ABSTRACT
The objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) are stated in Article 1 of Regulation 170/83 as ‘the protection of the fishing grounds, the conservation of the biological resources of the sea and their balanced exploitation on a lasting basis and in appropriate economic and social conditions’. The CFP has at its heart the notion that the fish stocks, within the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), are a shared resource. All member states of the European Union are subject to the rules of the CFP which was introduced in 1983 for a 20-year period. The rights to catch quotas were allocated on a national basis, according to a formula which favoured countries like the United Kingdom with significant stocks within their national territorial limits. Despite its comprehensive nature, the CFP has failed to resolve the problems of overcapacity of the fleet and a chronic depletion of fish stocks. Attempts to balance catches with available stocks, in order to achieve a sustainable catch level, have not been successful. This has been largely due to the failure of the European Union to reduce catch quotas and the non-compliance of member states with respect to EU regulations. Therefore, the CFP has an indifferent reputation (Barnes 1996:222).
