EC observers are uncertain about how many 

 vessels must be decommissioned and how many of 

 those are likely to be high-seas fishing vessels. The 

 EC fleet management program projects the 

 withdrawal of fishing vessels totaling 184,439-GRT 

 between 1992 and 1996, or approximately 61,500- 

 GRT annually (Table 5). This suggests that large 

 numbers of vessels will be decommissioned over the 

 next few years. The EC will make most of the 

 reductions in fisheries where resources are depleted, 

 i.e., primarily coastal fisheries. The EC is less likely 

 to withdrawal high-seas vessels because they are 

 usually deployed outside the EC EEZ and as a result 

 do not normally cause complaints from politically 

 vocal EC fishery trade associations representing 

 members conducting coastal fisheries. The Spanish 

 distant-water fleet may be an exception as such a 

 large number of vessels remain idle in port. Thus 

 there is certain to be a considerable EC effort to find 

 new fishing grounds or to scrap a large number of 

 vessels. 



The MAGP came under criticism in March 1993 

 for failing to achieve its objectives. The Court of 

 Auditors Special Report no. 3/93 stated that $400 

 million-' worth of MAGP grants between 1987 and 

 1990, made "only a very limited contribution to the 

 aim of reducing the capacity of the Community fishing 

 fleet. ""^^ The Auditors noted that decommissioned 

 vessels were frequently replaced by others with 

 greater capacity. The Auditors also noted that 

 modernization programs frequently increased fishing 

 activity. In their review of the MAGP, the auditors 

 reported that Belgium, Greece, Ireland, the 

 Netherlands, and the UK ended 1991 with a greater 

 fishing capacity than in 1987!-' It was noteworthy 

 that the EC announced shortly thereafter that it would 

 not award any grants for vessel construction in 

 1993.-^ 



IV. INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS 



The second key aspect of the EC's program to 

 control fishing fleet capacity, especially for high-seas 

 vessels (although smaller vessels are frequently 

 involved), is the program to negotiate international 

 fishery agreements. The EC began negotiating 

 international fishery agreements in 1977, by signing 

 an agreement with the United States, and has signed 

 29 additional agreements between 1977 and 1992. 



The authors estimate that the EC paid $844 million in 

 1992-93 alone for the right to fish in the coastal 

 zones opened by the various fishery agreements 

 (Appendix 25).-' In addition to these direct cash 

 transfers, the EC has made substantial payments for 

 a variety of related services, such as scientific 

 research, marketing, and training. The authors have 

 been unable to estimate the full cost of these 

 payments. 



A. GENERAL 



The EC has the legal authority to negotiate 

 international treaties on behalf of member states.'" 

 The CFP provides the EC with the mandate to 

 negotiate fishery agreements and the EC has used this 

 approach to lessen pressure on heavily fished 

 domestic stocks. The EC inherited the fishery 

 agreements negotiated by member states and has 

 subsequently negotiated an extensive network of 

 additional fishery agreements with more than 28 

 countries covering a wide range of fishery activities .'' 



B. TYPES OF AGREEMENTS 



The agreements negotiated by the EC cover a 

 wide range of activities." While the primary EC 

 interest is in access to fishing grounds for its fleet, 

 coastal countries have insisted on a variety of specific 

 arrangements to meet the needs of their own 

 industries. While the agreements can be divided into 

 five basic types, it should be noted that an assortment 

 of approaches used ins some agreements may include 

 differing elements as well as differing combinations. 

 The five basic types of agreements are: 



• Access/reciprocal: The EC has negotiated 

 several reciprocal fishing arrangements to obtain 

 access for EC fishermen to foreign EEZs in 

 exchange for access to the EC EEZ. This type 

 of agreement has been negotiated with northern 

 tier countries such as Norway, Sweden, 

 Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. 



• Access/surplus stocks: The EC has 



negotiated access to stocks that coastal countries 

 have determined to be surplus. In exchange, the 

 EC has provided various forms of financial 

 compensation, from fishing fees to a variety of 

 other payments, and assistance such as scientific 

 research and training. The EC's Governing 



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