11 Management of the European eel
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13219/03
COM(03) 573
| Commission Communication: "Development of a Community Action Plan for the management of the European eel".
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| Legal base | — |
| Document originated | 1 October 2003
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| Deposited in Parliament | 7 October 2003
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| Department | Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 21 October 2003
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | Before the end of 2003
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
11.1 Eels are a catadromous species, in that they live in fresh
water but return to the sea to reproduce, and, according to the
Commission, the European eel occurs in fresh waters in almost
all of Europe and in northern Africa, as well as in the marine
waters of the North Atlantic. It adds that eels are exploited
in most European countries, and are also involved in re-stocking
and aquaculture, and are consequently important, not only as a
natural asset, but as an economic resource. However, concerns
about the conservation of the species have been growing, and the
Commission has therefore set out in this Communication an Action
Plan for the management of the stock.
The current document
11.2 The Commission says that, although there has long been thought
to be a single spawning stock, recent indications suggest that
there might be three genetically distinct sub-groups, though only
one of these (the western European stock) populates the territory
and coast of the Community. It notes that a recent evaluation
by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES)
suggested that the stock was outside safe biological limits, with
recruitment having declined since 1980 to a historical low point
in 2001, and that in recent years the fisheries have not been
sustainable. It also pointed out that, because of the long time-lag
between recruitment and spawning, profitable fishing for eels
can continue even when the stock is at a very depleted level,
thus creating an extremely high-risk situation.
11.3 In view of this, the Commission suggests that
there is a strong need for urgent management action, based on
the precautionary principle, and that, in many areas, the most
effective measure would be a reduction in fishing. However, it
also says that action needs to be taken at different levels.
Thus, on the one hand, the life cycle of the eel requires a multinational
approach, whilst, on the other, there are many discrete and regional
fisheries for eel at different stages in its life cycle, which
require local measures to improve growth and allow adult eel to
escape to their spawning grounds. Therefore, the Commission suggests
that the challenge for the Community is to design a management
system which ensures that local measures produce results in a
consistent way across the various river basins, Member States,
and adjacent countries, and where all stakeholders make a contribution
to stock recovery, with their contributions being quantified and
equitably distributed.
11.4 Having said that, the Commission acknowledges
that current knowledge about eel stocks and their management is
insufficient, and that it is therefore necessary first to build
the basis for such a system. It says that the essentially local
nature of eel management means that the Community should not become
involved in the detail of such actions, this being an area where
Member States should assume responsibility. However, it proposes
that the Community should be responsible for establishing targets
for eel management at different life stages (settlement, stocking
and escapement); collating information on the effects of the measures
in place; proposing Community-level measures (such as minimum
marketing sizes, or environmental measures), where these can reinforce
local measures; backing up local efforts by scientific and technical
support, and the sharing of experience; and the international
dimension of eel conservation.
11.5 In the meantime, the Commission says that the
advice from ICES makes it clear that some emergency measures are
needed to promote stock recovery, and that it is inviting Member
States to participate in an examination of the actions that could
usefully be applied at Community level, including total allowable
catches, technical measures (such as landing size limits, and
closed seasons and areas), the licensing of fishermen, local enhancement
by restocking, and initiatives to restore habitats. It also suggests
that the first priority should be to maximise the escapement of
the silver eel,[17] which
it believes would increase recruitment to the spawning stock,
and that subsequent actions should be aimed at ensuring that sufficient
yellow eels survive the fisheries directed at them and have sufficient
appropriate habitat to colonise.
The Government's view
11.6 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 21 October
2003, the Minister for Nature Conservation and Fisheries at the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr Ben Bradshaw)
says that the UK does not exploit eels nationally to the same
extent as many other Member States, but that they have a local
importance in some areas, notably in Northern Ireland. He adds
that the decline in numbers of young eels entering UK rivers has
mirrored that in the Community stocks as a whole, and that the
Government accepts the need for a Community-wide rebuilding plan,
and for the introduction as soon as possible of a coordinated
framework of international management measures. He points out
that the UK has been instrumental in encouraging the Commission
to address the decline in stocks, and that many of proposals for
managing the European eel fisheries contained in a paper it submitted
to the Commission have been included in this Communication. Consequently,
the Government believes that the Communication represents an important
step towards addressing the decline in the stock, but that, since
third countries also fish for eels, it is essential that they
should be persuaded to take similar measures.
11.7 The Minister also says that, in recognition
of the poor state of the eel stock, Fisheries Ministers in England
and Wales will shortly be asked to approve Environment Agency
byelaws introducing a new licensing system and other controls
on fishing for eels, other than by rod and line, in an effort
to ensure sustainable management. In the meantime, he points out
that the commercial eel fisheries in Northern Ireland are currently
managed to sustain their yield, so that the UK will already have
in place some of the measures proposed by the Commission in advance
of Community-wide action.
Conclusion
11.8 This is an interesting and timely document,
seemingly in line with UK thinking on the need for measures to
allow the recovery of the eel stocks. We do not think it requires
any further consideration, but, in clearing it, we are drawing
it to the attention of the House.
17 Larval eels become small "glass eels"
which migrate upstream and settle into a pelagic phase to become
"yellow eels" for most of their life. In the final phase,
they become "silver eels", which eventually migrate
to spawning areas in the sea. Back
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