Brussels, 26/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 28 March, the European Commission is to adopt the communication laying down its new policy designed to “reduce by-catch and reduce disposal in European fisheries”. The European commissioner for fisheries and maritime aAffairs, Joe Borg, who is behind the communication, calls on the member states to debate the issue over the next few months, before presenting concrete proposals in 2008.
The objective of this new policy is to encourage the member states to reduce levels of by-catch, particularly of young fish and crustaceans, by bringing in a gradual ban on disposal at sea. In other words, the Commission intends to oblige EU vessels to unload at port “all fish and crustaceans caught”. It aims to encourage the sector to improve the selectivity of fishing gears (certain grills or panels with square mesh are already producing promising results) and will not hesitate to look at new measures to reduce fishing effort, such as an obligation to change fishing site (when the resource is judged to be vulnerable or in danger) and the closure, in real-time, of certain zones, in order to preserve stocks of juveniles.
The Commission is proposing a strategy “based on the maximum acceptable impact of fishing operations”: setting maximum acceptable values, fishery by fishery, for by-catch, catches of juveniles or species which are not subject to total allowable catches; - these norms would be gradually reinforced, in order to encourage technological innovations and an adaptation of fishing practices. The Commission intends to leave it up to the sector itself to decide which solutions are the most compatible with the practical and economic realities of fishing activities. The Commission explains that the obligation to land all fish will inevitably lead to the presence in ports of fish caught outside quota levels or which are less than the minimum size to be sold. It will therefore have to look into ways of including this by-catch in the quota and of selling it: the usual channels for the purposes of human consumption (as long as the fish are of the minimum size required for sales), or processing into fish meal and oil. Joe Borg's services also suggest looking into the possibility of passing the product of the sales back onto the fishermen, deducting handling costs.
The Commission acknowledges the difficulties in enforcing the ban on disposal at sea and of putting an end to illegal disposal. It is, therefore, counting a great deal on the goodwill of the sector. Monitoring problems will also play an essential role in the instrument, as long as they respect certain requirements: - “scrupulous” monitoring of landings and a systematic data analysis (on-board observers); - the use of electronic on-board logs (for a virtually real-time description of the catch, particularly when real-time closure of certain zones is planned); - controls on fishing gear.
In the short term, the ban on disposal may lead to “a net increase in costs and net losses in income” (due to handling and storage costs for by-catch of the lowest value, fishing zone closures and the obligation to move to other fishing sites). In the longer term, the reduction of the by-catch of juveniles and fish caught outside quota levels will help to improve the quantity and quality of stocks, the Commission forecasts, welcoming the prospect of new markets for products deriving from catch which would previously have been thrown into the sea. (lc)