Institutional challenges for policy-making and fisheries advice to move to a full EAFM approach within the current governance structures for marine policies

The European Union is aiming to implement an Ecosystem Approach for the management of all human activities in the marine environment, hereunder the fisheries sector. Since the last reform of the Common Fisheries Policy in 2013, several analyses have highlighted the barriers and challenges to this aim. Despite the claim that much of the framework to support the implementation of an EAFM in Europe is in place, the findings point out to deterrent features within the governance system. Beyond the overall policy framework, this paper explores the implementation of the multiannual multispecies management plans as one of the real moves towards Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management. This is carried out on the basis of two case studies that address the design of multiannual multispecies management plans for the Baltic Sea and for the Atlantic Pelagic fisheries. The analyses strengthen with empirical evidences our understanding of the challenges ahead including, among others, an institutional gap between fisheries and environmental policy frameworks resulting in a limited integration of broader environmental concerns in one of the proposed plan and the standoff between decision-makers that delays the adoption and use of proposed management plans and creates frustration for the involved agencies.