Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution today announced that it is to investigate the environmental effects of marine fisheries, the concerns that they raise and how these might best be addressed. The study will start in the middle of next year, to produce a report in 2004.

The Chairman of the Royal Commission, Sir Tom Blundell, said today:

"This is exactly the right time to consider the environmental consequences of fisheries. From all over the world, observers are reporting serious and continuing degradation of the oceans. We are now moving from the hunter-gatherer stage of exploiting the ocean's resources towards farming the oceans. 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 have been asking 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 Royal Commission believes it should now stimulate this debate."

The Commission is seeking views now about the key issues on which it should concentrate and has written to a wide range of bodies. The text of the letter is available on the Commission's web site at:
http://www.rcep.org.uk/fisheries.html

The Commission welcomes views from anyone who wishes to contribute.

NOTE FOR EDITORS:

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution is an independent standing body. Its terms of reference are to advise on matters, both national and international, concerning the pollution of the environment; the adequacy of research in this field; and the future possibilities of danger to the environment. The Chairman is Sir Tom Blundell FRS. Members of the Commission are appointed by Her Majesty The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and serve part time.

The environmental effects of marine fisheries was selected as a subject for study after consultations with a wide variety of organisations. The study announced today will draw, where appropriate, on conclusions reached in previous reports by the Commission.

When the study starts next year, the Commission will invite written evidence on the more specific issues it intends to identify with the help of responses to this announcement.

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 fish farming, for example, 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 called for urgent research on the capacity of the environment to accommodate fish farming.

The Commission plans to study the environmental effects of both capture fisheries and fish farming, whether for direct human consumption, fish meal or for other uses. In view of the international nature of much of the industry and the influence of the EU, the study will look primarily at the issues raised within European waters, but set these in a global context. Local fishing decisions can have economic and social effects in other parts of the world for, example, the developed world's industrial fleets already catch large quantities of fish in southern oceans, which could feed southern communities.

An essential background to the study will be to look at the type of fisheries and fishing practices we might have over the next 20-30 years. The Commission will consider the limits imposed by natural resources, what might be economically or environmentally attractive, and what new technology might permit. It will look for ways in which fisheries practice can be consistent with rich and diverse marine ecosystems and with protection or enhancement of other aspects of the marine environment. It will start by looking at priorities for action recently identified by the OSPAR Commission, a body set up under an international convention for the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic.

CONTACT:

The contact for all enquiries about this announcement, or about the new study, is:
Howard Morrison, Assistant Secretary to the Commission
Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 5-8 The Sanctuary, London SW1P 3JS
Tel:   020 7799 8980         Email:  howard.morrison@rcep.org.uk

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