Whatever became of social objectives in fisheries policy?

Beyond fish as commodities: Understanding the socio-cultural role of inshore fisheries in England

“…Comprehensive fisheries policy and management systems were only established in the last 30 --40 years, in response to growing concerns about the depletion of commercial fish stocks through overfishing [4], after claims that much ecological damage had already been done to fisheries [5]. The stated priority was to halt the depletion of fish stocks, allow recovery and create a sustainable resource, although the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was also concerned with equal access to the resource between member states [6].…”

“…With these objectives in mind, most policy and research to date has centred on biological and economic objectives. Measures that have been considered necessary to combat overfishing and preserve a commercial fleet have come at what Symes and Phillipson describe as a 'substantial social cost' for employment and effects on fishing communities, an area which has hitherto been under researched and so lacks an adequate conceptual framework [4,7] The social impacts that Symes and Phillipson allude to above raise a number of questions around the impacts of fishing and fisheries policy not only on employment but how it shapes the lives of those living and working in modern day fishing ports and how it is interwoven with other social and economic activities of communities which are often characterised as much by their rural presence as their coastal influences. This is especially pertinent to the social impacts of commercial fishing by under 10 m or 'inshore' boats in England, where despite a long tradition, fishing has become economically marginal and domestic fish species are not widely eaten by English consumers.…”

A survey of Scottish fishermen ahead of Brexit: political, social and constitutional attitudes

“…Despite calls for the CFP to take into account the social impact of its consequences, progress on such fronts has been questioned (Symes and Phillipson 2009). Indeed, the European Commission has developed policies to increase labour market mobility amongst fishermen, but these schemes have been criticised for not taking into account local and cultural factors into account adequately enough (Pita et al 2010).…”

Competitividad, Sostenibilidad y Diversificación en la Fachada Atlántica de la Península Ibérica: La Gestión Local del Fondo Europeo de Pesca (2007-2013).

“…Esta cuestión trasciende el debate sobre si estos fondos están más relacionados con la Política Regional de la UE y sus criterios de convergencia, o con los objetivos de la Política Pesquera Común, impulsada por imperativos biológicos y económicos más que sociales (Symes, D., et al, 2009). …”

“…El Eje 4 proporcionó una amplia gama de acciones, cuyos objetivos generales de diversificación económica, fomento de la innovación y cooperación interregional y transnacional 6 son aquellos que fueron desarrollados por la iniciativa comunitaria LEADER en sus sucesivas etapas desde principios de los años 1990. El Eje 4 pretende desde los GALP atender los efectos socioeconómicos de la política que habían sido descuidados hasta el momento (Symes, D., et al, 2009;Symes, D., et al, 2015). Se reconoce así la necesidad de dar una respuesta a las áreas costeras afectadas por la reestructuración del sector pesquero; áreas que en algunos casos son las más dinámicas de sus respectivas regiones, y que en otros, por el contrario, presentan graves problemas de aislamiento, declive productivo, bajas densidades de población y recesión socioeconómica generalizada.…”