The EU Common Fisheries Policy and Small-Scale Fisheries: A Forgotten Fleet Fighting for Recognition

Abstract

Fisheries in the European Union have been shaped by the evolution of Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The influence of European fisheries policies became clearer after the establishment of the CFP in 1983. Three reforms have shaped the progressive reformulation of this policy over the more than 30 years since its adoption. Initially, the promotion of technological development was pushed to increase productivity with the renewal of fleets, then a drastic reduction of fleet capacity to curb over fishing, followed by a current incarnation that is more focused on the three pillars of sustainability. Successive policies have been developed with large-scale fleets in mind, giving scarce attention to small-scale or artisanal fleets. In this sense, management measures have frequently been implemented and impacts evaluated on the large-scale, ignoring effects on smaller fleets. However, the last CFP included some specific provisions for small-scale fisheries, including in the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), but these have been more honoured in the breach than the observance. This chapter aims to focus on how European policies have or have not adequately considered small-scale fisheries, or ignored them in practice. This assessment takes into account that these fleets comprise by far the majority of the European fleet by number, provide at least half of fisheries-related employment, and cover many parts of the European coasts. In this sense, it will also discuss how small-scale fisheries and their organisations have struggled for recognition in recent decades, highlighting the primary obstacles encountered in this process.