Regional Fisheries Management Organisations and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements - Performance

Programme in a nutshell

Concrete examples of achievements (*)

^{(*) Key achievements in the table state which period they relate to. Many come from the implementation of the predecessor programmes under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework. This is expected and is due to the multiannual life cycle of EU programmes and the projects they finance, where results often follow only after completion of the programmes.}

Budget for 2021-2027

Rationale and design of the programme

The programme promotes sustainable development for fisheries management and maritime governance outside EU waters, in line with the objectives of the common fisheries policy, and ensures that fishery resources are maintained above or restored above levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield and the conservation of marine ecosystems. The programme contributes to achieving this through active involvement in regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) and agreements, and through bilateral Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) with partner countries.

Budget

Budget programming (million EUR):

^{(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.}

Budget performance – implementation

Multiannual cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):

Annual voted budget implementation (million EUR)⁽¹⁾:

^{(1) Voted appropriations (C1) only.}

Contribution to horizontal priorities

Green budgeting

Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):

Climate change

The actions financed by the European Commission support the integration of climate change considerations in the management of the marine biological resources and their ecosystems, in RFMOs, with the final objective of promoting their adaptation and resilience to climate change, and at a bilateral level, through SFPAs.

Climate change considerations are, where appropriate and available, incorporated into the scientific and stock management discussions in RFMOs. They are also incorporated in SFPAs, as they follow the management decisions of RFMOs.

In total, in 2021–2027 period, SFPAs and RFMOs will contribute an estimated EUR 111 million to this priority. The contribution of the SFPAs represents 40% of the sectoral support, whereas the contribution of the RFMOs represents 40% of the total amount allocated.

Biodiversity

The actions financed by the European Commission in RFMOs are consistent with the objectives of the EU biodiversity strategy to conserve marine stocks, prevent the loss of biodiversity and protect fragile ecosystems. In addition, actions supported through the sectoral support component of SFPAs promote long-term resource conservation, good governance and the sustainable development of our partners’ local fisheries sector, with a positive effect on biodiversity.

In total, in the 2021–2027 period, SFPAs and RFMOs will contribute an estimated EUR 136 million to this priority. The contribution of the SFPAs represents 40% of the sectoral support, whereas the contribution of the RFMOs represents 100% of the total amount allocated.

Gender

Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):

<sup>(*) Based on the applied gender contribution methodology, the following scores are attributed at the most granular level of intervention possible:
- 2: interventions the principal objective of which is to improve gender equality;
- 1: interventions that have gender equality as an important and deliberate objective but not as the main reason for the intervention;
- 0: non-targeted interventions (interventions that are expected to have no significant bearing on gender equality);
- 0*: score to be assigned to interventions with a likely but not yet clear positive impact on gender equality.</sup>

The actions under this programme are related to negotiating, concluding and implementing international agreements relating to fisheries and paying compulsory annual budget contributions. These actions were not designed with gender equality in mind, therefore a score of 0 is attributed to them.

Digital

Contribution to the digital transition (million EUR):

Budget performance – outcomes

• Overall, the EU remains one of the key drivers of progress in RFMOs, increasing their performance with concrete proposals. The EU’s voluntary contributions (grants) to RFMOs played a key role in allowing them to provide scientific advice. The Commission continued to deliver on its commitment to achieve more sustainable fisheries worldwide: 97% of all conservation measures adopted in 2022 by RFMOs of which the EU is a member were in line with scientific advice.
• This outcome is very similar to the results achieved in 2021 (98%) and substantially higher than the results achieved in 2019 (88%) or 2020 (74%). It shows an upward trend over the recent years that brings the result for this indicator very close to 100%. The challenge for the coming years will be to maintain the same outcome.
• Regarding the tuna and tuna-like stocks fished by the EU fleet in 2022, the figures are very similar to those in 2021; 17 out of 20 tuna and tuna-like stocks fished by the EU fleet are in good shape, and good progress was made in 2021 and 2022 for one additional stock (bigeye tuna in the Atlantic). In 2022, of the total commercial tuna catch worldwide, 87% came from stocks at ‘healthy’ levels of abundance. This is due to the fact that skipjack stocks contribute more than one half of the global catch of tunas, and they are all in a healthy situation. By contrast, Atlantic bigeye tuna in the Atlantic and bigeye and yellowfin tuna in the Atlantic are currently being overfished, but fishing of Atlantic bigeye is on the right track towards sustainability. Our objective is for the positive trend for the Atlantic bigeye to keep going in 2023 and the trend for the yellowfin in the Indian Ocean to be reversed.
• Regarding SFPAs, the general objective has been to implement and renew the network of agreements and active protocols to ensure continuity in the activities of the EU’s long-distance fishing fleet in non-EU-country waters, strictly respecting the sustainability and surplus principles.
• On some occasions, negotiations took more time than expected because the financial expectations of the non-EU countries could not be met. The COVID-19 pandemic led to delays in concluding some new agreements, such as the one with Mauritius. As a result, shipowners had to stop fishing or modify their strategies, in the context of sharp global competition between various long-distance fishing fleets. Some shipowners were able to find other fishing grounds in countries benefiting from an SFPA, or sometimes in other countries.
• In the context of the implementation of the protocols, which is an important part of programme’s performance and concerns both access conditions for EU vessels and the monitoring of sectoral support, joint committee meetings were held throughout 2022 with most of the partner countries, usually remotely. For projects benefiting from sectoral support but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on several occasions the joint committees had to adjust the actions and the calendar that was initially laid down.
• Direct employment generated by SFPAs includes crew on board EU vessels benefiting from fishing opportunities in SFPAs and covers both EU and non-EU nationals. As for indirect jobs, they are mostly in the processing sector and are to a large extent occupied by women. The employment of local crew also contributes to enhancing the levels of qualification and experience of employed seamen to the benefit of local fleets.
• Most catches made in the framework of SFPAs land in non-EU countries, where they are processed, thus generating added value for the local economy and job opportunities. SFPAs also generate additional jobs for the partner country in sectors such as shipyards and port activities.

Contribution to the sustainable development goals