A similar decline occurred in the North Atlantic 

 fisheries for haddock {Melaonogrammus aeglefinus, 

 which declined from 356,000 tons in 1982 to 164,000 

 tons in 1991), saithe {Pollachius virens), and whiting 

 (Merlangius merlangus) fisheries. Biological 

 fluctuations can explain part of the decline, but 

 overfishing, EC officials claim, is the principal cause 

 of the decline. The heavy investment in large, 

 modem fishing vessels during 1987-90 certainly 

 contributed to the increasing pressure on some of 

 these stocks.^' 



Other European countries, besides the EC 

 countries, also have high-seas fleets. The Nordic 

 countries, however, have experience in distant-water 

 grounds beyond neighboring countries in the North 

 Atlantic; some have ventured off the coast of 

 Newfoundland. In many cases the capacity of the 

 fleets exceeds available stocks and the countries 

 involved are concerned with how to reduce capacity. 

 The status of stocks and economic conditions in the 

 North Atlantic will influence the transfer of other 

 high-seas vessels into or out of Nordic fisheries. 

 During 1993, there was an increase in the number of 

 large Norwegian vessels taking advantage of 

 recovering cod stocks and the return of capelin 

 stocks. Iceland has also seen a return in capelin in 

 recent years. The Faroe Islands, Greenland, and 

 Iceland, have been adversely affected by declining 

 catches of Atlantic cod during 1990-93. 



C. EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 



The EC high-seas fishing fleet is overcapitalized. 

 The Commission of the European Communities 

 submitted its assessment of the EC fleets in 1991. 

 EC officials concluded that the existing fleet cannot 

 be profitably deployed on available fishing grounds. " 

 Major fishery resources could be severely depleted if 

 the existing fleet was deployed without major 

 restrictions on effort. Such effort restrictions, 

 however, increase operating costs and adversely 

 affect profitability. EC officials concluded that: 



"Stocks of round and flat fish, representing about 

 35 percent of stocks covered by TACs, are fully 

 exploited or over-exploited. Tins is causing a 

 perceptible decline in the volume of landings and 

 keeping fishermen 's incomes below the optimum 

 level. "" 



1 . The EC fleet 



EC countries are some of the most important 

 fishing countries in the world. While other countries 

 deploy larger fleets catching more fish (China, 

 Russia, Japan, Chile, and Peru), few other countries 

 operate such efficient vessels producing high-quality 

 fishery products or support such high incomes for 

 fishermen as do the EC countries. 



The 1992 EC high-seas fleet was composed of 

 about 591 vessels having about 718,000-GRT, down 

 about 7 percent from the 648 vessels on the EC's 

 1991 fleet register (Appendix 1 and Figure 4). The 

 distant-water fleet is only a small fraction of the 

 estimated 90,000 vessels, registering an estimated 2 

 million GRT in 1992, which comprises the entire EC 

 fishing fleet. The EC fleet increased steadily from 

 52,500 vessels reported in 1975 to an estimated 

 90,000 vessels in 1992. There was a minor decline 

 in 1985-86, followed by an increase in 1987 followed 

 by a gradual decline through 1991 (Appendix 1 and 

 Figure 4). The EC fleet was increased by the 

 accession of Greece in 1 98 1 and Portugal and Spain 

 in 1986; all 3 countries had huge fishing fleets. 

 Lucrative EC subsidies, designed to modernize the 

 fishing fleet, also contributed to the growth in the 

 fleet, beginning in 1984-85. Spanish and Portuguese 

 fishermen were initially concerned that the EC would 

 not be sympathetic to their needs when the two 

 nations joined the EC in 1986. Many felt that 

 domination by northern Europeans would hurt local 

 fisheries. EC efforts to assist Spanish and Portuguese 

 fishermen, by funding many fleet construction 

 projects, helped stimulate some of the growth and 

 served to reassure Spanish and Portuguese fleet 

 owners that the EC was indeed concerned about their 

 needs. The EC's willingness to allow countries time 

 to bring their fleets into alignment gave some 

 fishermen a "window of opportunity" between 1988 

 and 1992, to exceed fleet size limits without 

 consequences. The authors also believe that some 

 fishermen adopted a "go all out" attitude by building 

 bigger and more efficient vessels and fishing coastal 

 resources without concern about the consequences. 

 Many may have also concluded that they would fare 

 better in future EC fishery schemes if they could 

 demonstrate a substantial fishery. This may explain 

 why some countries suddenly began increasing the 

 size of their high-seas fleets despite signs that the 

 resources were already fully or even over-exploited. 



