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Commission Decision of 25 February 2016 setting up a Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, C(2016) 1084, OJ C 74, 26.2.2016, p. 4–10. The Commission may consult the group on any matter relating to marine and fisheries biology, fishing gear technology, fisheries economics, fisheries governance, ecosystem effects of fisheries, aquaculture or similar disciplines. The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries hold its 51st plenary on 11-15 April 2016 in Brussels (Belgium).

This report, on the Economic Performance of the European Union (EU) Aquaculture sector, is the third report of this type produced for the sector. It provides a comprehensive overview of the latest information available on the structure, social, economic and competitive performance of the aquaculture sector at both national and EU level. This summary report serves to highlight some of the key findings of the 2013 Aquaculture report. The data used in this publication was collected under the Data Collection Framework (DCF). In 2011, the aquaculture sector production in the EU-28 accounted for 1.28 million tonnes, with an estimated value of 3.51 billion Euros. In the EU there are about 14 to 15 thousand companies whose main activity is the aquaculture production, producing a Gross Value Added of more than 1.5 billion Euros. Available data confirms the profitability improvement in 2011 following 2010, after suffering losses in 2008-9. Profitability based on the Return On Investment calculated from the EBIT was 10%. The EU aquaculture sector gave direct employment to more than 80,000 people in Europe, with an annual average wage of around 23 thousand Euros. Women accounted for 27% of these jobs. The large percentage of part-time work in the sector should be highlighted, as can be seen through comparison of the total employment numbers with employment expressed in Full Time Equivalents (FTE is 45% of the total number of employees). Part-time employment is important in the shellfish and freshwater aquaculture subsectors. The economic performance and the productivity differ enormously by subsector and segment. The cost structures of the different subsectors (i.e. shellfish, marine and freshwater aquaculture) and species are also analysed on the report.

The lack of clarity in the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) must be addressed to create a more efficient balance across diverse ecological, economic and social dimensions. Particularly economic and social objectives present at an overarching level must be made explicit and addressed in lower level management measures, in order to link them to biological objectives and allow policy to build a balance across types of objectives. Selecting clear objectives is essential, particularly for policy impact assessment. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how more specific high level objectives to managing fisheries can be derived from stakeholders. The paper first reviews the definition of objectives, from a historical and conceptual perspective. Secondly, it discusses the issues of manageability and acceptability, and finally describes an articulation of the high level objectives derived from extensive stakeholder consultations at European and regional level. The results from workshops at the European level to identify objectives were further examined at regional level for the Baltic and North Seas in additional individual consultations. The German case addresses two seas (Baltic and North Seas), has a complex governance structure (due to federalism) and significant roles for the three types of actors (industry, government and environmental NGOs). The analysis suggests that establishing higher level sustainability objectives within the CFP can help diverse interest groups to develop a consensus on management actions to meet complex social goals

The lack of clarity in the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) must be addressed to create a more efficient balance across diverse ecological, economic and social dimensions. Particularly economic and social objectives present at an overarching level must be made explicit and addressed in lower level management measures, in order to link them to biological objectives and allow policy to build a balance across types of objectives. Selecting clear objectives is essential, particularly for policy impact assessment. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how more specific high level objectives to managing fisheries can be derived from stakeholders. The paper first reviews the definition of objectives, from a historical and conceptual perspective. Secondly, it discusses the issues of manageability and acceptability, and finally describes an articulation of the high level objectives derived from extensive stakeholder consultations at European and regional level. The results from workshops at the European level to identify objectives were further examined at regional level for the Baltic and North Seas in additional individual consultations. The German case addresses two seas (Baltic and North Seas), has a complex governance structure (due to federalism) and significant roles for the three types of actors (industry, government and environmental NGOs). The analysis suggests that establishing higher level sustainability objectives within the CFP can help diverse interest groups to develop a consensus on management actions to meet complex social goals.

This report, on the Economic Performance of the European Union (EU) Aquaculture sector, is the third report of this type produced for the sector. It provides a comprehensive overview of the latest information available on the structure, social, economic and competitive performance of the aquaculture sector at both national and EU level. The data used in this publication was collected under the Data Collection Framework (DCF). In 2011, the aquaculture sector production in the EU-28 accounted for 1.28 million tonnes, with an estimated value of 3.51 billion Euros. In the EU there are about 14 to 15 thousand companies whose main activity is the aquaculture production, producing a Gross Value Added of more than 1.5 billion Euros. Available data confirms the profitability improvement in 2011 following 2010, after suffering losses in 2008-9. Profitability based on the Return On Investment calculated from the EBIT was 10%. The EU aquaculture sector gave direct employment to more than 80,000 people in Europe, with an annual average wage of around 23 thousand Euros. Women accounted for 27% of these jobs. The large percentage of part-time work in the sector should be highlighted, as can be seen through comparison of the total employment numbers with employment expressed in Full Time Equivalents (FTE is 45% of the total number of employees). Part-time employment is important in the shellfish and freshwater aquaculture subsectors. The economic performance and the productivity differ enormously by subsector and segment. The cost structures of the different subsectors (i.e. shellfish, marine and freshwater aquaculture) and species are also analysed on the report.

Despite regular reforms, problems under the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) persist. In order to identify priorities for future reforms of the policy, we developed an analytical framework consisting of 17 criteria and specifying indicators, derived from scientific, wider fisheries, and common resources literature. We applied the framework to the CFP governance system, its regulations, institutions, and processe at EU as well as member state level. The results show that the CFP does not fully meet any of the 17 criteria for an effective resource policy. Its performance was assessed as "neutral" regarding 10 criteria and "negative" regarding seven criteria. Trend analysis shows that there is a slightly positive trend regarding the CFP's performance, with five criteria trending positively, 11 showing a neutral trend and only one criterion trending negatively (simplicity of rules). The analysis identified five criteria which are performing badly and have not improved over time: simplicity of rules, user-pays principle, resource efficiency, accountability, and compliance mechanisms. Future reforms of the CFP should first and foremost address these criteria while continuing efforts to improve the CFP's performance regarding other criteria. The evaluation of the CFP demonstrates the applicability of the analytical framework which can also be applied to other multilevel fisheries governance systems. Moreover, the results can inform reforms of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations. Like the CFP, these institutions manage transboundary fisheries and have not effectively addressed the issues of resource rent capture and resource efficiency.

As a signatory to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), the European Union (EU) has made a commitment to maintain or restore fish stocks to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), and where possible not later than 2015. So how has the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) fared in trying to achieve this objective? The development of the status of 41 commercially exploited fish stocks from the North East Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea (FAO Area 27) was analysed together with the economic performance of the fleets exploiting those stocks. The analyses indicate that the exploitation status for many of the stocks has greatly improved during the last 10 years while the economic performance of the fleets over the same period has been highly variable. The main economic indicators (gross value added (GVA) and operating cash flow (OCF)) have gradually improved at a time when the general economic situation, which has a great influence on the markets, costs and purchase power, has worsened. While recognizing that much remains to be done to achieve the objective of the WSSD, the analyses indicate that actions implemented in the last decade under the CFP have led to an improvement in the status of many commercially important fish stocks and their fleets towards levels that are closer to those producing MSY.

The aim of this study is to analyse the example of German fisheries in 'North Western waters' and the 'North Sea to describe and discuss potential consequences of Brexit and draw generic conclusions for some the most important principles of the EU Common Fisheries Policy). Brexit will have significant effects on fisheries of 8 MS fishing in UK waters. Main principles of the CFP like relative stability, adoption of technical measures or the implementation of the landing obligation will be affected and likely need to be renegotiated. Additionally, Brexit will affect the scientific research advisory system of the CFP and impact on marine research cooperation, in general.

The impacts of fisheries on ocean resources are no longer considered in isolation but should account for broader ecosystem effects. However, ongoing ecosystem-wide changes added to the inherent dynamics of marine ecosystems, create challenges for fisheries and fisheries management by affecting our ability to ensure future fishing opportunities and sustainable use of the seas. By reviewing a corpus of fisheries science literature, we contribute to informing managers and policymakers with considerations of the various threats to fisheries and the marine ecosystems that support them. We identify and describe 25 ecosystem challenges and 7 prominent families of management options to address them. We capture the challenges acting within three broad categories: (i) fishing impacts on the marine environments and future fishing opportunities, (ii) effects of environmental conditions on fish and fishing opportunities, and (iii) effects of context in terms of socioeconomics, fisheries management, and institutional set-up on fisheries. Our review shows that, while most EU fisheries are facing a similar array of challenges, some of them are specific to regions or individual fisheries. This is reflected in selected regional cases taking different perspectives to exemplify the challenges along with fishery-specific cases. These cases include the dramatic situation of the Baltic Sea cod, facing an array of cumulative pressures, the multiple and moving ecosystem interactions that rely on the North Sea forage fish facing climate change, the interaction of fishing and fish stocks in a fluctuating mixed fishery in the Celtic Sea, the bycatch of marine mammals and seabirds and habitat degradation in the Bay of Biscay, and finally the under capacity and lack of fundamental knowledge on some features of the EU Outermost Regions. In addition to these ecoregion specific findings, we discuss the outcomes of our review across the whole of European waters and we conclude by recognizing that there are knowledge gaps regarding the direction ...

The impacts of fisheries on ocean resources are no longer considered in isolation but should account for broader ecosystem effects. However, ongoing ecosystem-wide changes added to the inherent dynamics of marine ecosystems, create challenges for fisheries and fisheries management by affecting our ability to ensure future fishing opportunities and sustainable use of the seas. By reviewing a corpus of fisheries science literature, we contribute to informing managers and policymakers with considerations of the various threats to fisheries and the marine ecosystems that support them. We identify and describe 25 ecosystem challenges and 7 prominent families of management options to address them. We capture the challenges acting within three broad categories: (i) fishing impacts on the marine environments and future fishing opportunities, (ii) effects of environmental conditions on fish and fishing opportunities, and (iii) effects of context in terms of socioeconomics, fisheries management, and institutional set-up on fisheries. Our review shows that, while most EU fisheries are facing a similar array of challenges, some of them are specific to regions or individual fisheries. This is reflected in selected regional cases taking different perspectives to exemplify the challenges along with fishery-specific cases. These cases include the dramatic situation of the Baltic Sea cod, facing an array of cumulative pressures, the multiple and moving ecosystem interactions that rely on the North Sea forage fish facing climate change, the interaction of fishing and fish stocks in a fluctuating mixed fishery in the Celtic Sea, the bycatch of marine mammals and seabirds and habitat degradation in the Bay of Biscay, and finally the under capacity and lack of fundamental knowledge on some features of the EU Outermost Regions. In addition to these ecoregion specific findings, we discuss the outcomes of our review across the whole of European waters and we conclude by recognizing that there are knowledge gaps regarding the direction of causality, nonlinear responses, and confounding effects. All of the challenges we identify and characterize may guide further data collection and research coordination to improve our fundamental understanding of the system and to monitor real changes within it, both of which are required to inform an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM). An European EAFM could build upon an array of management measures currently tailored for fisheries management only, including promoting funding interdisciplinary research and ecosystem monitoring. Such integrative management should reduce uncertainties in environmental, social and economic trends, and lower the risk for disruptive events or ecosystem effects with far-reaching consequences, including a shift toward less productive marine ecosystems.