The Contested Commons: The Failure of EU Fisheries Policy and Governance in the Mediterranean and the Crisis Enveloping the Small-Scale Fisheries of Malta

Abstract

This paper highlights how multi-scalar interstitial policy failings of the EU fisheries policy can directly trigger policy gaps in fisheries management at the expense of artisanal communities, leading to further expansion opportunities for industrial fishing and triggering instability and marginalization of traditional fishing communities. In order to contextualize and demonstrate this complexity, we explore a detailed scenario of the Maltese waters to show how the development of a national policy portfolio post-EU accession has destabilized long-existing functional fishing governance mechanisms and now pose a direct challenge to the sustainable management of the marine socio-ecological system. Using a mixed-method approach to investigate the partially obscured social, economic and political dynamics which drive marine policy, we demonstrate how the coastal fisheries have become subject to multiple-use competition arising primarily from a burgeoning recreational fishing sector that has benefited from "access-enabling policies," and is, to a great extent uninhibited by fish conservation regulations. Our findings demonstrate how a deeper understanding of the sociopolitical ramifications of policy processes is necessary to improve the governance and management of contested and congested open-access fisheries.

Limits to fishing: the case for collective self-limitation illustrated with an example of small-scale fisheries in Catalonia

“…SSF in Catalonia are facing major challenges in maintaining fishers' livelihoods (Goḿez et al, 2006;Lloret et al, 2018;Goḿez and Maynou, 2020;Pascual-Fernández et al, 2020), as signaled by the rapid disappearance of fishing vessels in the last decade. Beyond the drastic reduction of catches due to overfishing and the environmental impacts of economic growth (such as climate change, pollution or habitat destruction), Catalan SSF face competition of other fishing sectors (commercial and recreational), tourist development, increased bureaucratic control, and the pressures of corporate actors, mirroring the situation of SSF in other European and Mediterranean countries (Said et al, 2018;Cohen et al, 2019;Ertör-Akyazi, 2020;Said et al, 2020;Jentoft et al, 2022). In this context of adversity, the setting of collective self-limitations in the co-management committees is often articulated as a way to protect the fishing grounds, and hence fisher livelihoods and autonomy, from external pressures.…”

Aligning the sustainable development goals to the small-scale fisheries guidelines: A case for EU fisheries governance

“…Small-scale fishers are also facing challenges in coastal areas, which are increasingly congested by recreational fisheries that at times engage in commercialization of the catches although this is prohibited [54]- [59]. These issues arise mainly because the management of non-quota based fisheries within the coastal areas, specifically within the 12-nautical mile zone, is the jurisdiction of Member States, and such flexibility for governance does not always equate to responsible management that fulfills the sustainability of small-scale fisheries [21], [56].…”

‘Re-grabbing’ marine resources: a blue degrowth agenda for the resurgence of small-scale fisheries in Malta

“…This reorganisation began in earnest in 2004 with the ratification of the relevant EU legislation which promoted the 'efficiency led model' encouraging the replacement of artisanal vessels by larger industrial ones. Parallel conservation measures such as the rise of the 'no-commercial catch' recreational sector also contributed to the decline of the small-scale sector (Said et al, 2018b).…”

“…Specifically, first we explain how corporate growth in the fishing sector, as well as the advent of new spatial uses within indigenous fishing grounds are pushing out the artisanal fishing fleet. We do this by referring to published work that interrogates the rise of phenomena such as the growth in the bluefin tuna fishery , the rapid expansion of the recreational fleet (Said et al, 2018b), as well as the advent of marine protected areas within the coastal fishing grounds (Said et al, 2017). In all cases, we illustrate how the different policies implemented as part of the marine and fisheries conservation and efficiency strategies, have been suffocating the regeneration of the small-scale fishing communities.…”