Brussels, 04/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament fisheries committee, on Wednesday 3 December, adopted the report by Alain Cadec (EPP, France) on implementing the obligation to land all catches, or discard ban, contained in the reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP).
“We took a much more pragmatic approach than the one proposed by the Commission. The discard ban constitutes a major change for fishermen, and they have to be given time to adapt. Implementation, then, has to be flexible”, stated rapporteur Cadec, who also chairs the committee.
The meeting of the trialogue (Parliament, Council and Commission) to try to come to agreement on this so-called omnibus regulation will take place in Brussels on Wednesday of next week. The major difference in the positions of the Parliament and the Council is that the Parliament wants the regulation to cover only those species that will be subject to the discard ban from 2015 (and not the following years), while the Council wants to go up until 2019. The Parliament argues that the Commission should make a fresh proposal covering demersal species in the years after 2015. Negotiations will be difficult, especially as the timetable is tight, since the regulation is due to come into effect on 1 January 2015.
In 2015, the discard ban will be imposed on: - small pelagics (that is, those targeting mackerel, herring, horse mackerel, blue whiting, boarfish, anchovy, silver hake, sardine and sprat); - large pelagics (bluefin tuna, swordfish, etc.); - industrial fisheries (capelin, sandeel and Norway pout); - fisheries targeting salmon in the Baltic Sea; - the other Baltic Sea species.
Here is a summary of the main points of the Parliament's position:
Prevention of a parallel market for juveniles.
Producer organisations must ensure that a parallel market is not created through production and marketing plans. This is to prevent juveniles being deliberately caught to be marketed on a parallel market.
Phasing-in of serious infringement.
Failure to comply with the landing obligation should become a serious infringement only from 2017, to allow fishermen the time to adapt. The loss of points from the licence should also only apply from 2017.
Tolerance margin for undersize pelagic species.
A tolerance margin of 10% of the catch to simplify the work of fishermen on board (these catches may be landed and put on the market).
Possibility of including technical measures in discard plans.
The amendment makes provision for this only to increase the selectivity of fishing gear (only by delegated acts proposed by the Commission).
Live bait on board.
Undersize fish may be kept on board, if they are alive, to be used as bait.
Fishing logbook to record catches above 50 kg per species.
Requirement for vessels of over 10 metres (this is an exemption from recording catches of less than 50 kg of any species in the logbook). No requirement for vessels of less than 10 metres to have a logbook.
Optional remote electronic monitoring. The member states should be able to choose the monitoring and surveillance system they want to use. The system will have to comply with the right to the protection of private life. It is therefore planned to remove compulsory use of remote video monitoring.
Storage of undersize species on board. There should be separate on-board storage for undersize and up-to-size fish. There should be no need for separate storage by species of undersize fish, as the Commission proposed.
Fishermen reassured. Javier Garat, president of Europêche, welcomed the efforts made by the fisheries committee to achieve a workable and more flexible framework for the landing obligation. He was reassured by the removal of “several unworkable proposals” such as “impossible” quota calculations to be made before each fishing trip and “irrational thresholds” for the recording of catches. He welcomed the additional flexibility in the storage of catches as well as for monitoring and control rules and in removing the need to obtain additional fishing licences on top of current ones. Garat hopes that negotiations result in a text which ensures that the fishermen affected by the first phase are equipped with the tools necessary to comply with the new and radical rules. (LC)