9.3 The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP): a brief history

(I) The 1970s

In 1970, when the UK, Norway, Ireland and Denmark, all with substantial fishing waters, were negotiating entry into the European Communities, the Six hastened the development of the CFP.

The key feature of the CFP was that all member states would have "equal access" to EEC fishing grounds, which would become a "common resource". This feature was problematic for all the applicant countries because they were fish rich - but especially so for the UK and Norway. Norway did not join the EEC but the UK government finally agreed to the CFP in 1971 with the relatively minor concessions. These were, principally, that there would be a limit for national "exclusive" coastal fishing rights of 0 to 6 miles, and a limit for "partial" rights of 6 to 12 miles.

In 1976 the UK Parliament passed the Fisheries Limits Act, extending Britain's fisheries limit from 12 to 200 miles. This Act accorded with international law (the international Convention of the Law of the Sea) but, because of the terms of Britain's accession Treaty, the extra fishing grounds were handed over to the EEC to be shared with every other member state.

(II) The 1980s and 1990s

In 1983 a system of total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas on a species-by-species basis, with minimum permissible mesh sizes, was introduced. Any fish that were caught that did not fit the species quota were discarded (i.e. thrown back into the sea).  Ostensibly the quota system was about fish conservation and management. But, given the accession of Spain to the EEC and the "equal access" for all EU member states to "Community waters", there needed to be a means of allocating stocks between the member states. This inevitably meant that those with large fish stocks would be sharing them with countries that had fewer fish stocks. The UK came out of the 1983 share-out particularly badly. Even though the UK had, on some estimates, 80% of the stocks the British allocation was a mere 37% by volume and possibly as low as 12% by value.

The 1983 system was designed to operate for two 10-year periods until 2002, during which time the Commission intended to delay Spain's and Portugal's full rights to the "Community waters".

The Spanish, however, partly circumvented the restrictions placed upon them by registering their boats ("flag boats") and buying licences, with fishing quotas attached, in other countries (especially in the UK). This "quota hopping" activity had become so serious a problem for the British by the late 1980s that the British government passed the 1988 Merchant Shipping Act, trying to make quota hopping illegal. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) overruled the British law in 1991. By the mid-to-late 1990s more than 25% of UK quotas were in foreign hands.

Given severely reduced fish stocks, the EU has, since 1992 consistently ordered all national fleets to reduce their "fishing effort". Britain was asked to cut its quotas by 19% in 1992 and by a further 40% in 1996.

(III) The 2000s

A revised CFP, as agreed in 2002, was introduced in January 2003, though it did not represent a major change of direction. The main reforms included the following aspirations:

• A long-term approach: until 2003 measures concerning fishing opportunities and related measures had been taken annually, this was planned to change.
• A new policy for fleets: in order to respond to the overcapacity of the EU fleet, there would be a new drive to cut fleets.
• Better application of the rules: more consistency and tougher sanctions for rule-breakers were to be introduced.
• Stakeholders', especially the fishermen, involvement: the EU would aim to have greater involvement of the stakeholders in the CFP management process.

The TACs and species quotas agreed for 2007 saw further cuts in British allocations.

RL, February 2007