Brussels, 11/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 11 May, the Council adopted (without debate) the regulation governing the obligation to land fish species (see EUROPE 11271). The legislative act will be published shortly in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The Council and the European Parliament reached agreement on this issue on 29 January (see EUROPE 11242). One of the main objectives of the reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP) is gradually to eliminate discards in all fisheries through the introduction of a requirement to land all catches. The end of discards began on 1 January 2015 for pelagic species, such as anchovy, herring and sardine, and in the Baltic (cod and salmon). Between 2016 and 2019, the landing obligation will be rolled out to cover demersal species, such as cod, haddock, sole, plaice and hake.
Member states will be required to submit an annual report to the Commission to check that the landing obligation is being properly applied. The Commission will report to the Council and the Parliament. Producers' organisations will have to take the necessary steps to ensure that no black market develops in small fish below the requisite size. A two-year period of grace has been put in place before a points system is brought in for breaches of landing obligation rules. Undersized fish that have been caught will have to be separated from those of legal size but undersized fish will not be required to be boxed by species. Lastly, in an effort to make the work of fishermen on board easier, 10% of pelagic catches may be mixed (that is, made up of undersized and legal sized fish). It will be permitted to discard fish that have been bitten by seals. (Lionel Changeur)