The new economics foundation (nef) recently launched their report, entitled “Jobs lost at sea”. They investigated the economic effects of overfishing and analysed its impact on employment in the EU. In the study they took 43 fish stocks in European and neighbouring waters and looked at the what the effects of managing at the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) would be in terms of additional revenue and jobs. They found that over €3 billion is lost every year due to overfishing these stocks, which could support 100,000 jobs in the industry.
As a result of shocking mismanagement, landings of fish and the number of jobs in fisheries fall far short of their potential. Catches in 2010 amounted to less than 64 per cent of their maximum potential weight (9.76 million tonnes) and 55 per cent of their potential value. Restoring these 43 stocks to their MSY level would generate 3.53 million tonnes of additional landings; enough to meet the annual demand of fish for 155 million EU citizens.These additional landings would be worth €3.188 billion annually, which is more than five times the annual fisheries subsidies paid to EU member states. Moreover, this additional value could support the equivalent of 32,000 full-time fishing jobs, and 69,000 (full- and part-time) processing jobs every year. Just under 83,000 of these are in the EU27.
The World Bank, in their report “Sunken Billions”, has previously estimated that $50 billion is lost annually as a result of poor governance and overfishing. Despite these analyses, the EU Council continues to set fishing quotas which regularly far exceed proposals from scientists. In recent years, some progress has been made, however, legislation that compels quotas to be set at levels which will lead to MSY is lacking.
The nef report argues that fish stocks deliver huge benefits to society, as they are a source of jobs, a source of profits, and a source of affordable food. However, as quotas are often set at levels which prevent stocks from replenishing and because scientific data is lacking for so many EU fisheries, we are losing money and jobs due to poor management. They conclude that the Common Fisheries Policy reform is an ideal opportunity to put an end to this waste and to reap the benefits from managing fish stocks at a minimum of MSY.
The new economics foundation (nef) recently launched their report, entitled “Jobs lost at sea”. They investigated the economic effects of overfishing and analysed its impact on employment in the EU. In the study they took 43 fish stocks in European and neighbouring waters and looked at the what the effects of managing at the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) would be in terms of additional revenue and jobs. They found that over €3 billion is lost every year due to overfishing these stocks, which could support 100,000 jobs in the industry.
As a result of shocking mismanagement, landings of fish and the number of jobs in fisheries fall far short of their potential. Catches in 2010 amounted to less than 64 per cent of their maximum potential weight (9.76 million tonnes) and 55 per cent of their potential value. Restoring these 43 stocks to their MSY level would generate 3.53 million tonnes of additional landings; enough to meet the annual demand of fish for 155 million EU citizens.These additional landings would be worth €3.188 billion annually, which is more than five times the annual fisheries subsidies paid to EU member states. Moreover, this additional value could support the equivalent of 32,000 full-time fishing jobs, and 69,000 (full- and part-time) processing jobs every year. Just under 83,000 of these are in the EU27.
The World Bank, in their report “Sunken Billions”, has previously estimated that $50 billion is lost annually as a result of poor governance and overfishing. Despite these analyses, the EU Council continues to set fishing quotas which regularly far exceed proposals from scientists. In recent years, some progress has been made, however, legislation that compels quotas to be set at levels which will lead to MSY is lacking.
The nef report argues that fish stocks deliver huge benefits to society, as they are a source of jobs, a source of profits, and a source of affordable food. However, as quotas are often set at levels which prevent stocks from replenishing and because scientific data is lacking for so many EU fisheries, we are losing money and jobs due to poor management. They conclude that the Common Fisheries Policy reform is an ideal opportunity to put an end to this waste and to reap the benefits from managing fish stocks at a minimum of MSY.
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