1. Climate Change and the Protection of Fisheries Resources in the North-East Atlantic: Role of the European Union HE Qin Department of International Public Law Faculty of Law, Ghent University Email: Qin.He@UGent.be HE Qin- 16/09/2010 Ghent Colloquium - Faculty of Law - Department of International Public Law

2. Main Problems of Marine Fisheries Resources Overfishing is one of the most important reasons of the depletion of fisheries resources Global warming changes the distribution of marine species, and aggravates the fisheries problem

3. EU fisheries in North East Atlantic area 3 rd largest fishing producer Nearly 3 quarters of the EU’s total catches The total catches has fallen by one quarter Overcapacity Total EU catches in major fishing areas (2007) (Volume in tonnes live weight and percentage of total )

4. North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) The 1980 Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in North-East Atlantic Fisheries Objective: conservation and optimum utilization Parties of the NEAFC convention: Denmark (The Faroe Islands and Greenland); European Union; Iceland; Norway; Russia Annual meeting to negotiate catch limits and quotas for certain pelagic species Conservation and management measures Source: NEAFC

5. Sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources The framework of the EC’s management system (Basic Regulation) Fishing opportunities and technical measures (Principal annual fishing opportunity regulation) Main conservation measures EU Common Fisheries Policy

6. EU Fisheries Conservation in the NEAFC Convention Area Total Allowable Catches (TAC) and quotas TACs and overfishing International Council for the exploration of the Seas (ICES) European Commission Council of Ministers Climate change brings re-allocation problems mackerel in the North Sea New allocation mechanisms Source: Wikipedia

7. EU Fisheries Conservation in the NEAFC Convention Area Effort management Fishing effort management regime for Western waters (Fishing effort regulation; Maximum annual fishing effort regulation) criteria and procedures maximum annual fishing effort three fisheries categories, excluding pelagic species www.bim.ie

8. EU Fisheries Conservation in the NEAFC Convention Area Technical measures (The primary vehicle for technical measures Regulation, Drift net Regulation, Technical conservation measures Regulation, Annual fishing opportunity Regulation) Gear type Minimum landing size closed seasons, and closed areas Climate change affects the effectiveness of technical measures The ‘Plaice Box’ :trawling and temprature Waterwereld 2002-2009

9. Conclusion Reducing fishing pressure Climate change should be taken into account in the future reformed Common Fisheries Policy

10. Thank you for your attention!