As in previous years the conveners issued a questionnaire to the appropriate WGFTFB members in EU countries as well as Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and also Turkey during February 2010 (see Annex 7). It contained a series of questions relating to recent changes within the fleets observed and also highlighting gear/fleet/fishery related issues that are important but are not currently recognized by Assessment WG’s. Where possible, contributors were requested to quantify the information provided or state how the information has been derived e.g. common knowledge, personal observations, discussions with industry etc.
Specifically FTFB members were asked to comment under the following headings:
• Fleet Dynamics
• Technology Creep
• Technical Conservation Measures
• Ecosystem Effects
• Development of New Fisheries
Responses to the questionnaire were received from:
IMR, Norway IMARES, Netherlands SFIA, UK FRS, UK-Scotland IEO, Spain Ifremer, France BIM, Ireland AZTI, Spain
ILVO, Belgium CNR-ISMAR – Italy
The information provided was collated by the chair. The full information for individ-ual ICES Expert Groups is given in Annex 7 but some of the general issues raised are summarized as follows:
Fleet Dynamics
As with 2009 the overall picture from the questionnaires is fairly negative for 2010.
All countries have reported very low prices for fish and shellfish and there are indica-tions that prices for some species have dropped by as much as 50% on 2007 levels. In the case of EU countries imports from third countries and the world recession are the main reasons given. Many vessels have tied up because of low fish prices during Q1 and Q2 of 2009.
Fuel prices have stabilized to some degree although in many countries, fuel is still a driving factor in their operational decision-making. In a number of countries effort e.g. Norwegian shrimp fisheries have declined in some fisheries due directly to fuel costs. In other countries fleets have altered their operational strategies to minimize fuel costs but also to access markets optimally.
As in 2009 the new EU Cod Recovery Plan covering a number of areas including the North Sea, West of Scotland, Irish Sea, Baltic Sea and Skagerrak/Kattegat as well as technical measures introduced into ICES Area VIa (West of Scotland) are still creating difficulties for fleets in a number of countries. There has been a continuation in the reported shifts in effort from areas without effort or less restricted by effort caps, from areas where the kw days allocated to vessels are felt inadequate.
There continues to be a move in France and Netherlands to convert to Danish seining instead of conventional trawling or beam trawling. These vessels are quite high pow-ered compared to traditional seine net vessels and are using this power as well as sophisticate deck machinery to increase overall fishing time. A number of vessels entering this sector are being rigged as dual purpose vessels to take advantage of both seining and trawling opportunities.
There has been a large shift in the Irish fleet into on-board freezing of Nephrops. Ap-proximately 22 vessels are now rigged for on-board freezing. This is mainly moti-vated by strong markets for frozen Nephrops as the traditional fresh markets for whole and tailed Nephrops still seems to be over supplied.
Decommissioning schemes are less in evidence with most Member States having suspended such schemes for the foreseeable future. Varying amounts of effort seemed to have been removed from the fleets involved but as reported last year there are indications in several countries that some of this effort is being reintroduced into fleets through purchasing of dormant licences. The impact of decommissioning there-fore may not be as high as perhaps anticipated in terms of overall effort reductions.
There is also some evidence of fleet renewal, particularly in the Scottish Nephrops fleet.
Specific changes to highlight the trends observed include the following:
• As in 2009 all countries have reported very low prices for fish and shell-fish. Indications are that prices for some species have stayed at levels in ex-cess of 50% of 2007 prices. In many countries vessels have tied up and most markets continue to be depressed. Imports are put forward by indus-try as the main reason. The one exception has been the market for frozen Nephrops, which had been depressed in 2009 has picked up significantly in 2010 with prices of up to €37/kg being recorded.
• Quite a number of Irish vessels are now equipped to freeze at sea and sev-eral more are in the process of installing freezing equipment. If every ves-sel which is planning to install equipment does so there will be approx 22 boats in the Irish fleet with the option of freezing. This will undoubtedly have implications for the Nephrops fisheries as most of these vessels are ef-ficient 20m+ vessels fishing with twin-rig double codend trawls.
• Several of the larger Irish vessels (20–24m+) operating in Area VIa have been forced to move to Area VIIb-k due to a lack of days at sea. This is par-tially due to the reductions in effort required under the LTMP for cod be-coming a limiting factor but also as a result of the allocation system being used in Ireland which gives a flat rate allocation to all vessels with a track record regardless of recent fishing activity. This shift of effort has put more pressure on Celtic Sea whitefish stocks.
• In ICES area VIa there has been a continuation of the trend to work in and around the “French line” as much as possible to maximize vessels days-at-sea allowance. This is most prevalent during winter and spring months when the monkfish fishery is at its peak. Another option to save days allo-cation in 2009 and 2010 has been for vessels to target Rockall which is out-with the days at sea regime.
• Scottish vessels traditionally targeting cod, haddock and whiting fish east of the French line have been severely affected by the 30% bycatch limits, which have effectively closed these fisheries. Trips in this area are no longer viable because of the lack of alternative economically viable species to make up the other 70% of catches. These vessels have either reverted to the North Sea or switched to Nephrops fisheries.
• The Scottish twin-trawl Nephrops fleet continued to re-new with six new larger powered vessels replacing older low powered vessels in 2009/2010.
In addition the < 10m fleet sector (pots) there was 16 new boats replacing older vessels.
• Due to a combination of fuel costs, low fish prices and quota restrictions in Spain a number of larger operators are in financial difficulties. Despite strong political support, there are reports of commercial difficulties and numbers of skippers are leaving the industry. During 2009 six 40m freezer vessels were sold to Norway.
• A number of vessels in the French fleet there has been a shift from purse seining (tuna) and trawling (mixed demersal) to Danish Seining (Fly-dragging) in the Bay of Biscay in Area VIII. One purse-seiner in the period 2007- 2009 and 1 trawler in 2008, 3 other trawlers in 2009 and 6 new builds in 2010.
• In Belgium nine beam trawlers from the large segment (>300 HP) have been decommissioned, of these 2 have been ‘partially decommissioned’ re-placed by two new gillnetters. By number, 10% has opted for decommis-sioning. This is 11% reduction of the total horsepower and 13% of the total GT of the Belgian fleet. Two new gillnetters have entered the fleet and one gillnetter/otter trawler.
• In the UK a geographical shifting of the under 10m fleet has been seen in the last couple of years as vessels (trawlers from the NE and Netters from the SW of England) that have historically worked from a single port have had to shift to other areas due to quota availability within the under 10m
pool. Target species have generally remained the same but movement to other areas have allowed the vessels to target species not currently avail-able on their home grounds, i.e. Nephrops in the NE or have access to higher quota allocations by moving to an adjacent ICES rectangle. None of the changes reflect a change in the distribution patterns of fish it is all down to regulatory pressures and quota availability within the under 10m pool.
• Also in the SW England fleet, there are fewer under 10m “rule beaters”
working pressure stocks as they have either left the industry or diversified to other sectors. The number of beamers has also steadily declined. A de-commissioning scheme for the under 10m vessels during 2008 affected a cross section of the fleet taking out both new and older vessel. A rough es-timate of the proportion of the fleet decommissioned would be 2–3%. Of the vessels that decommissioned at least half of these owners have since bought another under 10m vessel and re-entered the fishery.
• The Closed season for the Gulf of Cadiz Otter trawl fleet fishery has been increased to 90 days, in two periods: 60 days from September to mid-November and 30 days from mid-January to mid February. The increased biomass of fish stocks resulting from this closure is shifting effort into coastal resources, thereby saving energy and homogenization of landings.
It has been noted an increasing trend in the abundance of white shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) and effort has been shifted away from Nephrops onto this species.
• The Basque pair trawl fleet targeting hake have made shorter trips than usual recently, due to a low market price. Shorter fishing trips improved the fish freshness. Also vessels have coordinated entry into base ports se-quentially during the week, avoiding landing all catches in the same tradi-tional two days of the week (Monday-Thursday). In this way, fish auctions take place throughout the week which should raise the market price of the catch.
• During 2009, five single trawlers have been decommissioned (20% of the Basque trawler fleet). Two of these trawlers were 10 years old. One second hand vessel (single bottom trawler) has been bought from Galicia in 2010.
• In the English Channel and North Sea: 8 French vessels (~4%) have been decommissioned by end of 2009. Two were fishing for Saithe (more than 30 years old - (area IV); one was a gillnetter (28 years old – area VIId); five were trawlers (20 to 26 years old – IV and VIId).
• Several larger French trawlers using mesh size range 70–99mm have con-tinued to fish further north in the North sea (southeast of Scotland in Area IVb) because of the low abundance of whiting in VIId, and also to reduce fuel consumption by increasing the duration of their individual trip (from 2 days long to 4 or 5 days long).
• The gradual shift from beam trawling for flatfish to twin trawling and fly-shooting (Danish seining) on other species e.g. gurnards, and Nephrops, etc.
in the Dutch fleet is continuing. However, two vessels engaged in outrig-ging reverted to conventional beam trawling to catch their sole quota when plaice prices were too low. They may take up outrigging again de-pending on economics and quota.
• According to the Dutch industry fuel costs are still high and income is un-der pressure. Of all the main fish species including sole, plaice, cod, turbot and brill, more is being landed (all fish +6%). The number of landed shrimps appears to be 20% higher in 2009, while Nephrops landings have stayed steady in 2008. The prices of all fish types were lower than 2008 on average by approximately 16%. The average price of sole tends towards € 9.50 per kg, € 0.50 lower than in 2008. In particular the price of plaice has fallen steeply. It is expected that the average price will not be over €1.40 per kg, a reduction of at least 30%. The price of shrimps was also very low in 2008. Over the whole year, at least a 30% lower price is expected, around 2.70 € per kg, so around € 0.34 less than the estimated cost price for shrimp cutters. The price of crayfish will be at least 25% lower at around € 4 per kg.
• The total engine power for the entire Dutch fishing fleet declined signifi-cantly to 429,000 hp (-8%), mainly due to the decline in the number of (big) cutters and despite the inclusion of the other small high seas fishing ves-sels (described below).The cutter (beam trawler) fleet itself declined by 37 vessels (-11%) to 308 vessels. The average engine power per vessel de-clined by 8% to 779 hp. The total engine power used of this fleet went down to 268000 hp, a fall of 10%.
• The Dutch Ministry in collaboration with the Dutch Fish Product Board have limited the maximum engine power of Dutch fly-shooters and twin-riggers to 500 and 700 kW respectively from 2011.
• In Belgium nine beam trawlers from the large segment (>300 HP) have been decommissioned, of these 2 have been ‘partially decommissioned’ re-placed by two new gillnetters. By number, 10% has opted for decommis-sioning. This is 11% reduction of the total horsepower and 13% of the total GT of the Belgian fleet. Two new gillnetters have entered the fleet and one gillnetter/otter trawler.
• Up to 30 Northern Irish vessels shifted from the Irish Sea to the North Sea in Q1 of 2010 due to better fishing opportunities. Due to a lack of quota, however, discarding of whitefish by these vessels has been high.
• In the Basque artisanal fleet fishing for tuna (trolling lines) and mackerel (handlines) all year, effort was restricted to 8–9 months in 2009 (about 3–4 month mackerel and 4–5 months tuna). Vessels stay in port for the rest of the year. The reduction of mackerel quota has restricted the fishery to 1–2 months and some boats have started fishing with other gears (longlines, gillnets) to supplement their fishing activities.
• Daily or weekly quotas (depending on the fishery) introduced by the fish-ers in the Basque mackerel fishery (handlinfish-ers and purse-seinfish-ers) and in anchovy (purse-seiners). This can be considered like a market strategy try-ing to improve prices.
• There has been continued decline in fishing effort and total catch in the shrimp fisheries in the Barents Sea. Increased fuel cost is a driving force for the decline in shrimp trawl fisheries.
Technology Creep
The effects of technological creep are still evident in many fisheries as observed in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 with the main focus on fuel efficiency measures. In Norway
there have been continuing attempts to use pelagic gears for targeting demersal spe-cies such as saithe and cod, while in several countries there has been experimentation in demersal fisheries with trawl doors that fish “off-bottom”. This is mainly driven by reducing fuel consumption but potentially has added environmental impact advan-tages over traditional trawl doors. In the Netherlands and Belgium there has been high uptake of new fuel efficient beam trawl designs (e.g. SumWing), which have been extensively tested and shown to be give fuel savings as well as increased fishing time.
As in previous years there have been a number of developments in gear design to reduce drag including the use of low drag netting in both pelagic and demersal fish-eries. In Italy there has been adoption of twin-rigging instead of traditional single-rig trawls. This particular move has created concern among the Italian authorities given the improved efficiency of this method. There is also increased use of 3D mapping sonar systems in a number of countries (UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands) as fishers try to open up new areas.
Specific examples of technological creep are given below:
• In the last 3–4 years some Italian bottom trawlers of the central-northern Adriatic, switched their activity from single to twin-rig trawling (named by the Italian fishers: “Rete gemella”). The main characteristic of the twin-rig are four-panel trawls with small or large lateral panels (named Ameri-cana trawl, in Italian). These nets also have large meshes in the wing sec-tion and are manufactured in Raschel knotless-PA and knotted-PE netting.
The nets are designed to have increased vertical and horizontal openings are thought to be highly efficient. There is a big concern, though from fish-ers using traditional bottom trawl about the impact of these twin trawls on the bottom. The situation is being monitored carefully in Italy and as pre-cautionary approach the bottom trawlers converting to twin trawls are obliged to operate one day per week less than the traditional trawlers.
• In 2009 a semi-pelagic trawl technique for saithe was successfully devel-oped and introduced in the Norwegian fishery. The most successful trawl is designed with hexagonal front part meshes and rigged with pelagic trawls off bottom. Better efficiency, less fuel consumption and reduced bot-tom impact are reported, but presently not quantified.
• Rigging of trawl doors off-bottom is becoming increasingly common among several traditional bottom-trawl fisheries in Norway (Trawling for Saithe, Norway Pout and Sandeel are included).
• There have been a number of initiatives taken in France to improve fuel ef-ficiency these include: new optimized doors, which fish “off-bottom”; op-timized shaping of the trawls, increasing meshes when possible in the aft part of the trawls and using low drag materials such as Dyneema and Breizline twines; and also decreasing speed in transit and fishing (for ex-ample keeping a constant pressure of the turbo when fishing, without con-sidering the speed over the ground); and also avoiding transiting against the tide/current where possible.
• Up to 50 Belgium (10–15) and Dutch (35–40) beam trawlers have switched from conventional beam trawls to SumWings. This might have some effect on fishing grounds chosen, and effort by time gains in shooting and haul-ing gears. In addition gear can be towed faster with the lower gear drag.
The catching performance of SumWings has been compared with
conven-tional tickler chain beam trawls. No major differences were found, when ticklers chains are kept the same. Some skippers report that they can haul in faster due to lower gear drag and achieve an additional 2 hauls per week trip. Other say they can fish in areas where difficulties arose with the conventional beam trawls, and that gear fasteners occurred to a lesser ex-tent. The SumWing technology is still to be adapted to fishing in very un-even grounds (sandy peaks) in the southern North Sea. New wing designs were produced in early 2010. Examples are the so-called ‘JackWing’.
• As in last 2009 more and more Belgium and Dutch beam trawlers are equipped with 3D mapping sonar which has opened up new areas to fish-ing (close to wrecks). (Belgium and Netherlands: Implications Openfish-ing up of new grounds).
Technical Conservation Measures
One particular issue that has arisen is the introduction of the OMEGA mesh gauge.
The industries in a number of countries have reported problems with the implemen-tation of this new mesh gauge. It is claimed that this gauge gives measurements of
~5%-10% less than the wedge gauge previously used by fisheries inspectors. The in-dustry claims the introduction of this gauge is effectively an increase in mesh size and also that fishers have been forced to replace codends which prior to the new regulations were perfectly legal. Similarly netmakers have been forced to dump net-ting as it is no longer legal. In Scotland skippers have replaced codends constructed from mesh sizes which are 8mm to 10mm greater than pre-Omega gauge
~5%-10% less than the wedge gauge previously used by fisheries inspectors. The in-dustry claims the introduction of this gauge is effectively an increase in mesh size and also that fishers have been forced to replace codends which prior to the new regulations were perfectly legal. Similarly netmakers have been forced to dump net-ting as it is no longer legal. In Scotland skippers have replaced codends constructed from mesh sizes which are 8mm to 10mm greater than pre-Omega gauge