EU fishing fleet capacity should be cut drastically to revive dwindling fish stocks, the European Commission warns in a draft paper seen Thursday, despite fears of the social impact of such a move.
The draft paper on reforming the European Union's common fishing policy risks inflaming growing discontent which has already led to French fishermen crippling English Channel ports with a three-day blockade that ended Thursday.
"European fish stocks have been overfished for decades and the fishing fleets remain too large for the available resources," says the paper, seen by AFP.
"Too many vessels chase too few fish," it added.
"The community's fishing fleet is now two-thirds bigger than the sea can offer in resources," explained one commission official, commenting on the "green paper" which could yet be changed ahead of its publication.
"We are talking about fishing overcapacity, not the number of boats," he stressed, meaning that if some of the huge factory boats gave way to smaller family-style operations then job losses could be contained.
In the commission paper's preamble, its vision for European fisheries in 2020 foresees fish stocks recovering from 2015, with a fleet not dependent on public handouts and operating with "environmentally friendly boats" respecting the sea's capacity.
That vision could yet be tampered with as countries including France seek to appease their fishermen already angered at plans for reduced fishing quotas this year.
The planned chances could be "very tough and painful socially" as refitting the fishing community to other sectors will not be easy, one European negotiator warned.
Among the other goals envisioned by the commission are a drive to combat illegal and new initiatives to eliminate discards and protect sensitive species and habitats.
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