The common fisheries policy and the conservation of the Maltese Islands' marine ecosystem

Abstract

As a result of Malta's membership of the European Union in 2004, new laws and rules embedded in Common Fisheries Policy have been adopted and enforced in its fishing sector. Just as other policies covering different sectors affect the relevant sector, so does the CFP. In fact, this dissertation analyzes the Council Regulations that have built the foundations of the CFP's new conservational base and others that followed, with reference to the Maltese fishing sector. It is therefore not a scoreboard of compliance, or a surveying of the effects, but rather a study of the regulations that had to be adopted and how this change, would, in the long-term expected to lead to a healthier marine ecosystem. The first section describes the CFP and the fishing sector of the EU as a whole continuing by focusing in depth on the Maltese sector and the particular fishing gear and practices used. This is done so as to make the subsequent chapters and their technical sections more understandable and the likely effects clearly deduced. These chapters refer to the EU funding system for the sector and the regulation of the fisher's practices including the responsibilities of the Commission and the Member States since it is ultimately their action that will alter the effectiveness of the policy. The third and final chapter describes a regulation specifically intended for the Mediterranean Sea with an inevitable amount of attention directed towards the Maltese Islands, and the regulation regarding waters around Malta coming out of the pre-accession negotiations with the EU. Lastly but not least important, the chapter includes a part referring to measures being taken by the Maltese authorities, mainly enforcement and monitoring, since it is only through such actions that legislation is to stand. The dissertation ends by suggesting that there are positive prospects that in the future, the Maltese marine ecosystem is expected to flourish as a result of sustainable fishing and conservation practices induced by the CFP.