• Energy Research

WP5 Pilots for Sustainability is one of the three Work Packages dedicated to pilot development and deployment. In particular, this Work Package focuses on increasing transparency in the food chain benefiting both producers and buyers by enhancing sustainability on the whole value chain. This Deliverable contributes to the aims of WP5 by providing a summary of 1st year progress and achievement against milestones of the sustainability pilots.

To effectively future-proof the management of the European Union fishing fleets we have explored a suite of case studies encompassing the northeast and tropical Atlantic, the Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Seas. This study shows that European Union (EU) fisheries are likely resilient to climate-driven short-term stresses, but may be negatively impacted by long-term trends in climate change. However, fisheries’ long-term stock resilience can be improved (and therefore be more resilient to increasing changes in climate) by adopting robust and adaptive fisheries management, provided such measures are based on sound scientific advice which includes uncertainty. Such management requires regular updates of biological reference points. Such updates will delineate safe biological limits for exploitation, providing both high long-term yields with reduced risk of stock collapse when affected by short-term stresses, and enhanced compliance with advice to avoid higher than intended fishing mortality. However, high resilience of the exploited ecosystem does not necessarily lead to the resilience of the economy of EU fisheries from suffering shocks associated with reduced yields, neither to a reduced carbon footprint if fuel use increases from lower stock abundances. Fuel consumption is impacted by stock development, but also by changes in vessel and gear technologies, as well as fishing techniques. In this respect, energy-efficient fishing technologies already exist within the EU, though implementing them would require improving the uptake of innovations and demonstrating to stakeholders the potential for both reduced fuel costs and increased catch rates. A transition towards reducing fuel consumption and costs would need to be supported by the setup of EU regulatory instruments. Overall, to effectively manage EU fisheries within a changing climate, flexible, adaptive, well-informed and well-enforced management is needed, with incentives provided for innovations and ocean literacy to cope with the changing conditions, while also reducing the dependency of the capture fishing industry on fossil fuels. To support such management, we provide 10 lessons to characterize ‘win-win’ fishing strategies for the European Union, which develop leverages in which fishing effort deployed corresponds to Maximum Sustainable Yield targets and Common Fisheries Policy minimal effects objectives. In these strategies, higher catch is obtained in the long run, less fuel is spent to attain the catch, and the fisheries have a higher resistance and resilience to shock and long-term factors to face climate-induced stresses.

WP5 Pilots for Sustainability is one of the three Work Packages dedicated to pilot development and deployment. In particular, this Work Package focuses on increasing transparency in the food chain benefiting both producers and buyers by enhancing sustainability on the whole value chain. This Deliverable contributes to the aims of WP5 by identifying, for each pilot, objectives, expected results and KPIs for the 4-year duration of the project, recognizing also roles and responsibilities of each partner involved in the deployment of the innovative technologies.

Abstract Cod and haddock are two of the “big 5” UK supermarket fish species and intrinsic to fish and chip shops nationwide. UK whitefish fleets produce a significant amount, however there is a reliance on imports to maintain supply. The UK is in a strong position to compete for raw material from Iceland and Norway given high prices paid for imports and investment by Icelandic and Norwegian companies in the UK. Regarding UK production of whitefish, the European Common Fisheries Policy landing obligation has introduced significant uncertainty. To avoid discarding of any quota stock, fishing may be stopped before all target stocks quota is reached. For demersal fleets, there is a transition period between 2016 and 18 where target stocks are introduced according to Advisory Council and EU agreement and Article 15, with all quota stocks from 2019. As the capacity of the fleets balance to the new regulations, supply will likely return and if maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is reached in 2020 then an increase in TACs from current levels is likely too. However, markets and industries can change in a short period. Particularly, most processing companies are small to medium size enterprises and those that concentrate on cod and haddock may have to adjust their business. Fleets could be resilient to such short term reductions in landings however this cannot be assumed. The competitiveness of producers will surely be affected in the short to medium term as a result.