the benefits actually accruing to the EC are not 

 available. An examination of the existing EC 

 network of fishery agreements is presented in 

 subsequent sections of this report. The EC would 

 now like to extend the range of its fishery 

 arrangements with a series of agreements in Latin 

 America. Some observers believe that the EC will 

 encounter more difficulty in negotiating in Latin 

 America than they encountered in Africa. The ability 

 of the EC to conclude meaningful fishery accords in 

 Latin America is yet to be demonstrated. 



Some EC-member nations will be impacted more 

 than others as the EC restructures the Community 

 fishing fleet to bring fishing capacity in-line with 

 available resources. Most countries will have to 

 reduce the number of vessels in their high-seas fleets. 

 In some instances (especially Spain) the reductions 

 will be significant and cause considerable economic 

 dislocation. Some countries, however, will be able 

 to expand their fleets because they have already 

 reduced their fleet size and will be in a position to 

 expand their fleets in the future with vessels better 

 designed to harvest available resources profitably. 



D. NON-EC EUROPE 



Non-EC countries, especially the Nordic 

 countries, also have overcapitalized fleets with 

 capacities exceeding available resources. The non- 

 EC high-seas fleets have nearly doubled from 114 

 vessels in 1975 to 213 vessels in 1992 (Appendix 1 

 and Figure 5). This is out of a total fishing fleet of 

 approximately 20,000 vessels of all descriptions. 

 Much of the increase has been reported by Norway, 

 but most of the countries involved report expanding 

 fleets. The Faroe Islands have faced economic 

 dislocations in recent years and many fishing vessel 

 owners have faced bankruptcy; these individuals are 

 attempting to sell their vessels. The same situation is 

 true in Iceland where poor recruitment, unfavorable 

 oceanic conditions, and overfishing have resulted in 

 lower quotas for the lucrative Atlantic cod. This also 

 has prompted some vessel owners to sell their 

 vessels. Cyprus, Malta, and Turkey operate only one 

 or two high-seas vessels. Information on these 

 vessels and their fishing grounds and operations is 

 scant. 



The non-EC countries, especially the Nordic 

 countries, have programs similar to the EC to assist 

 fishermen in modernizing their fishing fleets. These 

 include subsidies to purchase new vessels or to 

 upgrade older vessels. Some countries encourage 

 fishermen operating older vessels to convert them to 

 other uses or to scrap the vessels. Unlike the EC, 

 however, the Nordic countries do not have a 

 systematic program to negotiate access to distant 

 fishing grounds for their fishermen. 



E. CANADA 



Canadian fisheries are divided between their 

 Atlantic and Pacific Ocean fisheries. Atlantic 

 Canada's fisheries have been buffeted by major 

 difficulties in recent years as biological fluctuations, 

 oceanic conditions, and overfishing (by domestic and 

 offshore foreign fleets) have combined to reduce 

 stocks of key species to record lows. In 1992-93, the 

 Canadian Government has promulgated tough new 

 conservation regimes that virtually stopped all fishing 

 for some species. Canadian fishermen, in the past, 

 have shown little or no interest in fishing beyond 

 their 200-mile EEZs. 



F. SUMMARY 



The authors project the following basic trends in 

 the West European high-seas fleets: 



1. EC fleet 



• Redeployment to Argentina: The EC has 



arranged to redeploy 70 EC high-seas vessels to 

 Argentina. It is not yet clear, however, when the 

 agreement will be ratified by the Government of 

 Argentina. EC member states ratified the agreement 

 in September 1993.'* Some owners are refitting their 

 vessels for the South AUantic in Spanish shipyards. 



• Redeployment to Namibia: The EC is likely to 

 give considerable priority to negotiations with 

 Namibia. The authors have no information on the 

 Namibian Government's view of the EC proposals. 

 It is likely, however, that the Namibians will demand 

 considerable remuneration for access to their EEZ, 

 including EC assistance in launching a local fishing 

 industry. In addition, Namibian officials may 

 severely restrict the number of vessels permitted to 

 operate in their EEZ. Whatever the outcome, it is 



