EU fishery ministers agree ban on fish discards
EU fishery ministers have agreed to implement a ban on discards, the wasteful practice of dumping unwanted fish overboard so fishermen do not exceed their quotas.
Talks ran overnight, but ministers reached a "general approach" on the discard ban adopted in June last year as part of an overhaul of fisheries policy.
The key principle is that all fish caught will be landed, with none discarded, but fisherman will be granted leeway on existing quotas so that they can adjust over time to the new approach.
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has called the agreement "a historic milestone".
Earlier this month MEPs overwhelmingly backed the biggest-ever Common Fisheries Policy reforms, crucially including an end to so-called “discards” – a consequence of current CFP quota rules restricting the size of landed catches.
EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki – who once admitted the CFP was “broken” – says the discards system means almost one quarter of all fish caught in European waters is being dumped at sea.
Biggest resistance to fisheries reforms on the scale demanded by MEPs came from France, Portugal and Spain.
The agreement will see the discarding of edible fish banned for stocks like herring and whiting from January 2014. A ban for white fish stocks was also agreed, to begin in January 2016.
