The handover briefings for the next Commission are being prepared by all Directorate-Generals.
For the next Fisheries Commissioner, their agenda will be a busy one.
They’ll have good news. That’s been rare for Fisheries Commissioners. Success is there. Stocks in the North West Europe are doing better and often well.
Challenges remain.
1. The Mediterranean is still a disaster. That’s sadly an evergreen story. Stocks are in a very poor state.
2. The discards ban – yes, don’t forget we have one – is just ignored. It’s like there has been a mass outbreak of amnesia. The keystone of the reformed CFP has been discarded.
3. Stock resilience is too often feeble. When the stock of the species is skewed by overfishing, a booming stock can too easily suddenly crash. The slump in Baltic cod numbers is an unwelcome reminder of the laws of nature.
4. Brexit will tax the nerves. If non-British fishermen are thrown out of their historical catching areas, there will be tensions.
5. Fisheries governance on a good day is antiquated. Looking at it from outside, it looks feudal. Ownership and access rules need to be dragged, screaming and shouting, into the 21st century.
6. The feudalism is most evident in the employment practices. Europeans can’t keep turning a blind eye.
7. The reformed CFP was based on self management. Yet, as the ignoring of the discard ban shows, self management looks like a by-word to ignore the rules.
The more or less refusal of the industry and member state government to use the tried and tested CCTV cameras to address compliance eats at the marrow of the new system. Unless addressd in any control regulation update, the integrity of the new system is weak.