To eliminate discards, the EU considers fishing quota exchange

Fish discard in cod fishery. (Image Credit: YouTube/Hughs Fish Fight)

EUROPEAN UNION
Monday, December 01, 2014, 01:40 (GMT + 9)

The Directorate General of Fisheries of the European Commission (DG MARE) acknowledges that there are "difficulties" for the implementation of the new discard standard as a result of the existence of "contradictions" regarding other regulations.

In addition, the authority admitts that it will be necessary to articulate formulas such as quota exchange and other "flexibility mechanisms" to implement the legislation.

According to the Head of DG MARE Coordination Policy and Development, Ernesto Penas, the implementation of the discard rules responds to a "political issue" because the Ministers of the Member States themselves considered it was "ethically unacceptable" to dump healthy fish into the sea, the agency Europa Press reported.

"Just at the beginning of 2015 the implementation of the new conditions will be gradually accepted with a degree of flexibility. The good news is that there are sufficient funds to find solutions," added Penas.

First, he said it was necessary to "eliminate contradictions". In this regard, he explained that while discards are banned for some species, boats are required to throw others into the sea. "There are also doubts about the relative stability" or how to match fishing rights and catches, he added.

A possible solution would be to exchange quotas, and "it will be necessary to find other flexibility mechanisms," he said.

Meanwhile, the head of the Undersecretariat for Rural and Marine Affairs of Galicia, Rosa Quintana, called for a future in which the accuracy of scientific studies is strengthened to establish the total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas in order to ensure sustainable fisheries.

And the researcher Marina Santurtún, of the Expert Technology Centre in Marine and Food Research (AZTI-Tecnalia), stressed the need to "further strengthen knowledge and the reliability of the data" on fisheries management and the impact of the new discard regulations, among other issues.