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The CFCA has adopted its annual report for 2010 at the meeting of the Administrative Board held on 15 of March. The annual report highlighted all the activities undertaken by the CFCA during that year. Moreover, at the meeting the Board discussed the multiannual work programme for 2012-2016 as well as the annual work programme and draft budget for 2012.
This General Report has been adopted a few months before the forthcoming Communication on the Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy by the Commission. The reformed CFP will aim at ensuring a viable fishing sector based on the sustainability of available biological resources. The reformed CFP will then be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council by 2012.
New regulations on fisheries control and the fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (so-called ‘IUU’) have already entered into force last year. Now there is a clear set of rules established to ensure that the law is applied in an equal, efficient and transparent manner.
“With these rules adopted, the focus moves to the implementation by the Member States. In this regard, the Agency has a crucial role to play at this very moment. Indeed, the model of the Agency of regional cooperation between national authorities is working effectively in practice,” said Serge Beslier, Chairman of the Administrative Board.
2010 results
During 2010, all objectives were achieved:
• The four JDPs in the North Sea / Western Waters, Baltic Sea, NAFO / NEAFC and Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic, were executed. The CFCA also assisted the Member States and the Commission in the application of the EU regulation against IUU fishing.
• Several measures were adopted to enhance the quality and relevance of the control activities and hence ensure that Member States contribute in a satisfactory manner to the success of the Joint Deployment Plans. In this regard, Member States pooled an adequate number of means, a new Regional Risk Analysis was developed to facilitate the long term planning of joint campaigns, and steps have been taken to promote European Added Value at all stages of the JDP cycle (planning, implementation and assessment).
• The total number of inspections coordinated in the framework of the JDPs was more than 7000 in the four areas of operation.
• Approximately 1600 man days were deployed in joint teams; highlighting the cooperation between Member States through the creation of joint teams of inspectors of different nationalities. This is one of the main tools to foster cooperation, increase transparency of activities, exchange best practices and build confidence between the different national authorities.
• Periodically, there have been training seminars for the Community inspectors which work under the Joint Deployment Plans and training activities for the authorities involved in the fight against IUU fishing. Inspectors are now better trained and prepared and the quality of the work done by national and Community inspectors participating in joint inspection and surveillance activities under the JDP’s is improving.
Proposed Draft Budget for 2012
The draft budget for 2012 is €9,310,000. In 2011, the final budget was €12,850,000.
“The execution of these activities has contributed significantly to the uniformity and effectiveness of control, increased transparency of the inspection activities and thus to a level playing field for the European fishing industry. In times of financial austerity, this form of cooperation helps save public expenditure by ensuring better cost effective use of Member States’ inspection vessels and aircrafts,” said Harm Koster, Executive Director.
Within the framework of the joint deployment plan for cod in the North Sea coordinated by the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA), a possible infringement, in which blinders were being utilised by a Dutch fishing vessel, was detected in the course of a joint operation involving three Member States (the Netherlands, France and Belgium). In fact, joint deployment plans are the vehicle through which the CFCA organises the deployment of national human and material means of control and inspection pooled by Member States, thus ensuring European Added Value in the Union monitoring control and surveillance efforts.
During a control operation on the 8th November, for which the French fisheries monitoring centre (FMC) at CROSS A Etel was in charge, the French inspection vessel Themis entered Belgian waters with French European Union inspectors on board, to inspect a Dutch beam trawler. When the inspector approached the vessel, the skipper ran off the warps from the winches dumping the beam trawls on the sea bed. In a coordinated action, the Dutch inspection vessel Barend Biesheuvel went to the location and, as the captain of the fishing vessel was not willing to be cooperative in bringing the gear above the surface, requested the Dutch coastguard vessel Arca to dredge the net; an operation which lasted two days. In addition, Belgium contributed to the operation, by having their fishing patrol vessel Zeehond dredging and finding the first net.
As a result of the operation, the inspectors found out the utilisation of ‘blinders’, illegal gear attachments which obstruct the mesh opening and reduce the selectivity of the net, contravening Commission Regulation EEC 3440/84. In addition, the skipper of the fishing vessel hindered the inspection by obstructing the control operation.
The value of the fish and both port and starboard trawls were confiscated. The fishing vessel’s skipper will be prosecuted in the Netherlands. This operation has only been possible thanks to the cooperation among the Member States authorities in the framework of the joint deployment plan for the cod in the North Sea.
As part of the project PESCAO, two workshops organised by EFCA on the analysis and preliminary recommendations resulting from the Fisheries Committee for the Western Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) and the Sub-regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) Member Countries’ legal review were held on 22 and 23 May 2019 at SRFC headquarters in Dakar, Senegal.
The main objective of the workshops was to present the analysis and preliminary recommendations resulting from the FCWC and SRFC Member Countries’ legal review carried out by an external expert contracted by EFCA.
Officials from the FCWC and SRFC Member States, in addition to representatives of the FCWC and SRFC Secretariats, the European Commission, the European Union Delegation in Senegal and EFCA attended the workshop.
During the workshop it was provided an overview of the international, regional and sub-regional instruments applicable in the context of the fight against IUU fishing as well as an analysis of the relevant legislation of each country of the two sub-regional organizations.
The workshop also focused heavily on discussing the needs in terms of legal updating and/or implementation for each country, and a preliminary set of recommendations to address those needs.
Following the workshop, EFCA, in collaboration with its PESCAO partners – FCWC and SRFC - will support selected countries in drafting and amending national legislation
The third workshop of the European Coast Guard Functions Forum (ECGFF) on "Multipurpose Maritime Operations" (MMO) held in Catania, Sicily, Italy from 3 to 5 June, highlighted the coordination between the Italian Coast Guard, the Guardia di Finanza, and the cooperation with Italian Navy.
The workshop was organised with the support of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and welcome around 90 delegates from 16 Member States and from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), which are supporting national authorities carrying out Coast Guard functions with EFCA.
Since 2009, the European Forum of Coast Guard Functions voluntarily brings together several national organisations implementing Coast Guard functions in the European Union (EU), European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Schengen area, with the aim of strengthening the so-called Coast Guard cooperation.
The event addressed the issue of complex multipurpose maritime operations, in which several Coast Guard functions are implemented simultaneously, in order to prepare effective and efficient responses to multiple challenges that may arise in a given area of operations. In these contexts, the coordinated participation of units belonging to the different Coast Guard organisations and to the three EU agencies is crucial.
The agenda of the first day's work included a plenary session and three working groups on the different aspects of this activity, with a particular focus on risk management, training, operational and logistical implications.
The concept of MMO was concretely tested on 4 June in the context of an exercise at sea called COASTEX19. Under the operational coordination of the Italian Coast Guard eleven naval assets, three aircrafts and three boarding teams created a complex scenario that simulated activities to combat illegal fishing, fight pollution, search and rescue operations and illegal trafficking.
The human resources and means of the Italian Coast Guard, Guardia di Finanza and Italian Navy, the three EU agencies as well as the Portuguese Navy, the German Federal Police and the Spanish Customs intervened in various moments of the exercise, cooperating with high standards of interoperability and synergy. The delegates participating in the workshop were able to attend as privileged observers all the operations directly from four of the ships engaged in Coastex19.
The workshop concluded today with the presentation of the exercise outcomes during the last preparatory meeting of the Plenary Conference of Heads of Coast Guard organisations to be held in Venice, Italy from 12 to 15 November 2019
For three days, from 18 to 20 September 2019, twenty fisheries inspectors from the Republic of The Gambia were instructed in control techniques at sea and at landing by trainers from the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).
Set up and organized by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), this training aims at building the capacities of competent national and regional monitoring, control and surveillance authorities to and deter Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), which is one of the components of the PESCAO programme, financed and implemented since 2018 by the European Union (EU).
Thus, fisheries inspectors from various administrations (Navy, Directorate of Fisheries, Sanitary Inspection and Maritime Authority) have followed theoretical and practical training to become familiar with the different techniques and applicable regulations, in the context of the recent membership of the Republic of The Gambia to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement signed between the EU and the Republic of The Gambia.
Inaugurated by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries of the Republic of The Gambia, Mr. Bamba Banja, this training ended with a practical exercise in the fishing port of Banjul, allowing fisheries inspectors from The Gambia to discover new methods of fisheries control and to become familiar with EFCA's e-learning platform.
EFCA is coordinating the control campaign for the bluefin tuna fishery (BFT) in the Mediterranean Sea for 2021 in the framework of its Joint Deployment Plan (JDP). In this context, Member States pool their control and inspection means, in order to carry out jointly control, inspection and surveillance of fishery activities both at sea and ashore.
The objective of the campaign is to ensure compliance with the international and EU rules adopted for the conservation of the bluefin tuna; special attention is given to monitor the activity of purse seiners towing vessels longliners, farms and traps.
This activity is bringing together Member States, the European Commission and EFCA, and counts on the resources of the eight Member States involved in the fishery – Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain –. Inspection and surveillance at sea is carried both in EU waters and international waters and applies to EU and non-EU vessels.
The joint control, inspection and surveillance activities are coordinated using the virtual EFCA coordination center platform, with participation of experts of the member States concerned and EFCA. Overall, inspection and surveillance strategy and daily recommendations are provided on the basis of the daily data and information received by national authorities and from ICCAT, in particular VMS data (Vessel Monitoring System, a satellite-based control system) and catch information.
Background:
In line with ICCAT Recommendation 19-04[1], the purse seine fishing for bluefin tuna shall be permitted in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean during the period from 26 May to 1 July. However, specific derogations are possible in some fishing areas[2].
Fish shall be caged before 22 August of each year unless the farming Contracting Parties and Cooperating non-Contracting Parties (CPC) receiving the fish provides valid reasons including force majeure, which shall accompany the caging report when submitted. In any case the fish shall not be caged after 7 September.
[1] https://www.iccat.int/en/RecRes.asp
[2] By way of derogation, the season in the eastern Mediterranean Sea (FAO fishing areas 37.3.1 Aegean; 37.3.2 Levant), may be open 15 May if a CPC requests it in its fishing plan. By way of derogation, the season in the Adriatic Sea (FAO fishing area 37.2.1) may be open from 26 May until 15 July, for fish farmed in the Adriatic Sea.
Yesterday the European Commission has adopted the recommendation establishing a ‘Practical Handbook’ on European cooperation on coast guard functions. The Handbook will be made available as an online platform operated by EFCA in close cooperation with EMSA, Frontex and the Commission and updated with Agencies’ and Member States information. It contains guidelines, recommendations and best practices for the exchange of information on coast guard functions.
The three EU agencies, EFCA, EMSA and FRONTEX, work closely together under the inter-agency cooperation framework, with the direct support of the European Commission. They provide enhanced support and assistance to the national authorities performing coast guard functions at national and EU level and, where appropriate, at international level. This handbook is a concrete achievement of the EU cooperation on coast guard functions.
The recommendation establishes the handbook as a practical guide for EU civilian and military authorities when carrying out coast guard functions, facilitating close cross-border and cross-sector collaboration among them. The handbook provides a transparent compilation of services and information available through the three agencies. It helps to create synergies and avoid duplication and/or redundancy of effort in the cooperation between Member States and the three agencies, resulting in economies of scale.
The handbook focuses on the five inter-agency cooperation areas: information sharing; surveillance and communication services; capacity building; risk analysis; and capacity sharing. The handbook is mainly limited to cross-sector subjects and covers EU Member States and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States.
The main end users of this handbook are the national authorities for each coast guard function in each Member State, aiming to support them when planning and coordinating activities.
EFCA is leading the inter-agency cooperation areas for capacity building and risk analysis and will ensure in cooperation with EMSA and Frontex sound implementation of this important recommendation to all coast guard functions community.
European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičiusis visited EFCA´s headquarters in Vigo and meet the new Executive Director, Dr. Susan Steele.
EFCA promotes the highest common standards for control under the Common Fisheries Policy, assisting Commissioner Sinkevičius with his mandate of contributing to the European Green Deal.
This day also marked the start of an exciting new chapter and a new voyage for the agency—the arrival of the new vessel means doubling the seagoing assets.