures for tuna stocks in the Atlantic as a whole and in the Mediterranean. However, ICCAT has very limited membership of Mediterranean States; hence, in addition to its responsibility for providing management advice for non-tuna species in the Mediterranean, in its recent meetings GFCM ratified ICCAT regulations for large pelagic fish and adopted them for non-ICCAT States. NEAFC sets measures for other species in the high seas areas of the open ocean and the Norwegian Sea.

European vessels also fish high seas waters in other parts of the world mostly for large pelagics but also for small pelagic species such as Chilean jack mackerel. However, most distant water catches by European vessels (Figures 7 and 9) are taken within other countries' EEZs under access agreements.

3. PROBLEMS FACING FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS

Northeast Atlantic

Environmental impacts of pollution are becoming increasingly important and it has been noted that increased levels of fish diseases are often observed in areas of oxygen depletion of bottom water and close to river outlets, but on too localised a scale to affect the economically most important fish stocks. However, one exception that has come to light might be salmon in the Baltic Sea. A syndrome called M74 is creating mass mortality in the hatching salmon fry. Only a small percentage of the hatched fry survive and this means that many more spawners have to reach the rivers for spawning than previously in order to keep the year-class sizes at the average level. ICES therefore recommends a total closure of those salmon fisheries in the Baltic that take wild salmon. The causes of the M74 syndrome are not known but there are some indications that it is associated with organochlorine contamination in the female salmon; nutritional factors are also implicated. A complicating factor in the attempt to protect wild salmon is that reared salmon might swamp the wild salmon rivers if reared salmon are not caught. The reared salmon constitute between 80% and 90% of the total biomass of salmon in the Baltic and most of the time they are mixed with wild salmon on the fishing grounds.

ICES has also been engaged in making one of the most comprehensive quality status reports ever made for a marine ecosystem. This was undertaken for the North Sea by the North Sea Task Force with ICES and the Oslo and Paris Commissions as the main contributors. The effect of the fishery and fishing activity is dealt with and it is for instance shown that each spot of the seabed of the southern half of the North Sea is, on average, swept by a trawler or beam-trawler more than once per year.

The problems relating to enforcement of fisheries management measures are also increasing. Efforts to quantify the level of discarding are in progress, and some countries have sampling programmes where staff are sent on board fishing vessels in order to sample discards on a haul-by-haul basis. In the human consumption fishery in the North Sea the discarding on average now amounts to between one third and one half of the total catch in weight. Seabird populations have become dependent on the discards and it has been estimated that they consume about 109,000 tonnes of discards per year in the North Sea.

Due to misreporting of catches and accumulating experience of lack of simple relationships between catch-per-unit effort (CPUE) and fish stock size, there is a tendency in fish stock assessments to place more weight on research vessel data than on commercial CPUE data for estimating the current stock-sizes. Partly as a result of this, the annual International Bottom Trawl Survey in February in the North Sea has, since 1991, been supplemented by additional surveys in each of the other three quarters of the year.

Having experience of repeated failures of TACs to reduce fishing mortality as intended, partly due to misreporting of catches, ICES has in some cases in recent years departed from giving advice on catch levels in favour of giving advice on reduction of fishing mortality by direct effort control. It is then up to management bodies to find ways to achieve this in practice.

ICES has long recognised the need for multi-species assessment and advice, taking into account both biological relationships among species and the technical interactions in mixed species fisheries, and has been actively involved in the relevant research and development of methodology such as the multi-species VPA (MSVPA) models developed by ICES scientists for the North Sea and the Baltic. A large-scale International Stomach Sampling Programme was conducted in the North Sea in 1991. The aim was to verify the results obtained by the MSVPA based on stomach data sampled mainly in a similar Programme in 1981. The results of the 1991 Programme have largely confirmed the results of the MSVPA based on previous data. By use of the MSVPA in the Baltic, for instance, it has been discovered that cannibalism in the cod stocks is significant in some years and is a strong self-regulatory mechanism.

Fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) has had a long history in the Northeast Atlantic as the region had multi-lateral management measures for a long time prior to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, when countries saw a rapid development of their MCS capabilities. The Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) was established in 1982 to establish management measures for high seas areas of the Northeast Atlantic and it agreed minimum legal landing sizes, minimum mesh sizes and catch and other controls. In the early 1980s, each country was allocated quotas, which was in itself thought to limit the capacity of the fleet, but nevertheless during the 1980s the fleets of all the countries continued to expand.

In 1990 the EU decided to bring in a decommissioning scheme to encourage its member countries to reduce their fleets by 20% over a five year period. Current monitoring of this scheme would indicate that only the UK and the Netherlands will fail to meet this target. Most of the decommissioned vessels have been targeting demersal fish and yet the demersal fish landed in the Northeast Atlantic have diminished faster than the fleet has, thereby indicating that even though the decommissioning scheme has succeeded in its immediate objective, the ultimate objective of restructuring the fleet to meet the fish available to harvest has not been achieved. Current EU Commission proposals are for a reduction of a further 40% in EU fleets.

The effectiveness of MCS has generally been regarded as poor, despite high expenditure on enforcement using seaborne and aerial surveillance. Reports of "black fish" landings (unrecorded landings made to avoid quota restrictions) are rife, and owners state that their operations would be unprofitable if it were not for such landings, hence they are faced with the option of observing the law and going out of business or breaking the law and surviving. It is common knowledge that in some communities enforcement is actively discouraged by the local community as it is not only individual fishing boats that are affected, but all the support industries as well, in particular processing. In cases where illegal landings are detected and prosecutions brought, authorities often tend to impose sanctions that are lenient compared to the financial profit from the "crime". The situation now is such that a criminal record for fisheries offences is often not regarded as a social sanction. It is clear that such attitudes and practices are not consistent with effective fisheries management.

The situation has reached the extent that official fisheries statistics are either unreliable or are compiled including an additional estimate of unreported landings. Efforts to improve the MCS capabilities, have included the use of Vessel Monitoring Systems by which the positions of the vessels can be monitored at regular intervals. However this initiative appears to be aimed at reducing the cost of the traditional seaborne and aerial surveillance and will do little to avoid the type of misreporting that is occurring. Needless to say, such proposals have been vigorously opposed by industry, on the basis that the data provided on fishing grounds where individual vessels are fishing is commercially confidential information.

The EU intends to extend control to the post-harvest sector in order to allow for cross checks between the details entered in the vessel log books and the various sales notes issued by the buyers and processors. All fish in transit will have appropriate documentation, which will identify its origin. A similar system of "fish audit" is said to be operating well in Norway.

On the other hand, the pelagic fleet, which was subject to licence restrictions at an earlier date, have seen their catch (primarily of herring and mackerel, and to a lesser extent capelin, Norway pout and sandeels) increase and render that sector of the fleet more profitable.

The relationship between the increase in the harvest of sandeels, Norway pout and capelin and the decrease of the main human food species in the region (i.e. cod, whiting, haddock, pollock) can no longer be ignored. The argument that the food fishes will continue to decrease if deprived of their food through fisheries must be addressed and a greater degree of multi-species management implemented.

Mediterranean Sea

Age-based analytical tools such as Virtual Population Analysis have been of little use for Mediterranean stock assessments, as most fisheries are based on a high diversity of species and manpower for data collection is limited. The last decade has been marked by a search for alternative methodologies to support fisheries management, such as the use of length-based approaches developed for tropical countries where similar high diversity fisheries and multiplicity of vessel and gear types also apply. These methods have achieved some success in determining basic biological parameters such as growth and mortality rates, but have not helped to establish the necessary linkage between scientific advice and management action, and have done little to improve understanding in other critical areas such as the relation between fishing effort and fishing power.

The management of marine resources functions best when based on scientific analyses of a biological, socio-economic and technical character. Fishery researchers in the Mediterranean have not so far achieved an effective linkage to advice for fishery managers, and scientific cooperation in the field of fisheries research is made much more difficult by the absence of a coooperative institutional framework and sufficient economic resources to support it.

International cooperation could facilitate communication, promote the sharing of expensive equipment, save scarce research funds, standardise methods and help verify results between researchers working on similar subjects. It would optimise research activity, encourage collection of standardised fishery statistics, and promote co-operative research decisions and joint projects to study Mediterranean-wide phenomena like climate change, the assessment of migratory and straddling stocks, and help generate the basis for agreement on shared marine resources.

In the Mediterranean there is a need for an independent scientific forum capable of analysing the quality of scientific work carried out and of participating in the planning of future cooperative research activities. The International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean (CIESM) is the only standing organization that potentially combines these characteristics other than the occasional GFCM Regional Technical Consultation. The former low emphasis on fishery research by CIESM seems to have reversed with the recent creation of a Working Group on Population Dynamics (DYNPOP). The GFCM has initiated contacts with CIESM to establish the basis for collaboration, in order to obtain independent scientific advice for stock assessment and work in the marine environmental field.

Mention should also be made of the collaboration begun in Bari, Italy in 1992 between GFCM and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which is aimed at improving knowledge and evaluation of stocks of large pelagic fishes in the Mediterranean. With this cooperation, and EU financial support, GFCM improved coordination on data gathering for these straddling stocks which had previously received little attention. The time now seems ripe to consider whether a more permanent coordinatory mechanism is needed for research, and for developing management advice on Mediterranean straddling stocks.

The failure to carry out stock assessment in the Mediterranean is mainly due to the lack of reliable fishery statistics, and complementary databases with at least minimal coverage and reliability. More than 20 years ago, FAO pointed out the priority for improving Mediterranean fishery statistics, but there has been little progress to date. Only the statistical bulletins of GFCM give time series of reported catches of the Mediterranean countries since 1964, but these are not detailed enough by stock and area to be useful for stock assessment purposes. POPDYN, another database developed by FAO, includes data on biological parameters of stocks, population dynamics and the characteristics of the fisheries they support, broken down by geographical area for stocks and species of interest to fisheries. A major attempt is being made to promote diffusion of this common database throughout the region.

4. FISHERIES RESEARCH

The need for cooperation between European national research institutes on a regional and subregional basis exists throughout the field of fisheries and related subjects. Such cooperation already exists for the Northeast Atlantic (an area with a high number of qualified fisheries scientists benefiting from the long scientific history of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) and for the North Pacific PICES (North Pacific Marine Science Organization) has recently been established, of which Russia is a member. In other areas, notably the Mediterranean, the fishery research tradition is shorter, and available numbers of skilled technical staff are lower. Cooperation is the most effective way of coping with both the shortages of skilled manpower in the Mediterranean and the high costs of equipment and sea operations, as well as avoiding costly duplication. Agreeing on "Centres of Excellence" for particular topics, linked by networks of information between the national research institutes involved using modern methods of communication, would go a long way to speeding up scientific liaison and progress in the region.

It is appropriate for cooperative research programs on important topics to focus on specific research needs of sub-regional or regional relevance, which could be presented to the Study on International Fisheries Research (SIFR). Unfortunately, this latter study has yet to lead to a coordinated response by donors in support of their acknowledged priority of fisheries research. Promoting better exchange of information seems to be the interim solution until a funded framework (such as has been provided by the World Bank Global Environmental Facility (GEF) for the Black Sea subregion) is available elsewhere in the Mediterranean basin.

Support to interdisciplinary collaboration in fishery research on resources and environments, and on socioeconomic aspects is an essential precondition for using mathematical models for Mediterranean fisheries analysis. Including multispecific, multi-gear, environmental and socioeconomic aspects, these models should provide a clear basis for developing management options. This would facilitate evolution towards a global conception of a "Mediterranean Fishery System". New methodologies, such as remote sensing, geographical information systems (GIS), fisheries thematic mapping, and spatial analysis, are among the methodologies which stand out as immediate priority. Recent developments in GIS technologies have helped scientists in storing, retrieving, manipulating and displaying geo-referenced data. This development will greatly contribute to enhancing fisheries research and the analysis of strategic information which it can produce. Research, using GIS systems, can be a key aid to decision-making and presents results in an appropriate format for planners, resource managers and policy makers.

The difficulties presented by indirect stock evaluation methods (based on analysing landings) make essential the use of fishery-independent methods such as trawl and hydroacoustic surveys for biomass evaluation, abundance indexes for demersal populations from swept-area surveys, and ichthyoplankton surveys to evaluate the spawning stock biomass of stocks. Such mechanisms are, however, very expensive. Cooperative use of research vessels stands out here as an important means of reducing research costs in the region.

For the moment, the Mediterranean countries of the EU are advancing rapidly in cooperative fisheries research work. The results obtained through EU support to scientific cooperation in fisheries research, have developed remarkably in recent years, due partly to studies supported by the Directorate General for Fisheries (DG XIV).

A "North-South" framework for cooperative research between the Northern and Southern Mediterranean could be an important investment in promoting harmony in the use of fisheries resources through the region, and could be accomplished through providing the means to existing mechanisms. This cooperation could be promoted by the GFCM Secretariat for cooperative surveys and assessments, socioeconomic research, and research on aquaculture, and by the International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean (CIESM) for more fundamental marine research.

The FAO intends to initiate an activity with the objective of building a regional data base for resource assessment information in the Mediterranean. The system is intended to provide the framework into which most of the data/information related to fishery resources in the Mediterranean will be channelled, and it will be based on four network layers: Institutions, Programs/Activities, Researchers and Data/Information.

5. INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

EU member countries, especially the Northern European member countries, are becoming more and more "eco-sensitive", as illustrated by various proposals, such as:

• to establish a Marine Stewardship scheme to certify fisheries as responsible;
• to no longer use fish oil coming from industrial fisheries;
• to ban imports of cultured shrimp; and
• to apply stricter packaging laws to fishery products.

The impact of the Marrakesh Agreement⁴ on the other hand, will be relatively limited, as most of the tariffs for value-added fish products entering the EU will stay at their previous levels. Only in ten years' time might there be a stronger impact due to the disappearance of the duty free status of ACP countries.

6. RECREATIONAL AND SUBSISTENCE FISHERIES

The major objective for management of the fish stocks of the inland waters of Europe is for recreational or sport fisheries. Sport fishing is usually classified into three types: match fishing, trophy fishing and recreational fishing. A fourth type also exists, fishing for domestic consumption, and under this type recreational fisheries functions are concealed subsistence activities. Some 17.5 million licenses are currently issued in Western and Eastern Europe representing some 4.6% of the population. Although the number is not known, a similar proportion of the population may be assumed for Russia and other countries of the former USSR. One issue arising from recreational fisheries is the extremely high value of the resource. The estimation of the value of recreational fisheries is known to be difficult as the calculation includes many ancillary industries such as equipment manufacture, hotels and travel as well as the sale of licenses. When these factors are taken into consideration the fisheries of Germany, France, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden and the UK are valued at over US$2 billion, representing a mean expenditure of about US$184 per fisher per year. Most of the fish caught is not eaten but the consumed catch from these countries is estimated at 109,000 tonnes at a cost equivalent of US$19.5 per kg. This mean cost is extremely unevenly distributed as, at the upper end of the scale, salmon caught by angling can cost as much as US$700 per kg. The extremely high value of the resource demonstrates why, when there is conflict between the recreational and commercial fisheries, the recreational interest almost always wins. It also indicates the high potential for income generation of properly managed recreational fishery and explains the conversion of some aquaculture facilities to put-and-take sport fisheries that is now occurring throughout Europe.

The fact that it is not common to eat the catch taken through match angling is limited to certain countries in Western Europe. In much of the rest of the continent the recreational catch is consumed by the angler or his family. In this respect angling catches represent a useful dietary supplement, especially in financially depressed areas or those where other sources of protein are not readily available. It is not common for countries to report angling catches in their official statistics although there are exceptions, such as Finland. This makes it difficult to evaluate the contribution to diet made by such fisheries. A recent estimate made by the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission indicates an annual catch of 173,000 tonnes from its member countries. Russia also reported a catch of about 20,000 tonnes from its recreational fisheries. Stocks of species of interest to recreational fishermen are maintained almost entirely by stocking and the catch rates obtained, of between 32 and 94 kg per hectare, are far in excess of those which could be anticipated from natural systems. This implies that the recreational fisheries of Europe are intensively managed and require continuous intervention to maintain them at the desired level.

Management of recreational fisheries in Europe is increasingly the responsibility of the anglers themselves. These usually operate through anglers' associations, to which the rights to fish in specified waters are assigned. The associations therefore, limit access to the fishery and reserve the right to levy charges for the use of the fishing water. In both western and eastern Europe, the fisheries were formerly maintained by government or local authority sponsored stocking programmes, but this form of subsidy has given way increasingly to a system whereby financially independent associations are responsible for their own stocking costs. The emphasis on self management of the fishery, reinforced by moral pressures from animal rights groups, has also forced an upgrading in the level of education among anglers and it is now common for the individual angler to have to pass an examination before he can purchase a license to fish.

7. TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

There are few relics of traditional management practices in the Northeast Atlantic other than for some inshore, intertidal and estuarine fisheries, where traditional access rights may be respected, or leases granted for oyster beds and other inshore resources. In the Mediterranean, there are relics of the Prud'hommes system by which inshore communities were given de facto control over access to local inshore grounds. Traces of this system, or others analogous to it, are still to be found in Spain, Turkey and Greece, despite the industrialization of fisheries before and after the Second World War, when state support for mechanising fisheries weakened traditional systems in many areas. These systems have tended to persist in coastal lagoons however, for example the 'valli' system in Italy, whereby local communities or other groups have exclusive rights to fish resources in them, and practice a variety of traditional activities under long established rules.

8. REGIONAL COOPERATION

Fisheries cooperation between the countries of the region is related to different fishing areas. The management of fisheries in the Baltic Sea is worked out at the forum of the International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission of which the EU, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia are members. The Commission decides on Total Allowable Catches and their allocations among the contracting parties. Moreover, the Commission decides on fishing rules, mainly on regulatory measures and on the reporting scheme, so as to allow better control of landings and stock preservation. It elaborates recommendations which deal with the analysis of the condition of marine living resources, and with the methods to be used for their preservation. The International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) serves the Commission as a scientific adviser on the state of the stocks.

Bilateral cooperation between Russia and Poland has recently been agreed upon. On the basis of this agreement the Polish fleet, previously operating in international waters of the Sea of Okhotsk, has moved to the Russian EEZ.

Catastrophic damage to the ecosystem of the Black Sea emphasized the necessity for a coordinated regional approach to the problem. Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and Ukraine participate in the recently developed scientific and fisheries management cooperation. In 1990, five regional programmes aiming at the management and protection of the Black Sea ecosystem and living resources were launched. Also, in April 1992, after seven years of negotiations, a Convention on the protection of the Black Sea was signed. The Document provides a general framework for cooperation in order to ensure a lasting utilisation of the resources of the Black Sea.

The fishery in Danube is regulated by the Convention of Fishery in the Danube waters (1959). The text of the Convention is presently under revision.

SECTION C. OUTLOOK

Fish production in Europe is likely to stop declining soon and then increase slowly. The major decrease since 1988, due to the political and economic upheaval in the Transition Countries (Figure 9), seems to be coming to an end and Russian production in 1995 showed a small increase for the first time in many years. As described in Section A.3.8, privatisation of the catching sector is most advanced in Russia where a fleet renovation programme which started in 1994 has resulted in a major rationalisation and modernisation of the fleet and is already showing benefits. Estonia and Poland are also well advanced with fleet rationalisation. In other Transition Countries such as the Ukraine, Lithuania and Bulgaria, state fishing companies have not yet been replaced by active private sector operations, but it is likely that this will eventually happen. Provided political and economic conditions are favourable, the fishery sector in the Transition Countries should revitalise quite rapidly. However, state restrictions, such as limitations on landing fish abroad, could jeopardise investment in the private sector.

A revitalised fishing industry in the Transition Countries will have a very different character from that of the 1980s. It is likely that distant water fishing will be reduced substantially and that emphasis will switch towards better utilisation of resources in home waters, as is already happening in Russia, Estonia and Poland. The remaining distant water fishing will be either for high value species or for lower value species, but through joint venture arrangements. Without state subsidies, the high cost of distant water fishing will preclude fisheries for many low value species, particularly small pelagics for human consumption. Indeed the switch away from small pelagics is already apparent; between 1986 and 1994 catches of small pelagics by Transition Countries declined by over 70% compared to only about 45% for demersal fish and squid.

Fishing prospects for the industrialized countries depend mainly on the effectiveness of fisheries management in the Northeast Atlantic, an area for which fisheries production (including aquaculture) has not increased since the 1970s (Figure 7). Indeed many of the major stocks have declined markedly due to increasing overfishing. Catch limitation, the principal management measure implemented under the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, has repeatedly failed to reduce fishing mortality as intended and, as described in Section B.3, is largely discredited. Undesirable consequences of the system include seriously distorted fishery statistics and the sale of fish through illegal channels lacking health inspections. However, there is increasing recognition of the need for alternative approaches and particularly for tackling the fundamental problem of overcapacity in the fleets. A major reduction in fleet capacity to bring catching power in line with fishing opportunities is being actively considered at present within the EU and some other Industrialized Countries, and if implemented would undoubtedly provide for much more effective management. The EU is also considering more extensive use of direct fishing effort control measures which, together with the installation of vessel monitoring systems which is proposed for all vessels over 15 m LOA by 1999, could provide much improved management.

It is clear, therefore, that effective management is essential to protect the rationalised fishing industries and the shore-based sector in both the Industrialized and Transition Countries, particularly as the social and economic costs of the industry restructuring taking place in the Transition Countries, and the fleet reductions being planned in the Industrialized Countries, are very high. The elimination of overcapacity is a prerequisite to effective management. Effective management can be facilitated by new technology such as vessel monitoring systems, particularly if direct fishing effort limitation is a management measure, but a wide variety of other measures will be appropriate for different fisheries. The benefits of effective management will be more stability for the fishing and shore-based industries, increased catch rates and reduced unit fishing costs, as well as the prospect of increased long term yields.

Public pressure is likely to have an increasing impact on marine fisheries management, as mentioned in Section B.5. "Eco-labelling" to identify products derived from fisheries conducted responsibly and/or from stocks managed responsibly, together with the boycotting of meals and oils derived from fisheries targeting catches for reduction, are two possible manifestations of this. Such commercial pressures could have a major economic and social impact by diverting fishing effort away from individual fisheries, such as those for fish meal and oil which account for between 6 and 8 million tonnes of landings per year in Europe (Figure 12).

As stated in Section A.3.2 and Section B.6, inland fishery resources in Europe are already exploited at high levels in the recreational, subsistence and commercial fisheries. Some increases in production of food fish could possibly be achieved by better management, especially in the Transition Countries, but the major use of the fisheries is changing in all of Europe from food production to recreation and conservation. Recreational fisheries can in many cases bring greater economic benefits to local communities than would accrue from subsistence or commercial fishing of the same resources.

Management of recreational fisheries is increasingly being delegated to the anglers themselves and their associations which control access and levy anglers. The funds raised are used to pay for stocking costs, which were previously sponsored by state or local authorities. The emphasis now is on self-management but with constraints imposed by state and local authorities as well as public pressure. Many management alternatives for enhancing production will be excluded because of the increasingly conservationist policies relating to the natural environment.

Aquaculture production within Europe can be broadly separated into two categories. Intensive production of high value species, notably salmonids and marine finfish, by the European Union and Northern European countries which are targeted at luxury or niche markets, and the semi-intensive and extensive production of low valued freshwater finfish species, notably, Cyprinus carpio, by the countries of the former USSR targeted at the domestic volume market. In both these European regions, the production of juveniles for restocking and recreational use is likely to increase.

Although some increase in aquaculture production can be anticipated, the scope for potential expansion of aquaculture in both these areas is likely to be constrained by different factors. Within the European Union and Northern European countries expansion is likely to be constrained by limited site availability, competition for aquatic resources, stricter environmental controls, market development and cheaper imports form non-European countries. Greater scope exists for countries like Portugal, Germany, France and Italy to increase aquaculture production through species diversification, but the overall increase is likely to be dictated by market demand.

Within the European Transition Countries, however, the overall decline in aquaculture production, which amongst other factors was attributable to political realignment, collapse of state subsidy to the sector, lack of capital and availability of feeds, is likely to be reversed. With access to new potential markets in Western Europe, aquaculture production is likely to increase by the intensification of exisiting traditional farming practices and by diversifying with the culture of higher value fish species such as salmon and eels.

As described in Section A.3.5, fish consumption varies enormously among European countries due to differences in eating habits rather than affluence, and these differences are likely to continue. The population of Europe is growing only slowly, but the demand for fish is likely to rise as fish is increasingly perceived as being more beneficial to health than meat from livestock. This is conditional upon consumers being reassured about the quality of fish products and the environment in which they are produced, and this will require more extensive monitoring and better dissemination of information. For aquaculture production, reassurances about the lack of medicine and growth promoter residues will be essential.

The overall increasing trend in fish consumption in Industrialized Countries is likely to continue to grow as it has done for the past few decades, along with the trend towards higher value species such as shellfish. In the Transition Countries, fish consumption could probably recover rapidly if inexpensive supplies become available from local aquaculture (e.g. carps) and from a revitalised fishing industry. However, the aquaculture and fishing industries may concentrate production on high value species mainly for export, and this would curtail the increase in consumption until an economic upturn lifts the general standard of living.

Trade in fishery commodities has grown rapidly during the last decade but at a slower rate in the last five years (Figures 14 and 15). Imports and exports will probably continue to grow in the foreseeable future, with imports continuing to outstrip exports. Much of this trade is in fact conducted within Europe as is evidenced by the similarity of the import and export commodities in Figure 19, with the main trade flow being from northern Europe to the southern EU member states. This trade within Europe is likely to continue to grow in the near future as stocks off Norway, particularly cod, continue to rebuild and provide larger harvests. Increased production of cod and herring by Norway is leading to rapid development of new markets in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and China.

Fish processing is likely to continue to develop in Europe in response to increasing demand for more sophisticated products, and particularly for convenience foods as outlined in Section A.3.4. Nevertheless, the top end of the market will still require fresh or live fish which demand very careful handling. Major developments will be required in the Transition Countries where some processing facilities and standards are still primitive or where rapid privatisation has led to the creation of some small processing plants with rudimentary premises and equipment. Such plants are producing for the local market. However, there are a number of modern fish processing plants, particularly in the secondary processing sector, producing value-added products which meet EU standards.

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS DOCUMENT