MARIFISH COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMME THE IMPORTANCE OF TACKLING DISCARDS: A FISHERY MANAGER’S VIEW

1. MARIFISH COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMMETHE IMPORTANCE OF TACKLING DISCARDS: A FISHERY MANAGER’S VIEW Concepción Sánchez Trujillano General Subdirector of Fishery Communitarian Affairs General Secretary of Sea. Spain Madrid, 5th October 2009

2. The importance of tackling discards: Fishery manager’s view • Steps done since 2007 at EU level • Council Fisheries WG. April 2007 • RAC consultations, May 2007 • Council and EP Conclusions, June 2007 • Adoption of new long management plans, including discards: cod, hake…. • Next future steps: • Policy statement 2010 • Council Regulation concerning the conservation of fisheries resources through technical measures in the Atlantic and North Sea. • Council Regulation establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. • Green Paper on reform FCP

3. Council Fisheries WG. April 2007Reducing by-catches and eliminating discards • What is discards? … part of the catch returned to sea as a result of economic, legal or other considerations… • How much? • No quantitative estimates for EU overall, • FAO 2005: 500.000-800.000 t in North Sea alone • STECF: • Beam trawls 40-60% • Single trawls 20-40% • Longline, gillnets <20%

4. Why discarding? • Caused by the existing regulation: • TACs and quotas, • Quota exhaustion • Closure of fisheries • Landings in mixed fisheries • Minimum landing size

5. Why discarding? • Caused by economical considerations: • No market value, non demanded by consumers. • Low value • High-grading • Partly also related to management considerations

6. Some instruments to reduce unwanted by-catches • Regulations on TAC and quotas • More selective fishing gears • Closed areas • Better information of the impact of by-catch at sea

7. Some instruments to reduce unwanted by-catches • Better monitoring and control • Real-time closures • Mixed fisheries • By-catches counted against quotas, but … … if quota is O (relative stability) • Handling landed by-catches • Identification of fisheries (geographical areas, fishing gears, “metier”..

8. Two different approaches in the world • Regulate the technology and what it is allowed to keep on board and land (CFP approach) • Regulate what it is allowed to catch (approach followed in several other countries or in some or their fisheries: Norway, New Zealand, …

9. Council concerns on a policy to reduce unwanted by-catches and eliminate discards in European fisheries : • Commission, Member States, EP, ACFA, RACs …, • Unwanted by-catch of living aquatic resources and their discarding is a waste of resources • Urgent exam of ways of progressively reducing unwanted by-catches and eliminating discards, • Better regulate what is caught rather than what is landed • Importance of effective collect of data • Technical measures should be adopted on the basis of an analysis based on best available advice and of environmental, economic and social impacts,

10. Council conclusions on a policy to reduce unwanted by-catches and eliminate discards in European fisheries • Motivate the industry to improve the selectivity of the fishing gear and to develop more targeted fishing practices • Enhance research efforts in gear design, fishing methods and fishing practices • Select fisheries to the first implementation of reduction of discards

11. Council conclusions on a policy to reduce unwanted by-catches and eliminate discards in European fisheries • But it also recalls that still there are many open questions, such as • Management aspects: • the implications for relative stability, • The use of TACs (deep sea species, lack of quotas, closure of fisheries, MSY in mixed fisheries while avoiding discards? • Cost benefit analysis • Control and enforcement policy: • Simple and controllable regulations which are economically viable in order to reach long-term compliance by the industry • Which need to be evaluated before adopting new regulations on this matter

12. Steps already taken • Observers programs in several areas of the marine ecosystem: birds, turtles, dolphins, etc • New long term management of fisheries according to this new approach, • Long-term plan for cod stocks • Minimising cod discards, • Encourage fishermen to engage in cod-avoidance programmes • Rules for setting TACs, calculated by deducting a quantity of fishing equivalent to the expected discards of cod from the stock concerned • Fishing effort reduced to a reference level. • Skates and rays, not retained on board, promptly released unharmed, develop and use techniques and equipment to facilitate the rapid and safe release of the species • Other steps taken in 2009: • High-grading ban put in place in the North Sea and Skagerrak • Pilot studies on how to reduce discards • Similar approach in the Commission proposal for a long-term plan for Northern hake

13. Policy statement 2010 • Discarding of marine organisms (some of it of marketable fish) is a mayor problem in European waters • Achieving this objective requires changes in Community legislation as well as changes in fishermen’s behaviour

14. New steps in 2010 • A general highgrading ban. The prohibition to discard any marine organism that is caught in a fishing operation and brought on board a fishing vessel that can be legally landed, • Pilot studies, such as survival of discarded species, improving gear selectivity, economic impact of a discard ban, possible uses of unwanted organisms, • A level paying field between studies • A common approach between geographical areas • Common rules for discard pilot studies. • Fishing permits, given only to vessels with an allocation of fishing opportunities

15. Common rules for discard pilot project • All catches of regulated species are counted against quotas • Positive incentives for the vessels engaged in the pilot study at Member State level, within the quota and fishing effort allocated to it • On board observers/Electronic Monitoring in at least 50% of fishing trips engaged in the pilot study • Possible revision of technical measures • Results scientifically analysed • Reporting obligation to the Commission in a scientific report for inclusion in the website, open to the general public.

16. New EC regulations(Sill under exam) • Council Regulation concerning the conservation of fisheries resources through technical measures in the Atlantic and North Sea. • Council Regulation establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. • Green Paper on reform FCP

17. Council Regulation concerning the conservation of fisheries resources through technical measures in the Atlantic and North Sea. • Chapter related to measures to reduce discards • Prohibition of high-grading, • Real time moving to another area when a trigger catch level of a particular species or group of species or of spawning fish or juvenile has been reached, the area concerned shall be temporarily closed to the relevant fishery • Real time closure determined by Member States or the Commission • Restrictions on the use of automatic grading equipment

18. Council Regulation establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. • Logbook requirements: • The master of a Community fishing vessel shall also recor in their logbook. • All estimated discards above 15 kg for species subject to multiannual plans, • All estimated discards above 50 kg for other species • Provisions for control of real time closure of fisheries, based in a trigger catch level calculated on the basis of a sampling methodology adopted by the Commission

19. Green Paper Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy • European Fisheries by 2020 • Developing a culture of compliance • Management based on fishing effort alone should be sufficient to achieve the objectives of the CFP ? • How could the MSY commitment be implemented in mixed fisheries while avoiding discards? • What measures should be taken to further eliminate discards in EU fisheries? • How data collection systems be improved to ensure coherent information for enforcement purposes?

20. Conclusions • Since 2007, several steps have been done, specially some management measures have been adopted at EU level to reduce unwanted by-catches • Unwanted by-catches is not desired by anyone (scientists, stakeholders, national administrations). • There are different fisheries (geographical areas, fishing gears, small scale, etc). There is no a single solution. The best solution should be applied in each case. • Not extend rules without having an accurate impact in each of the CFP objectives. • Discards is a very complex subject which needs an deep and quiet exam for those which are involved in it.

21. Many thanks