Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

Background to the new study
Broad topics to be covered
Invitation to submit views on th key issues
References
List of organisations to which this letter was sent

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INVITATION TO SUBMIT INFORMATION

The Royal Commission has decided to undertake a study of the environmental effects of marine fisheries, the serious concerns that they raise and how these might best be addressed. The preparatory phase of this new study will overlap with completion of the current study of the long-term effects of chemicals in the environment.

The consultation exercise on the subject for the next study, held between January and March this year, yielded much constructive advice: the Commission is grateful to all those organisations who contributed. Having considered these responses, the Commission has decided that a study of pollution and other damage to the marine environment would be most promising. This would be too broad to cover in its entirety, so the study will be focused on the environmental effects of fisheries. This study received strong support in the responses.

The new study will begin in the middle of next year, with the aim of publishing a report in 2004. Early next year the Commission will invite submission of detailed evidence on specific issues. As a preliminary stage, the Commission is now seeking to identify the issues and areas it would be most appropriate for the new study to investigate. This letter summarises the background to the new study, indicates the broad topics the Commission proposes to consider, and invites views.

Background to the new study
There has been much concern on the ocean's continuing ability to provide the resources on which we have come to rely. Oceans are not, of course, just a resource capable of exploitation. They and the life they sustain have intrinsic value, which is being threatened by our use of their resources. Action to protect and conserve them and remedy damage - is not keeping pace with ubiquitous threats. There have been some notable successes in the past decade but their degradation has continued and, in many places, intensified.¹ The picture that is emerging from shared observations throughout the world includes pollution, exhausted fishing stocks, disappearing coastlines and other widespread environmental damage.

Fisheries are, in the view of many, one of the major causes of damage to the marine environment but the extent, and even the existence, of such damage is disputed. The dramatic growth of aquaculture suggests that within a generation its output might outstrip that of capture fisheries, yet the environmental effects of this industry are poorly understood. The Scottish Parliament has recently called² for urgent research on the capacity of the environment to accommodate aquaculture.

This is an opportune time to consider the wide environmental consequences of fisheries. We are moving from the hunter-gatherer stage of exploiting the ocean's resources towards farming the oceans. Market forces are now driving towards aquaculture and away from capture fisheries. Technological advances and economic pressures are leading to an intensification, which has the potential to wreak as much damage on the oceans as intensive agriculture has on land over recent decades. With agriculture we asked the wrong question how to maximise the production of food, instead of looking at the wider functions of the rural environment, with their rich inter-dependencies. We must try to ensure that the problems that could arise with intensive fisheries are foreseen, so that they can be avoided.

The Commission plans to study the environmental effects of both capture fisheries and aquaculture, whether for direct human consumption, fish meal or for other uses. It has considered carefully the arguments put to it for both a narrow and a wide geographical scope. In view of the international nature of much of the industry and the influence of the EU on policy in European waters, it has decided that a focus on UK waters alone is unlikely to be productive. The study will therefore look primarily at the issues raised within European waters, but set these in a global context.

Changes to the regulation of fisheries are one means by which environmental effects might be mitigated: few other tools are currently available. On land there has been a history of declaring protected areas, such as those under the EU Habitats Directive, or of regulating commercial activities for the conservation of biodiversity. Legislation for the UK marine environment has, on the other hand, historically been concerned only with the exploitation of minerals or fisheries or securing navigation.³ The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has declared its intention of extending application of the Habitats Directive to 200 nautical miles offshore. This is an important new initiative but clearly raises difficult issues both in identifying sites suited to such protection and in ensuring that imposed restrictions or obligations are observed. In its recent report Safeguarding Our Seas⁴ , prepared in co-operation with the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly, DEFRA describes this and other initiatives being undertaken to protect the marine environment. The study will look at these and other means of providing effective safeguards, and for enhancing the marine environment where appropriate. Experience in other countries will be an important input to this.

The Commission is aware that this area, in common with many others in the environmental field, is one where most decisions are taken at a European, rather than a national level. The UK government and devolved administrations, however, still can have considerable influence on the marine environment, both directly and through their influence on EU policy. There are a growing number of conventions and agreements for the protection of the marine environment which extend far beyond European waters. The Commission considers that it can provide an authoritative overview of the many facets of the subject, leading to conclusions on the principles that should underpin effective action.

Broad topics to be covered

An essential background to the study will be plausible scenarios for fisheries over the next 20-30 years. The Commission will consider the constraints imposed by considerations of thermodynamics and available resources, what might appear to be economically or environmentally attractive, and what new technology might permit. Against that background, it will seek a coherent framework within which fisheries practice can be consistent with rich and diverse marine ecosystems and with protection and appropriate enhancement of other aspects of the marine environment.

OSPAR's Quality Status Report for the North Atlantic⁵ identified seven priorities for action on capture fisheries and aquaculture, of which five are concerned with the environmental effects of fisheries. These are:

1. developing more appropriate management measures for aquaculture to avoid problems of pollution, disease and the introduction of alien species;
2. addressing the particular vulnerability of deep-sea species;
3. considering the risks posed by fisheries to certain ecosystems and habitats, for example, seamounts, hydrothermal vents, sponge associations and deep-water coral communities;
4. exploring the adverse environmental impacts of certain fishing gear, especially those leading to excessive catches of non-target organisms and habitat disturbance;
5. considering the benefits for the marine environment of the temporary or permanent closure or other protection of certain areas.

These five issues will be used, by the Royal Commission, to examine possible frameworks for integrating fisheries policy with measures to protect and, where appropriate, enhance the marine environment.

In conducting the study, the Commission will consider the effects of natural variation and climate change on the distribution and abundance of species. It will also examine the constraints posed by deficiencies in current understanding of fish ecology. Areas where there have been successes in addressing environmental problems will also be considered.

Local decisions on fishing, particularly those on subsidies and other interventions, can have much wider environmental effects. Markets are now global, so a shortfall of fish landed in Europe will lead to greater imports and heavier pressures on the fisheries and marine environment elsewhere, for example around Africa. In addition, some European fishing fleets are capable of fishing over very wide areas.

Local fishing decisions can also have wider economic and social effects - the developed world's industrial fleets already catch large quantities of fish in southern oceans, which could feed southern communities. This could increase if new restrictions are placed on UK or European fisheries.

Invitation to submit views on the key issues

The Commission is requesting views and information that will help it to scope the study. The purpose of the this phase of the study is to obtain an overview of current thinking about the topic, broadly defined, and to amass sufficient background information to enable the Commission to formulate their own expectations for the study, what roles they expect the report to fulfil and what audience(s) they intend for the report. At the end of this phase, the Commission will define the issues the report should cover, and discard those issues it should not cover.

The list of issues given above is not intended to be comprehensive or definitive and the Commission would be glad to have other significant issues drawn to its attention, together with views on the specific questions that it should investigate. A seminar on the study will be held around the end of this year and we would welcome suggestions for one or two issues on which the seminar might focus.

Responses to this letter should be sent to me, preferably in an electronic format (via e-mail or on disk in PC format), at the above address by Wednesday 11 September 2002. The Commission will consider the responses at its meeting in the first week of October. If you would like to discuss the approach the Commission is adopting or the kind of input it will find most useful, please get in touch by either phone or e-mail.

It will be helpful if the main text of a response does not exceed 2,000 words: if detailed supporting material is necessary, it should be in an appendix. Unless otherwise indicated, it will be assumed that the organisation or individual submitting a response has no objection to its placement on the Commission's website.

This letter is being addressed to around 100 organisations (listed in the annex) that are particularly likely to have useful experience. It is also being sent to the Commission's counterpart bodies in other European countries and the text will be placed on the Commission's web site at http://www.rcep.org.uk/fisheries.html.

The invitation to be issued next year, asking for written evidence on more specific questions, will be sent to both recipients of this letter and a wider group of organisations and individuals.

Yours sincerely,

Howard Morrison
Assistant Secretary to the Commission

References

^1. A Sea of Troubles, Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution, 2001.

^2. Inquiry into Aquaculture (Phase 1), Scottish Parliament, Transport and the Environment Committee, 5th Report 2002.

^3. Biodiversity in the European Union (Final Report): International Issues, House of Lords' European Communities Committee, 22nd Report 1998-99.

^4. Safeguarding Our Seas: A Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of our Marine Environment, DEFRA, May 2002.

^5. Quality Status Report 2000 for the North East Atlantic, OSPAR Commission, 2000.

ANNEX

LIST OF ORGANISATIONS TO WHICH THIS LETTER HAS BEEN SENT

Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment
Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
British Academy
British Ecological Society
British Embassy, Washington
British Geological Survey
British Medical Association
British Oceanographic Data Centre
British Oil Spill Control Association
Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales
CEFAS (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science)
Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Managers
Confederation of British Industry
Confederation of British Industry, Northern Ireland
Confederation of British Industry, Scotland
Confederation of British Industry, Wales
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Council for the Protection of Rural England
Country Land and Business Association
Countryside Council for Wales
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for International Development
Department for Transport
Department of Health
Department of Trade and Industry
Economic and Social Research Council
English Nature
Environment Agency
Environment Agency, National Centre for Environmental Data and Surveillance
European Commission, Environment Directorate-General
European Commission, Fisheries Directorate-General
European Commission, Research Directorate-General
European Environment Agency
European Environmental Advisory Councils
FAO Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic, Regional Office for Africa
Food Standards Agency
Foresight Marine Panel
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth, Cymru
Friends of the Earth, Northern Ireland
Friends of the Earth, Scotland
Green Alliance
Greenpeace UK
Health and Safety Executive
House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee
House of Lords European Union Select Committee
House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee
Institute of Biology
Institute of Directors
Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology
Institution of Environmental Sciences
Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology
Irish Congress of Trade Unions
Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Local Government Association
Marine Stewardship Council
Ministry of Fisheries for Iceland
National Assembly for Wales
National Assembly for Wales, Agriculture and Fisheries Policy Division
National Assembly for Wales, Environment, Planning and Transport Committee
National Assembly for Wales, Environment Section
National Farmers Union
National Farmers' Union of Scotland
National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations
National Trust
Natural Environment Research Council
Nordic Council
Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Fisheries Division
Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Aquatic Systems Group
Northern Ireland Department of the Environment
Northern Ireland Environment and Heritage Services
Office of Science and Technology
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
Royal Academy of Engineering
Royal Geographical Society
Royal Society
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Royal Society of Edinburgh
Scottish Association for Marine Science
Scottish Environment LINK
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Scottish Executive
Scottish Executive, Environment and Rural Affairs Department
Scottish Executive, Fishery Research Services
Scottish Fishermen's Federation
Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament, Transport and the Environment Committee
Scottish Quality Salmon
Scottish Trade Union Congress
Sea Fish Industry Authority
Southampton Oceanography Centre
Sustainable Development Commission
Trades Union Congress
UK Environmental Law Association
Ulster Farmers Union
University of Plymouth, Plymouth Environmental Research Centre
University of Portsmouth, Centre for the Economics and Management of Aquatic Resources
University of Wales, Bangor, School of Ocean Sciences
US Fish and Wildlife Service
US National Marine Fisheries Service
Welsh Trade Union Council
Wildlife and Countryside Link
World Wide Fund for Nature UK

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