EU fish discards ‘difficult for industry to comply with’
The new EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) regulations, which started to come in to force in January 2015, aims to reduce waste and improve fish stock. However, the findings of a new study from the University of Strathclyde suggest that this outcome is uncertain.
Led by Professor Mike Heath, the research found that, over time, quantities of fish discarded have declined since the early 1980’s because overall catches have decreased. However, the proportion of catch that is discarded has increased from around 25% to 35%, because catches have become increasingly dominated by small fish, said the team.
"The campaign to change the CFP and get the discard ban onto the statute book was based on the assertion that half of all fish caught are discarded, and that EU quota restrictions are to blame,” said Heath. “But our comprehensive assessment of discarding in the North Sea shows that's not the case.”
"The wasteful practice of over-quota discarding has to be stopped but our study shows that the fundamental reason for the increasing proportion of catch being discarded is that the stocks have become more dominated by undersized fish,” he commented.
“This is a legacy of overfishing in the past."
Size not quota
According to the findings of the 10-year study, published in PLoS One, fish discards have actually been significantly lower than the 50% level suggested to be the driving factor behind the EU CFP policy.
"In addition, most of the discarded fish were undersize, not over-quota. Overall, quota restrictions have not been the main factor behind discarding,” said study co-author Dr Robin Cook.
Indeed, the team noted that it is illegal to retain undersize fish aboard a fishing vessel, and in any case there is little or no market for such small fish.
"The discard ban will force skippers to use up the storage capacity aboard their vessels bringing ashore fish for which there is no significant market,” commented Cook.
“This will have a detrimental effect on the profitability of the fishing industry, with no real benefit to the stocks,” he added – suggesting that the real solution is to search for new ways to improve the equipment used to land fish, so that small fish are no longer caught.
Although there have been great improvements in the performance of fishing gears, it currently remains difficult for trawlers to avoid catching quantities of small fish, the team noted.
Source: PLoS One
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117078
“Hind-Casting the Quantity and Composition of Discards by Mixed Demersal Fisheries in the North Sea”
Authors: Michael R. Heath, Robin M. Cook
