A move by the European Commission (EC) to raise the limit on fisheries subsidies that can escape notification requirements has sparked concern among a host of non-governmental organizations.

In November, the EC published draft regulations that would see the de minimis ceiling on state aid to the fisheries sector jump from € 3 000 to € 30 000 per recipient over a three-year period.

In a note to EC staff, the Directorate-General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs explains that the current de minimis threshold for fisheries sector is too low, especially when compared with the de minimis established for other sectors, such as agricultural processing and marketing, which allows a three-year € 150 000 de minimis limit per recipient.

However, a number of environmental groups have voiced concern that the new ceiling will further stress over-fished stocks in the EU; already, 81% of European fishing stocks are over-fished, according to the EC's own data.

While the EC has prohibited fisheries subsidies that support greater fishing capacity (i.e., subsidies toward constructing new boats), a loophole in the proposed regulations may allow for subsidies that encourage increased fishing effort.

"What they have not excluded in the proposed regulations is aid to operating costs, which opens up the door for fuel subsidies," explains Markus Knigge, Fisheries Subsidies Officer with the World Wildlife Fund.

Aid to fuel and other operating costs will augment profits and increase fishing efforts, said Mr. Knigge, who is helping spearhead NGO opposition to the EC proposal. Over time, however, that excess effort "will lead to resource rents being competed away, reducing catches and fish stocks, and thus profitability."

NGOs have also warned that the higher de minimis ceiling will contribute to economic distortions, a concern that the EC has dismissed.

"Experience has shown that the existing de minimis level of € 3 000 is too conservative, and further economic analysis now demonstrates that the distortive effects of subsidies are expected to be negligible up to a much higher level," states the EC's Directorate-General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs in an unpublished paper.

The annual operating cost of the average fishing vessel varies widely in the EU. In the United Kingdom it costs an average of € 1 076 000 a year to maintain a fishing vessel; as such, the proposed de minimis (at € 10 000 a year) would cover on average just under 1% of annual operating costs. By contrast, in Poland, where the average cost for maintaining a vessel is € 42 000 a year, the proposed de minimis threshold would contribute up to 24% of those costs - even higher if the € 30 000 were concentrated in one year, rather than spread over three.

A number of NGOs point to Poland and some other countries as evidence that the higher ceiling has the potential to distort the EU market. "Fleets from Member States that refuse to subsidize vessels' operational costs could find themselves unable to compete with fleets from Member States that do subsidize these costs," says a joint-NGO statement.