Roles of European and national institutions under the Common Fisheries Policy CFP and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive MSF Dregarding fisheries management, scientific assessment and monitoring ofstocks

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Exploited fish and shellfish stocks in European marine waters underlie the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The next round of reform of the CFP is due for completion in 2012. The exploitation at Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) may be confirmed as the environmental objective for good environment status (GES) of exploited fish and shellfish stocks of the reformed CFP and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). In this case, the foreseen time horizon to achieve or maintain GES by 2020 appears inconsistent with the World Summit on Sustainable Development UN agreement in 2002, which stipulates that maintenance or restoring of stocks to produce MSY be realized by 2015. The MSFD requires instead that by 2015 the national programmes of measures be designed in order to become operational the following year (2016).