The European Commission brought forward delegated acts on Wednesday 12 October establishing a discard plan for certain demersal fisheries in south-western waters and a discard plan for north-western waters.
These technical regulations will allow implementation of the rule on ending the discarding of fish at sea, which, for fishermen, means a requirement to land catches of all species (see EUROPE 11242).
The delegated act on the south-western waters details the quantities of fish that may be discarded (known as de minimis exemptions): hake, up to a maximum of 7% in 2017 and 6% in 2018 of all annual catches of this species; sole 3% or 5% of total annual catch depending on gear used. Those EU counties which are directly involved in the management of fisheries in the south-western waters (Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) will be required to send data on discards at sea to the Commission before 1 May 2017. The scientific, technical and economic committee for fisheries (STECF) will analyse these data and information before 1 September 2017. The delegated act makes provisions for exemptions from the landing obligation for nephrops which have a high survival rate when returned to the sea. Once formally adopted, this regulation will apply from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018.
North-western waters. Belgium, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom are directly involved in fisheries in these waters. The delegated act provides for exemptions from the landing requirement for species which have a high survival rate (nephrops and sole). Quantities that may be discarded (de minimis exemption) are: hake, 7% of the total annual catch in 2017 and 6% in 2018; nephrops, 7% in 2017 and 6% in 2018; sole, 3% in 2017 and 2018.
In addition, the Commission presented a discard plan on 4 October for certain demersal fisheries in the North Sea, which affects a number of countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom). This delegated act also contains rules specifically on the landing obligation for cod and exemptions related to survivability for nephrops and sole. The de minimis exemptions are: 3% for common sole; 7% in 2017 and 6% in 2018 (depending on fishing gear) for nephrops. Provision is also made for exemptions for a number of species (for example, 2% of the total joint catch for sole and haddock below the minimum reference size; 4% in 2018 for sole, haddock and hake caught together). The regulation establishes a minimum reference size for nephrops (total length of 105 millimetres). Specific technical measures are included for Skagerrak (ban on all trawling and towed nets of less than 120 millimetres mesh size). This regulation will also apply from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)