OO. 4d) Fishery in marine and inland waters

Marine waters

Belgium has a limited coastline and the country's professional marine fishing fleet is relatively small. Its ships only land 1% of total landings of the countries bordering the North Sea. About 30,000 tons of fish²⁵ (mostly flat fish and cod) are brought ashore by Belgian fishermen each year. Other marine products (shrimps and oysters) and the aquaculture* production in marine waters and freshwaters are limited. Nevertheless, marine biodiversity is particularly threatened in our coastal zone and shelf sea, where direct and indirect disturbances are concentrated. Two important threats are the overexploitation of marine resources and the adverse effects on the sea bottom of certain fishing methods (such as beam trawling) employed not only by Belgian fisheries but also by fishing vessels from foreign countries active in Belgium. Despite the creation of several international instruments to regulate fishery and its impact on the environment, the pressure on the marine ecosystem and fish populations has drastically increased over the last decade. Besides professional fishermen, also recreational fishermen are active at sea.

Fishery and aquaculture in the North Sea are governed by the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), established in 1983 and reviewed in 1992 and 2002. The CFP takes into account the biological, economic and social dimensions of fishing. The CFP addresses four main areas, dealing with (1) conservation of fish stocks (such as establishment of total allowable catches (TACs) of sea fish that can safely be caught every year to allow for renewal of fish stock), (2) structures (such as vessels, port facilities and fish-processing plants), (3) the common organisation of the market and (4) an external fisheries policy which includes fishing agreements with non-Community members and negotiations in international organisations.

The EU Marine Strategy on the protection and conservation of the marine environment (expected in 2005) has four objectives: (1) to protect, conserve and improve the quality of the marine environment; (2) to phase out pollution; (3) to control the use of marine services and goods and other activities in marine areas that have, or may have, a negative impact on the status of the marine environment; and (4) to apply the principles of good governance both within Europe and globally.An important national instrument is the Law of 20 January 1999 on the protection of the marine environment in the areas under Belgian jurisdiction. This foresees the identification and designation of marine protected areas (among others in application of the EU Habitat and Birds Directives). Work on MPAs and threatened and declining species is also ongoing under OSPAR. Measures for MPAs are currently being finalised and will be published soon. Management measures for all relevant sectors will be included in the instruments to be published and the necessary conflict analysis has been conducted with all of these sectors, including fisheries.

Inland waters

In Belgium, inland water fishery can be considered to be a leisure activity or a sport. It is practised mostly for entertainment and on a limited basis for food, both in artificial areas specially managed for fishing (private ponds, fishing grounds) and in the public hydrographic network of rivers and canals. Belgium's current legislation only covers the management of the public hydrographical network. Several improvements in the management of standing waters by fishermen should be promoted both to ensure an ecological management of the aquatic ecosystems and improve the quality of the local fish populations.

Belgium is a Party to the Ramsar Convention on the protection of wetlands (i.e. inland waters and marine waters) established in 1971 which provides the framework for conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands.
The ICES Code of Practice on the Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms sets forth recommended procedures and practices to diminish the risks of detrimental effects from the intentional introduction and transfer of marine (including brackish water) organisms (ICES, 2005).

* CBD instruments
The Programme of Work on Marine and Coastal biodiversity adopted in 1998 (CBD Decision IV/5) aims to assist the implementation of the Jakarta Mandate, the CBD's general framework for action on marine and coastal biodiversity, at the national, regional and global levels. It identifies key operational objectives and priority activities (implementation of integrated marine and coastal area management, marine and coastal living resources, marine and coastal protected areas, mariculture and alien species and genotypes).

The Programme of Work on Inland Waters adopted the same year (CBD Decision IV/4) promotes the ecosystem approach, including integrated watershed management, as the best way to reconcile competing demands for dwindling supplies of inland waters.