Brussels, 01/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Among the package of legislative proposals on the reform of the common fisheries policy, expected in May or June, Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki will propose a ban on discarding fish at sea, a practice which is common among fishermen but one which results in huge waste. The Commission is aware, however, of the upheaval that this will bring to fishermen and has, therefore, promised to do things gradually.
At a high level meeting on ending discards, to which she invited representatives from the member states and from the European Parliament, Damanaki set alarm bells ringing. She stated that, in the whitefish fishery in Community waters, up to half the fish caught is thrown overboard, with the proportion of discards in the flatfish fishery (sole, plaice, etc.) reaching as much as 70%. With stocks declining, these figures can no longer be tolerated.
The EU has, thus far, adopted technical measures to address this issue. For the commissioner, however, that is like treating a serious illness with aspirin.
Damanaki will, therefore, propose putting in place a ban on discards. She handed each member of the high level group a short non-paper on how such a ban would be implemented. “My idea would be to have a gradual approach. For example, we can start with the pelagic fisheries, and then cover a few important demersal mixed fisheries after a short phase-in period. The list of species covered by a discard ban could then be enlarged year by year”, she said.
The question, then, is which management system to choose in order to manage stocks. One possibility would be to only manage mixed fisheries with an effort system (restricting the time spent by vessels at sea), but preserving the principle of relative stability, the commissioner said. Another possibility is the catch quota system: all catches would have to be counted against quotas and then, later, against the by-catch quotas. (L.C./transl.rt)