On Monday 19 April the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries called for measures to encourage or facilitate the implementation of the no-discard rule, including an adjustment of quotas, a strategy for the recovery of unwanted catches and incentives for the use of more selective gear.
The draft report by Søren Gade (Renew Europe, Denmark) on achieving the objectives of the landing obligation under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was adopted in committee with 26 votes in favour, 1 against and 1 abstention.
In adopting a dozen compromise amendments, the European Parliament Committee on Fisheries noted that the landing obligation “continues to raise concerns” within the fishing industry and the scientific community. The reasons for this include the lack of adequate infrastructure in the ports, the increase in operating costs, and the difficulties in obtaining greater selectivity in certain activities.
The measures called for by MEPs include - the continued use of quota-based tools; - adjustments to total allowable catches (TACs) through quota swaps with other Member States and neighbouring third countries that share stocks with the EU (permanent, rather than annual, mechanisms are advocated); - the development of a ‘discard atlas’ (inventory of unwanted catches in different fisheries and areas) in order to better develop regional plans for by-catch; - the gradual introduction of the obligation for imported products from third countries to respect the same discard policy, “to eliminate unfair competition for the European fleet”.
The draft report will be debated in the European Parliament plenary shortly. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)