Environmental non-governmental organizations and the Common Fisheries Policy

1. The run up to the review of the European Union's (EU's) Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2002 affords a timely opportunity to examine the impact of one lobby-the environmental lobby-on its operations. 2. The conventional view of the CFP is that it is driven primarily by econo mic objectives, and that environmental considerations take a back seat. The CFP is broadly concerned with maximizing output, employment and income fro m the fishery within the constraints imposed by the biological state of the stocks. 3. However, there are indications that this picture is changing and that th e CFP is beginning to take account of the environment. Some of the credit f or this change must go to Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (ENG Os) which have recently been campaigning heavily for more effective managem ent of commercial fishing. But the success that they have had so far appear s to be mainly confined to single issues, such as the drift-net ban. 4. in the bigger battle, for protection of the entire marine ecosystem agai nst the damage caused by fishing, ENGOs have yet to achieve a significant b reakthrough, though there are some signs that the tide is slowly turning in their favour on this wider issue. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Lt d.