NGOs urge change of funding priorities in the proposed EMFF

BirdLife Europe, Greenpeace, Oceana, OCEAN2012 and WWF work together for an ambitious reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which should:

• restore fish stocks to healthy levels;  
• end overfishing by shifting to environmentally sustainable fishing practices; and  
• reduce damage to marine ecosystems.  

To achieve these objectives, shifting funds away from subsidies that incentivise and support overfishing to funds that support sustainable fisheries and healthy marine ecosystems plays a crucial role. Currently, the EU annually supports the fishing sector with roughly €836 million for structural measures and about €156 million for fisheries partnership agreements.  At the same time, funding for research and data collection as well as for control and enforcement measures is relatively low with less than €50 million allocated for each fundingarea per year.1 The proposal for the EU Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)2 suggests only limited change to that spending pattern under shared management (Article 15). These proposed funding priorities do not reflect the needed change in fisheries management andwill not ensure that public aid is used to provide public goods and services.